Öoo
by NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, Tsuyomi
Finished: ✓An excellent puzzle platformer game.
I was excited for this game because the person who made this also made ElecHead, another really good puzzle platformer game that I also wrote about. It basically met every expectation that I had for it and even more.
You can tell that it's designed by the same person that made ElecHead because it has that same intricate puzzle platformer mechanic design. It's one of those things where there are little in the form of explicit upgrades, but the game constantly requires you to look at your tools in new ways. You look at the mechanics and can't believe the amount of depth that the game gets out of it. The simple idea of "use bombs in cool ways to get around" is explored so thoroughly and it's incredible. It takes no mechanic for granted, leaves no idea unexplored, and everything you learn becomes a tool that you can use to traverse the world.
The ways that it encourages you to think deeply about the mechanics and their consequences is super interesting. The world is so well designed to encourage this sort of thought in you, it's almost like the game is just speaking to you directly. One example of this is how it uses fast travel. Often the game will give you a sequence of challenges that lead to a dead end and a fast travel point, very clearly saying "well, now you figure out what to do with what we've learned". It's very very cool.
The game is also so playful and joyous. The secret bombable blocks have faces and they make cheering noises when you blow them up, and when they respawn, they are sleeping. The flies that you carry to the frogs buzz with the music when you have them. The bomb mechanics are so satisfying to pull off every single time. The caterpillar that you play as is cute and everything is just so lovely.
There are quite a bit of secret areas that you can find and they contain the most challenging puzzles in the game. It's crazy how the simplest rooms are often the most deviously difficult and require the most out-of-box thinking.
Overall, I really enjoyed it.