Owlboy is a diet metroidvania with a 9 year dev cycle. While it does have some flashes of brilliance, it also sports some puzzling issues. Here's what I found.
Story: I won't get too deep into this, because the story is pretty run of the mill. The only thing that stood out to me about the story was the way the characters, and most specifically the protagonist Otus, was presented. The idea of having a mute main character that also gets relentlessly bullied by both his peers and his elders was fresh enough to get me invested to the character, but little else.
Gameplay: I liked the idea of carrying everyone around and switching on the fly to make my way through the world. It's a mechanic I would like to see expanded upon, though not necessarily in a sequel. The controls were tight enough, but it's certainly not the most responsive 2D metroidvania I've played.
Aesthetics: The art in this game is fantastic. It's the one part of the game that makes me believe that it had almost a decade of dev time. The sprite work is fantastic and the parallax layers really sell the background. I was thoroughly impressed by the visuals. The music was rather middling though. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I would say that it always felt appropriate and never seemed out of place, so that's something.
Overall I really respect the studio's effort on this title. It's worth a playthrough if only just to experience what it's tried to do different and get some ideas for other ways the genre could be pushed. Hardcore fans of the genre will likely find the experience lacking, so if you're looking for something to fill the void that Hollow Knight left behind you will likely be disappointed. If you value charm and aesthetic perhaps put a couple of hours on it and see what you think.
Story: I won't get too deep into this, because the story is pretty run of the mill. The only thing that stood out to me about the story was the way the characters, and most specifically the protagonist Otus, was presented. The idea of having a mute main character that also gets relentlessly bullied by both his peers and his elders was fresh enough to get me invested to the character, but little else.
Gameplay: I liked the idea of carrying everyone around and switching on the fly to make my way through the world. It's a mechanic I would like to see expanded upon, though not necessarily in a sequel. The controls were tight enough, but it's certainly not the most responsive 2D metroidvania I've played.
Aesthetics: The art in this game is fantastic. It's the one part of the game that makes me believe that it had almost a decade of dev time. The sprite work is fantastic and the parallax layers really sell the background. I was thoroughly impressed by the visuals. The music was rather middling though. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I would say that it always felt appropriate and never seemed out of place, so that's something.
Overall I really respect the studio's effort on this title. It's worth a playthrough if only just to experience what it's tried to do different and get some ideas for other ways the genre could be pushed. Hardcore fans of the genre will likely find the experience lacking, so if you're looking for something to fill the void that Hollow Knight left behind you will likely be disappointed. If you value charm and aesthetic perhaps put a couple of hours on it and see what you think.