hey everyone pushing up roses here and
today I want to bring a game called owl
boy to your attention this isn't going
to be an in-depth review because I don't
want to spoil anything but I do want to
give you a quick rundown so I'm here to
pique your interest in this title as it
absolutely has piqued mine or should I
say beaked my interest I'm telling you
this game will ruffle your feathers I
will tell you all about it and it's also
hoot everyone's been using that one so I
didn't want to feel left out
owl boy is an indie title that had been
in production for nearly a decade I'm
ashamed to say that I had not been aware
of its existence until very recently
when somebody gifted me a steam code I
can see why it was so anticipated right
off the bat you'll notice how stunning
this game is it has the charm of those
old console games I grew up with but
it's obviously modern with its color
palette and animations I started the
game pretty impressed by its artwork but
the more I played the more phenomenal it
became our protagonist is Otis a mute
owl like character I'm hesitant to call
him an owl because well he has arms and
birds with arms and wings throw me off
plus the game refers to Otis as wearing
a cloak to help him fly this is probably
why this title is called owl boy as
opposed to just al the very first scene
in the game shows Otis having a
nightmare about his professor who was
harshly criticizing his abilities
causing him to feel inadequate
it ends with Otis being mocked by his
peers portrayed by indistinct shadowy
figures ridiculing him for his
disability this is an amazing hook for
the game and very relatable you feel
sympathy for Otis right off the bat
you're immediately cheering for him but
you also want revenge or maybe that's
just me Otis lives in this ethereal like
city called vely located among the
clouds it's inhabited by quirky
characters including his best friend
Getty a mechanic there's been pirate
sightings in belly and Otis and Getty
are put on watch while exploring they
end up going on this grandiose journey
filled with story action and genuinely
heartwarming moments the characters are
very emotive and fun to watch despite
there being no voice acting in fact I
would say the character animation is one
of our boys strongest points
the mechanics are very smooth and easy
to pick up I was a little intimidated at
first because the way this works is you
can pick up your friends and they can
shoot at enemies for you you can also
switch between npcs who join your party
along the way because they all have
unique abilities some can help you could
pass certain obstacles some are better
at taking down enemies and some are just
really great for throwing at walls and
he's okay don't worry about losing them
or dropping them down pits early on you
find a teleporting device which is
really just an excuse for using this
mechanic so you don't lose characters
there are also items that help you level
up that you can buy with coins you find
around the levels the more coins you
collect the better the items are I
initially felt like this game might be
more relaxed based on the descriptions I
was reading you know do some flying and
exploring and taking it easy and
figuring out puzzles but do not be
fooled this game has some very
challenging nay punishing boss battles
as you go along sometimes I didn't even
know what the I was doing because
there was so much happening what is this
even
good grief in fact that's one of my only
major nitpicks
sometimes there is so much happening on
one screen I lose sight of my character
and gets stressed out during battles the
best part about this game is the fact
that it manages to have positive moments
but also very candid sad moments it
doesn't try to be saccharine or bubbly
there's mention of failure and being
different jealousy
owning up to mistakes instead of shoving
them under the rug tragedy friendship
self-acceptance and it doesn't try to
cover up those things with flowery
nonsense but it does come back with
realistic optimism and you know you got
to have both the most touching stories
in my mind have both sad and happy
elements that complement each other and
keep it real without the happy moments
the tragedy in some of these scenes
would be lost and without the setup of
Otis's vulnerability in the beginning of
the game he wouldn't have room to grow
and you wouldn't cheer for him quite as
much just by looking at it you may not
get the sense that it goes very deep
because it does Teeter on
cute seaside but it manages to have a
lot of meaning and is very comfortable
with the melancholy the more cartoony
art style is deceptive in that way it's
like hearing a bouncy upbeat song then
quickly realizing the lyrical content is
depressing I also want to praise it for
writing a lead character with a physical
disability I can't think of many offhand
and that's not to say that none exist
but when you can't think of many things
offhand without digging a bit that
probably means it's far less common and
don't even get me started on the
soundtrack it's too amazing for words
just completely epic and I know people
use epic to describe everything but
you're just going to have to trust me
that is the right word for this
soundtrack epic
I was also pleasantly surprised by how
long this game is I don't necessarily
think time spent is a good way to judge
games quality but the amount of story
and events does make owl boys seem like
a grand adventure especially since you
were also figuring out puzzles along the
way not moon logic puzzles which is my
jam but more logic based they kind of
reminded me of some of the puzzles in
the temples and Ocarina of Time while
I'm not the most innovative puzzles I've
ever solved they did provide some extra
challenge and fulfillment to my
experience there's also a lot of
stealthier parts that require some
strategy I'm impatient so I this
up a million times and despite all the
action I mentioned before there's plenty
of time to explore the different
settings there's still a lot of secrets
and hidden objects and coins that I
didn't find yet I don't want to spoil
any more of this game so I'm going to
stop it there and just leave you with my
recommendation for owl boy I played the
majority of this game in one sitting
because of how smitten I was with it
hopefully this video helps you decide
whether this game is worth purchasing or
not and if not you're missing out on
pirates like this one named Alphonse
don't disappoint Alphonse everyone
thanks for watching this mini review of
owl boy I hope you found it resourceful
if you'd like to see how the reviews
I've done check out the annotations as I
am writing this I have no idea what I
will put there so it'll be a surprise
for both you and me
follow me subscribe to me bow down at my
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want to do and as always I'll see you
guys in the next one