Owlboy - Video games meet art

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Hello everyone! Did you try already the wacky combats of Shin Goketsuji Ichizoku: Bonnou Kaihou, the 2D fighting game of which I talked about in the last entry? The New Year is already just around the corner, and you can feel all the “magic” typical of this special season, so for this new entry I’m going to talk about a very special game, a game that caught all my attention right from the first time I saw it a few years back. The game is called Owlboy. Let’s see what this new pixel marvel has to offer after a long and difficult development process that took almost a decade to complete.

Just in case some of you still didn’t realize, I love video games. Sincerely, I don’t think I can image my life without video games. I don’t think I would be able to replace them with any other hobby, no matter how exaggerated or “sick” that might seem to some, even when those “some” go and break throats while cheering their favorite sports teams (as if they were going to win themselves) or spend a small fortune in a bag in which they can barely fit their mobile phone, as if that was a completely logical thing, but that would be a whole different discussion. The thing is, despite my love for video games, there’s been moments when I really asked myself if “it was worthy”, partly to the (in my humble opinion) massive industrialization that this form of entertainment and art has been submitted to in the last years. Yes, I said art, and that’s because games ARE art, or at least they can be, like the case of the game of this entry. As I was saying before, there’s been times in which I really wondered if it was well worthy to spend all those hours in virtual worlds rather than the “real world”, and I think that is partly due to the feeling of games losing that “magic” that I used to feel when I grabbed the controller of my old NES, Super Nintendo, Mega Drive, Sega Saturn or the first PlayStation. Good old times… Don’t get me wrong, I love current games, and I think that games such as Mass Effect, Assassins Creed, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Killzone, Dishonored, Bioshock, Splinter Cell, Far Cry, Borderlands, Grand Theft Auto, God of War, Gears of War, Halo, Devil May Cry, Uncharted or The Last of Us, just to name some, are great games, whether you like them or not, all with their own strong and weak points, and I feel lucky I got to enjoy all those fantastic pieces of entertainment. I also understand that this is a business after all, so it doesn’t really matter how artistic or “especial” a game is if none wants to buy it, after all, we all have bills to pay. Nonetheless, many of the titles I played in the recent years had something missing. Yes, they all had great graphics, awesome textures and photorealistic effects, but there was “something missing” in them. I know many of you think you have the answer for that, and that answer is nostalgia, but to be sincere, despite all the great things those titles offered, as soon as I finished them, many just disappeared from my head. Actually, to tell you the truth, if it was not because of the achievements/trophies to prove that I actually finished them, if you asked me for the story of some of the, most probably there would be many blanks I would just not be able to fill up, although it is also true that my memory just sucks. Whatever the reason is, they just “don’t stay with me”. Of course, that does not mean they are bad games, in fact, I enjoyed them all, but they just don’t “sink in” the way games such as Chrono Trigger, The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past, Final Fantasy VI, Guardian Heroes or Super Metroid did. Sometimes I think it’s because I’ve played so many games during my whole life that it’s just difficult to get surprised anymore, which would make sense, well that, and also that I don’t see the world through the eyes of the little boy I once was. For one reason of the other, recently I found myself thinking if it was time for a change, time for a new hobby. I guess some would think “finally you have grown up”. However, every time I tried to stir away from games, a title would appear to lure me back, to make me thing that it was still possible to feel that magic, that the industry, for good or bad, was still not all about FPS, 1080p and benefits, that there was still place for the “magic”, or at least I want to think so. Of course, it could also be that I’m just a junkie inventing excuses to justify my “next dose of polygons and pixels”. Anyway, Owlboy is one of those titles that made me feel the “magic”, a game that made me want one more “last dose”, a game that made “recover my faith when I was lost”, and so I decided to dedicate this entry to it.

