![]() Instead of empowering the player to figure everything out on their own, the game blocks action until a villager triggers pre-scripted events. ![]() A particular level comes to mind where the player saves a village and proceeds to clean it up using tactics familiarized in previous levels. Including a timer doesn't promote any ingenuity when solving the puzzles.Īnother issue is that Okabu's mechanics encourage the player to think multiple steps ahead using their character's abilities, but strangely, there are often arrows to follow and text that outline what needs to be done. Gathering fruit that grants points and then racing to the end felt like a competitive ploy taken from a triple-A game and inserted where it didn't belong. With Okabu's appeal to children and parents, including scores and leaderboards felt dissonant with the communal, cooperative feel of the game. However, the game still struggles with its identity. The physics puzzles are moderately difficult, with older players finding much to do while younger ones feel challenged. Okabu seems to shoot for a younger demographic with the potential for a family-play experience as its target audience, and towards that goal, the pacing is spot-on and accessible. While there are some overt stereotypes of environmentalism such as technologically-advanced enemies or using recycling bins, the message is rather subtle. Gameplay takes precedence over any sort of moralizing, making the puzzles feel like community work without being completely drab. Where Okabu succeeds is implicit described as saving "the once-peaceful lands" from an "army of industrial contraptions," the player is ready for a lecture on how to be more environmentally conscious. The puzzles are straightforward and physics-based, but require a little finesse and smarts considering the wacky ways the characters solve them. Mostly, though, they serve as loyal steeds to characters with unique abilities (such as harpooning, also ironic I might add). Players control cloud-whales (one with a whaling hat, ironically) that can absorb water and spit food items that have an effect on the environment. The developers brought together their ideas by making Okabu's environment the puzzle there is little abstraction and every skill learned has a direct application. It's a game a player wouldn't feel too embarrassed about when someone walks in on-they'll mostly like be curious as to what all the spectacle is about. Okabu looks like a game for kids with the smooth controls of one for more mature gamers. They also prime the player for a certain experience, one that involves head-bobbing to electronic tribal-esque music and randomly zooming across the landscape. The art style invites a spectrum of players, enjoyable to children and adults alike. With so many games looking to grab gamers with photo-realistic graphics or unashamed anime art direction, Okabu pulls off every on-screen moment of eye candy. The aesthetic created by both the visuals and soundtrack is succinct and fantastically so much of the reason I pressed through the game was the result of feeling immersed in this zany, super-stylized world. Hand Circus's PSN-exclusive puzzler looks like a cross between Katamari Damacy, World of Golden Eggs and some inspiration from those childhood books by Eric Carle. Let's get this out of the way: Okabu is freakin' adorable, no matter what demographic you claim. WTF Were my characters just referred to as the "Insane Cloud Posse" just now? LOW Getting caught in terrain geometry despite being a flying creature. HIGH Awesome stylized world and soundtrack.
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