Olija Review, Nintendo Switch
dank
cavernous
masticating mouths
await flesh to feast
twisted teeth tease with ease
see Lord Faraday, finder of the Harpoon
enchanted weapon leaps aloof
pierces projecting plants
that wriggle with life
a press of a button and push of a stick to ————————————————————————————————>> teleport directly to that purchase the fearsome weapon awakens malicious guardians
shipwrecked on Terraphage
garragle unga barra babbak
(guttural language subtitled)
joona boogaga ibegga baloof
(hostile caverns hold keys to maps)
F A R A D A Y
seeks castaways to save
trapped in cages
a swipe of a sword to free them
but what of the lost souls?
those shambling seekers of the Harpoon
that follow Faraday
and
in desperation
throw themselves upon him
festering beneath the weight
shambling animation
weighty and stylised even in pixels
secondary weapons of gun and arrow and blade
swapped slowly with L
not conducive to quick combat
learned only in hindsight
harnessed with repetition
revisiting each location for loot
to purchase hats with special abilities
longevity is a question
when Faraday’s quest is drawn tight in a matter of hours
melancholic soundtrack undulates unease
aligns with the crunch
snap
crackle
groan
sparse soundscape effective and suited
platformer and fighter balance difficulty
with exploration weightier
punctuated by pugilistic encounters with legendary light-feet
health augmented by spending treasures back at the village
which again encourages revisiting looted locations
though only for the truly keen
O
L
I
J
A
A note from Dylan on his ‘unconventional’ review of Olija.
I just wanted to try and convey how cool this game manages to make the player feel uncomfortable. Like, it’s a horror game but without proper scares, just menacing and uneasy throughout.
Therefore, I decided to have a bit of fun and play with the reader, make it uncomfortable for them to read and – hopefully – make it engaging and something different to the rest of the online echo chamber.
