Oliha Review
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need to know
What is it? Atmospheric action adventure with grab harpoon
Expect to pay 15 USD/13.49 GBP
Developer Thomas Olsen / Skeleton Crew Studio
Publisher Runner Digital
Review date Intel i5-6600K / Nvidia GeForce 1070 / 16GB RAM
multiplayer game? No
Associate Official website
The grappling hook is an interesting Rosetta stone. Let us not be ashamed to say that every game should have one (although all games should have one), but as a mechanism, their expressiveness is always appreciated. Are they attached to everything, or just attached to the enemy? Or is it just a ledge? Will they start moving you right away, or can you choose? Are you physically transported, or are you transported there; or will the things you grab move? Is it taut or is it bent and twisted around the object? What exhilarating taste of mastery does it make you feel?
Let us also celebrate the fact that this noble genre has a new entry. Olija’s harpoon grabs the enemy and orange-eyed black tentacles. You can teleport to it with a diagonal line. This is a simple design located at the center of this dark atmosphere of action adventure. It is both a combat tool and a crossing The way of checkpoints, and constantly provide a sense of choice and movement.
This is not without problems. Olija’s Harpoon can be awkward because it requires two separate dual inputs, first to throw it, and then push in its direction to teleport to it while pressing the throw button again. If you press the throw button without a direction, it will return and lose its position. In a fierce battle, it is easy to click the button and find yourself fighting without a harpoon (this is your main weapon), or unable to teleport.
(Image source: Devolver Digital)
Despite this, Harpoon still makes me feel strong, and Olija’s battles are not driven by precision. It’s more about mobility: use the harpoon to pass a more dangerous ranged enemy from a pile of fodder enemies, then hit it to fill a combo counter, then use the harpoon to avoid damage. There are some subtleties: you can switch between a variety of auxiliary weapons, including rapiers, crossbows, and shotguns, which can provide a powerful terminator. Olija’s battles are straightforward and heavy. When you face a room full of enemies, it’s usually a bit chaotic. These enemies will sniper, teleport, or counter your combination from a distance.
You play as Faraday, the wrecked ship of a European whaling ship. The remains of his crew are trapped on an island called Terraphage, which is located in the ocean ravaged by the demon-infected Rottenwood clan. Here, the once glorious temples and schools are now decayed; its remaining heroes will only speak with silent non-sequiturs. People have been reduced to the shadows of sadness and weeping, now they are just feed for exploitation and slaughter—usually you, because they stand between you and the soldiers of the Rowtonwood clan.And, as the holder of the magic harpoon, if you Has it become a bad person?
Look, Olija is very soulful. But it is also very Blazer. Terraphage is a center where you can heal and make ammunition for your secondary weapons from hiking to locations scattered in the ocean. This is a setting that pays homage to Quintet’s quietly legendary Soul Blazer trilogy. This is a series of action games released on SNES between 1990 and 1995, in which you as a hero will go deep into the dungeon and see you The action changes the town you set off from. So in Olija, I released the captured drifters and later found them in Terraphage, which made me feel satisfied. My actions are building a prosperous community.
(Image source: Devolver Digital)
You go out and find three blue keys, they can open the door of shadow, so you can sail home again.But the blue key is hidden in the need for two or more Yellow Keys, you will find these keys as you go deep into each location. The levels are not endless galactic Castlevania affairs, but you will find branch paths to different goals, giving them depth and a sense of choice, and you can usually revisit them to collect materials and cash hats that can be used for crafting ability grants and purchases upgrade.
Hooked
Olija only took me five hours to complete, although there was no slack. Every moment is taken into consideration, whether it is dedicated to revealing torii, puzzles or battle encounters in the misty bamboo forest. There are surprising and shocking scenes, they will confuse your expectations, and the movements—between fighting the Rotonwood clan mobs, finding secrets, finding platforms, levers, and door puzzles—smoothly I can easily find that I have completed a single session.
However, in many ways, Olija is too streamlined because it does not fully give me the opportunity to explore all the skills and tools it provides. By the end of the game, I only wore a few hats and hardly used two auxiliary weapons. It introduces a powerful new project later in the storyline, so that its potential is untapped.
(Image source: Devolver Digital)
It can be said that it is better to be hungry for more things than to be bored with the things you have. It is easy to understand the simplicity of Olija because it was made by one person, Thomas Olsson, who also drew and animated its dark and beautiful pixel art, and designed one of its true stars, its sound.Faraday’s boots made a dull sound on the board; his knife SchwinsThe enemy giggled, his body splashing everywhere. You can pick out so many details in battle through sound alone, and its weight gives its world a physicality that pixel games usually lack. The same is true for music: the discordant smoky saxophone, the sad horn and the harsh strings, mixed in favor of the subtle bass rumble, which both disturbed me and brought me into this sad and wonderful world. I mean: Olija will really reward your subwoofer.
I was shocked by all the quality levels this man achieved. Olija is obviously Olsson’s personal work. Its story is a European lost in the mysterious and terrifying waters of the East. It partly reflects his experience of moving from his French birthplace to Japan to be with his wife. However, when we encounter a mysterious culture headed by the beautiful Mrs. Olia, I sometimes feel a disturbing atmosphere of Orientalist fantasy, and we chase her. But I also like the conflict between rough and ready sailors in front of a strange and terrifying corrupt and beautiful world. I just hope their voyage will be longer.
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