Olija Review (PlayStation 4 )
Olija is a game about Faraday’s quest, a man shipwrecked then trapped in the mysterious country of Terraphage. Armed with a legendary harpoon, he and other castaways try to leave this hostile country to return to their homelands.
Pros:
- Nice modern pixel art graphics.
- 2.51GB download size.
- Platinum trophy.
- Works on Playstation 5.
- Tutorial pop-ups.
- In-game cutscenes.
- Action-platformer RPG gameplay.
- 2D perspective.
- Maps-find them in levels to open up new locations.
- Boatman-call him from any harbor and he will take you to wherever you want to go.
- Hack and slash style combat.
- You can interact with the environment from searching chests and corpses to breaking boxes and ledges.
- Slight some puzzle elements to it all.
- Fast fluid game.
- Not a lot is explained so you can self interpret.
- Enemies can drop loot.
- No set path so you can play how you want.
- Hats-these can be crafted from materials you find in a level and add abilities to your character.
- Oaktide is kinda like your home where you can return whenever and get some crafting done.
- You play as Faraday who is trying to get home.
- Story dialogue will pop up on the screen from time to time.
- Harpoon-allows you to throw it and then teleport to its location instantly.
- An intriguing game that never really explains itself.
- Can skip cutscenes.
- Oaktide will expand and change as you progress through the game, you can build new merchants and rescue new characters to inhabit the town.
- Sailor-pay him to go too far off lands and find new items and materials for you.
- Gems-currency that can be found in levels and drop from enemies.
- The map uncovers as you play, areas will fill in as you explore.
- Can replay old areas for getting loot or materials.
- Combat-can does ground or air attacks.
- Can use the harpoon on enemies and do damage but also teleport to them.
- Combo moves can be had.
- Dark eery world to explore.
- Hidden Collectibles.
- Has a Metroidvania way of playing out without being as deep.
- Find shortcuts and alternative paths.
- Uses its own language.
- Big boss fights.
- Satisfying combat and exploration.
- Cool animations in the back and foreground.
- After picking a location on the map, you choose which hat to wear and it shows what the hat does.
- Some beautiful locations that outdo the dark grimey areas.
- Really good soundtrack.
- Linear story and progression.
- Secondary weapons can be swapped between with just a button press.
- First-person view as you enter new dungeons.
- If an area is particularly long then at certain points you can opt to return to Oaktide.
- Increase your health by buying upgrades.
- Great sense of adventure.
- Strong story.
- Can farm areas for materials.
- Around 8 to 10 hours game time.
Cons:
- Jumping takes getting used to.
- Doesn’t explain all the controls and general expectations.
- Text can be hard to read at times.
- No settings in-game or even view controls.
- Slow level transitions as you have to wait on the boat as it slowly makes its way to the harbor.
- Can feel a bit lost or misguided.
- Harpoon takes a lot of getting used to.
- Not the best loading times even on the PlayStation 5.
- The slight slowdown in places.
- Can get grind in relation to materials for hat crafting.
- Can be accused of being easy.
- Not a lot to spend gems on really.
- Never sure when it’s saved or checkpointed.
- A lot of times the game will grind to halt and have you walking and not able to do anything else in order to set a scene or give dialogue.
- Later sections have real bad checkpointing.
- Major performance hits on the final boss, would momentarily lock up and slow down making it impossible.