As always, I will start by talking about the story. The story of Owlboy puts us in the skin (or perhaps more like the feathers) of young Otus, a boy that belongs to an anthropomorphic race of beings know as the Owls, hence the title of the adventure. But Otus is not your typical video game hero. In fact, it has none of the values we can find in most game heroes, so if you are looking for just another story of brave warriors or lethal killing machines, I already warn you that will be greatly disappointed… or perhaps not. The story will start with a subtle tutorial that not only will allow us to learn the basics, but also learn who our character is, and to tell you the truth, our character is what many would describe as a real loser, for he fails in everything he does no matter how very hard he tries. He’s a boy who’s lost and insecure and who just wants to be accepted by the others, and top of all that, he’s mute, which makes it even more difficult to communicate with the others, thus aggravating he’s feeling of isolation, as well as serving as the perfect excuse for your typical video game “mute hero”. However, young Otus’ life will soon take an unexpected turn when his village is attacked by a band of pirates, forcing him to gather every single ounce of strength and courage he can find inside him to join his friend Geddy in an adventure that will take them all over the beautiful world of the game in order to find a solution to save their people while uncovering the many secrets related to this world. I know Owlboy’s story can sound rather simple, and in fact, I think it is, but, despite what some might think, that is precisely part of its magic, it’s a tale for “all the ages”. If Square-Enix has managed to perfectly convey prince Noctis comradeship with his friends in Final Fantasy XV, I guarantee you Owlboy it’s not so far from Square-Enix’s achievements. It’s truly amazing how D-Pad has managed to tell so much with so little, with a story that touches such complex subjects such as friendship, facing insecurity and rejection, the obsession with “being like the rest” and many other subjects that many players will be able to feel identified with, managing to create a character that you will surely come to like and care about despite being just “a useless looser”, delivering a story that could have been perfectly featured in the next Ghibli or Disney movie.

Regarding the gameplay, Owlboy is a game that’s difficult to categorize, although you could say that it is essentially a Metroidvania when some platforming and even stealth elements. Yup, all of that in one single pack. The game will allow us to explore it’s world freely right from the beginning of the adventure, although as we often see in the Metroidvania games, there will be areas we won’t be able to access to till we haven’t obtained first the right skill for it, on top of secret areas that will allow us to obtain coins that we will be able to use to buy enhancements for our characters as well as obtaining all kind of info about the world the protagonists live in. As we explore the different areas that make up the game’s world, we will have to overcome areas that will test our flying skills, as well as areas that will require us to go through undetected or solve puzzles in order to be able to keep advancing. As I was saying before, Otus is not the typical video game character, and so his actions will be rather limited. Other than being able to fly freely around the screen, he will be able to perform a spinning attack that will allow him to destroy certain obstacles and stun enemies, as well being able to grab objects and throwing them. And that’s about it. Luckily, poor little “useless” Otus won’t be alone, as other characters will be joining him along the way, each with their own unique skills, and just like Otus, they will also have to face their own demons, a situation that the game uses to deliver one very important message: strength comes in numbers. One by one, the characters might be just a bunch of losers and misfits, but they will discover that together they will be able to face even the toughest of the situations. The first one to join the group will be the above mentioned Geddy, who carries a gun that will allow him to shot the enemies and destroy certain objects. Otus will be able to switch his companions at any given time, thus allowing us to play around with their skills in order to solve the game’s puzzles, but the teamwork will not be limited to the puzzles. During our adventure, we will cross paths with enemies that won’t be vulnerable to any of our characters skills, but rather to a combination of these, so, for example, we will find armored enemies that we will need to stun first with Otus’ spinning attack before we can finish them off with Geddy’s gun. Of course, as the Metroidvania it is, on top of the typical “cannon fodder”, we will have to face also bosses, each with their own weakneses we will need to discover in order to be able to beat them. Essentially, Owlboy deliver a classic style experience adapted to the modern times, and although the game is rather easy, I’m pretty sure it will engage all the fans of this type of game right from the beginning.

If there is something Owlboy clearly stands out for, that is for its beautiful and dreamy 2D graphic style, for the game has some of the best 2D graphics ever crafted, and that includes both, the characters and the world itself, with screens full of detail that make the game’s world come to life, a world that, just like the story and characters, seems to have come out straight from a Ghibli or Disney movie. However, what really stands out are the animations, which manage at all times to express perfectly the characters mood and personality to the point that it can rival some of the best modern 3D games due to the insane amount of detail included in them. Owlboy is truly a piece of art that emanates love and dedication out of each of its pixels, proving (once more) that this graphic style is far from being as outdated as many say and that can be as expressive and evocative as the best 3D productions.


game, or just video games in general, Owlboy deserves a chance, even if it’s just due to all the love and effort the team has pour into it, love and effort that has helped to deliver a game that, despite not being perfect, has few things that can be truly criticized, a game that, despite trying to imitate the classics, manages to transmit it’s very own personality, something that (unfortunately) is not very coming lately in the industry. Anyway, Owlboy truly deserves a chance. The industry deserves (and in my humble opinion deserves) more games like this. The game is available exclusively for PC via Steam, although the team has plans to port the title to other platforms. Please D-Pad, if you ever read this, THIS GAMES NEEDS A PHYSICAL EDITION!!

Thank you very much to everyone who supported the blog during the year. I’ll see you all next year to keep talking about those titles that not many talk about, but many should know about. Happy New Year!


GAMEPLAY VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPsBt0OdBH4