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.