Oniken X Odallus - Pixels made in Brazil

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Hello everyone! In the last entry I talked about Crimson Gem Saga, a JRPG inspired on the classics from the 16/32-bit era, and in this entry we are going to travel back in time even further. To be more precise, we are going to travel back till the magical 8-bit era, an era full of blocky pixels and catchy chiptunes that would mark the beginning of our virtual adventures for many of us, and in which many classics that still influence the industry nowadays were born, such as Mario Bros, Dragon Quest o Final Fantasy among many others.

Ninja Gaiden and Strider were the inspiration for Oniken.

I remember my father once told me that in this life everything goes around in cycles, that fashions come and go constantly, that what today is modern and cool, one day will be old fashioned, and that the old will one day be the coolest thing around again. Sincerely, I thought that would never happen with video games, especially if you keep in mind the constant evolution of technology. I always thought that the old classics would one day become completely obsolete, and that no one would want to play again with them, as when you compare them to the modern productions, it is hard to believe it is the same industry at all. I still remember the first time I played SEGA’s Virtua Fighter in the arcade next to my home. I still remember those “big and humanlike” characters, and I remember perfectly that I said to myself “as God is my witness, I’ll never play Street Fighter again”. It was the time of the cool 3D, that was the new thing, that was the cool thing!... Well, I’ll burn I hell for being such a liar. Nowadays I don’t have a single game from the Virtua Fighter series, but I have all the Street Fighter, King or Fighters or Samurai Shodown games ever released, and I play them over and over again, and I love them. Is not like SEGA’s classic is a bad game by any means, but with time I’ve learned you should never underestimate the power of nostalgia and how it can distort our memories… and our actual point of view of things. Of course, this does not apply just to video games. Recently we have been able to witness the comeback of the super heroes genre or the Star Wars franchise in the movie industry. Just when we though those stories would be forgotten or just remembered in some history documentaries or geek conventions, they come back to take the industry by storm. It is true that many times this comeback brings along also many changes, a “makeup layer” to adapt the product to the contemporary pop culture. However, the case of video games is similar to that of classic cars. Despite the fact that any modern vehicle is relatively far better equipped, many car lovers out there prefer the “purity and elegance” of the classics from a time where art and imagination had priority over the cold numbers of a market research. It is really paradoxical to see how many times, despite having more technology available than ever before in our history, many people refuses that technology and go back to the classics, and as I was saying, this is something that we have been witnessing also in our beloved game industry recently.

Demon's Crest and Castlevania inspired Odallus.

Perhaps video games are still too young as an industry to go back to the classics, after all the industry hasn’t been around for even half century yet, but the constant technological evolution makes video games age faster (some better than others), and that is generating a whole new movement inside the gaming industry, with players demanding titles just like the ones they used to play many years ago. Of course, this kind of movement has always existed. Many games before have been inspired in classic titles while delivering something “new”, which in many cases ended up being some kind of remake, but in this case we are talking about titles that, for better or worst, emulate every single aspect of the classic games, the good and the perhaps not so good. One explanation to this could be the more and more divided video games industry, a division that seems to be related, among other things, to the increasingly high production costs of modern productions (a.k.a. AAA titles), forcing the smaller teams with more humble means to follow a different route. Just so you get the idea, while the teams behind many classic games were composed of barely one person per department (one programmer, one graphic designer, etc.), and sometimes not even that, many modern teams are composed of hundreds of people specialized in a wide variety of fields. However, as I was saying, recently we are witnessing a movement in which many teams join to create games in the old fashioned way, and judging from the results, it seems they are doing pretty well, and it is inside this new movement precisely where we can find the two titles I’m going to talk about today, two games that have been developed with more passion and talent that actual means, and that can look directly into the eyes to the classics they are inspired on. In fact, in my humble opinion, they do a far better job than many bigger productions when it comes to deliver some good fun. Let’s see that these two small gaming jewels have to offer, two games that come straight from a past time that, for the better or worse, refuses to disappear, and that have a “something” that makes it impossible to forget about them.

The first of these two titles is called Oniken, and those of you who played classics such as Ninja Gaiden, Strider o Shadow of the Ninja should already know what to expect; good old fashioned hardcore 2D platforming action, and by hardcore, I mean precisely that, for the imitating Ninja Gaiden thing is not limited to the graphics or the gameplay. Developed by a Brazilian indie team that responds to the name of JoyMasher, Oniken is a tribute to the classic action/platforms games that dominated the catalogues of the 8-bit era systems, and more specifically to classics such as Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden series or Capcom’s arcade hit Strider, especially to Tecmo´s classic. Oniken puts us in the role of Zaku, a legendary mercenary ninja with an unknown past (long live to the classic clichés!) who has been hired by General Zhukov, the leader of the resistance, in order to fight against Oniken, and evil organization who plans conquer the world and that will soon succeed in their plans unless Zaku manages to avoid it. Like this, we will set on an adventure that will take us around a post-apocalyptic world full of killer cyborgs, ninjas and tough guys that shot first and ask questions later, or actually don’t bother to ask any questions at all.

 The haircut, the clothes, the skull smashing... Reminds me of someone...

Oniken includes stages with vehicles.

Your list of hated final bosses is about to expand...

Regarding the gameplay of the title, Oniken is a game that, for the better or worse, follows the style we could see in the previously mentioned classics. The game will be composed of six stages divided in three different areas each. Our mission will consist on slaying any enemies that stand in our way and avoid all kind of deadly traps in order to be able to reach the final boss that will be waiting for us at the end of each stage to defeat it and proceed the next stage. Sounds simple, right? Well, I guarantee you it is easier said than done. And if the story and gameplay are simple, no less are the controls. Oniken makes use of just two buttons: one to jump, and another one to slash. I know, I know, for being such a “legendary mercenary”, Zaku’s ninja skills surely seem to be rather scarce, but that is all he will really need in order to make his way through the different stages of the game. On top of this, Zaku will also be able to extend the reach of his sword by collecting power up items along the stages. However, should we get hit by an enemy attack, we will lose those power up items, for is there is something that Oniken likes to do, that is punishing the players for their mistakes, and by the way, it does it REALLY well, perhaps too well for its own good, but it makes sense we, after all, we are talking about a disciple of Ninja Gaiden, and we all know how much Hayabusa-san enjoys punishing those unworthy of his ninja skills. Zaku will also be able to sacrifice his power ups to enter a berserker mode that will allow him to inflict more damage on the enemies while receiving less. This will be especially helpful against the bosses, some of which will surely join your list of most hated bosses ever in a video game, for they will be indeed difficult to take down. Zaku will also be able to use grenades by pressing upwards in the direction buttons and the attack button at the same time Castlevania-style. I know, they could have added an extra button for it instead of using such a cumbersome system worthy of the times in which controllers only had two buttons, but as I said before, Oniken constantly aims to offer an old school experience as pure as possible, and this simplicity is actually one of the game’s main strong points.

Get used to this screen, you will probably see it many times...

Finally, I would like to mention also the insane difficulty of the title, making it no suitable for those used to the “press this button to kill the boss and complete the mission.” Just like the classics in which it is inspired, or other indie games I have talked about in this blog such as Maldita Castilla, Oniken is one of those games that “separate the men from the boys,” constantly testing our skills and pushing us to the limit, and this includes resorting to final bosses with extremely mean/cheap attack patterns, o dirty old tricks well know among the players of the 8-bit era such as aerial enemies that appear just at the very moment you jump to hit you and make you fall right into the pit underneath you, which of course will result in an instant kill, and if we lose all of our lives, we will have to start all over again from the beginning. Just like that. No continues, no nothing, we will have to do it the “Spartan way.” I’m sure that the most veteran players out there will enjoy Oniken as they remember the afternoons they used to spent in front of their old “fat TV” with the square shape of controller of the old NES marked in their hands (even controllers were for Spartans back then!) after squeezing for hours with the tension or every single jump and slash. However, there is a good chance the younger audiences might not understand this kind of tricks, which were commonly used by the companies in the old days to expand the other ways rather short duration of their games while also dealing with the technological limitations of the time, in fact, they might not find it fun at all, and in a way I do get their point, after all, modern platforms offer enough resources to avoid having to resort to that kind of thing, but for the better or worse, they are there, and those who decide to challenge Oniken will have to learn to deal with them. So, good luck, lots of patience, AND PADDED WALLS FOR THE SUDDEN RAGE EXPLOSIONS!

GAMEPLAY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU-3k8VayN4

The second and most recent title developed by the guys from JoyMasher is called Odallus The Dark Call, and just like the previous title, is yet another tribute to the 8-bit era, just that this time around the Brazilian team brings us a much more “calm” experience that draws closer to Konami’s fan favorite/ill-fated Castlevania series, and more specifically to the entries Castlevania 2 Simon´s Quest, Castlevania 3 Dracula´s Curse y Castlevania Rondo of Blood, on top of adding elements from other cult classics such as Capcom’s Demon Crest. As you can see, the guys from JoyMasher really know how to choose their source of inspiration. However, trying to follow the path of those giants could also work against you, since the shadow they cast is so long that your game could remain on their shade forever, but luckily for us, the guys from JoyMasher managed to deliver a game that would make Simon Belmont himself proud. The story of Odallus puts us in the role of Haggis, a warrior that decided to embark himself in a quest for revenge after witnessing how he’s whole village is massacred and his son is kidnapped by the Lord of Evil, though the story hides some secrets that will make the plot more complex that it could it have seemed at a first glance. However, it still is an 8-bit story, so just don’t go expecting the new Metal Gear/Bioshock/Mass Effect.

The map will allow us to revisit the stages to explore new paths that were before unreachable.

As I was saying, opposite to what we can see in Oniken, which is inspired in games full of pure action, one of the main pillars that holds the whole structure of Odallus is the exploration. The stages in Odallus will contain several routes and secret rooms that will allow us to obtain all kind of items that will help us to improve the skills of Haggis and well as discovering many secrets from the dark world of Odallus. Many of these routes won’t be accessible right from the beginning, and we will need to obtain first the right skill in order to be able to explore them, meaning we will need to replay the stages in order to uncover all of their secrets. Of course, this won’t be mandatory, but certain items can really make things much easier for us in later stages. Odallus makes use of a map very similar to the one we can see in many classic Casltevania games and that will allow us to choose the stage we want, on top of offering us information about the progress achieved in each stage (items obtained, etc.) The superb level design really helps to transmit a feeling of “discovery of the unknown”, encouraging the players to explore all the areas of each stage in order to obtain new items to keep improving Haggis, while it also keeps the game from feeling repetitive when we visit the same stages several times. Just like it happens with Oniken, the control scheme of Odallus will be quite simple, for the game only uses two buttons again; one for jumping and one for attacking. Once again, just like in Castlevania, Haggins will be able several types of secondary weapons, each of them with their own stats and effects, and that we will be able to use by pushing upwards in the directional buttons and the attack button at the same time. However, we will be have to be careful with these, for just like in the adventure starring videogame’s most famous vampire killer, the usage will be limited, and once we run out of stock, we will need to find more in the stages or we will have to buy it from the wondering merchant.

The mine carts are back!

Each stage will have its own enemies and bosses that we will have to defeat in order to be able to carry on with our adventure, all of them with their unique attack patterns. However, opposite to what we can find in Oniken, the difficulty in Odallus is much more balanced, after all the game gives a lot of importance to the exploration aspect of the adventure instead of focusing just in the combat like Oniken. As for the graphics, Odallus is definitely a looker, or at least it is for an 8-bit game, with an style that reflects perfectly the dark, oppressive and gloomy world of Odallus, while perfectly imitating what we could have seen in many of the best classics of the 8-bit era, though the game includes some effects more typical of the 16-bit era that could bother the “inquisitors of the 8-bit”. Is easy to appreciate the experience gathered by JoyMasher, for Odallus is a much more polished and complex game when compared to Oniken, and it will surely please the fans of this kind of adventures, for despite being inspired in some of the most well-known classics in the industry, the game do manages to display enough personality in order to tell itself apart from its source of inspiration and it doesn’t feel like “just another clone.” Sincerely, after playing the game, Konami should feel ashamed that a small team with much less resources has been able to deliver the Castlevania game fans have been yearning for years, delivering a title that manages to revive the original spirit of the Castlevania series like no other official game of the franchise has managed to do in many years, but I’m sure Konami doesn’t have time to feel ashamed, they are just too busy cashing in the succulent profits of their yearly PES games and pachinko slot machines. Oh, well, I guess at least we will always have the classics…

GAMEPLAY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofgBKRA6668


You can get both titles individually (Oniken) (Odallus) or in a pack that will allow you to purchase both titles with a small discount. They are two really good games that will surely please the fans of an era now long gone, and one proof of the profound impression many of these titles left in many players despite their limitations. I don’t know whether all this “fever for the classics” will just fade away (personally I hope not), or it will really stay an create a new tendency in the game industry, but what I know is that this small Brazilian team has A LOT of talent, so perhaps it would be a good idea to keep an eyes on them as their beginning in the industry just couldn’t have been any better. Enjoy!