Baldo: The Guardian Owls

 PC
User Score
4.9

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 19
  3. Negative: 9 out of 19

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  1. DominicBarbon
    Sep 5, 2021
    1
    Alright, where to start. This game feels like a passion project, and there are things about it that I really like. I would say I managed to enjoy it up to a certain point but it really feels like a game made by artists who lacked a programmer and decent combat designer.

    Visuals are great. The environment art and Ghibli feel of the game are spot on. The character art feels like student    Alright, where to start. This game feels like a passion project, and there are things about it that I really like. I would say I managed to enjoy it up to a certain point but it really feels like a game made by artists who lacked a programmer and decent combat designer.

    Visuals are great. The environment art and Ghibli feel of the game are spot on. The character art feels like student work, but its not so bad that it brings the game down. A lot of the characters are at least visually interesting. The music is good, but constant.

    UI is bad. The coders clearly didn't know how to get an on button down or on button up event, so navigating the UI is a mess. Also, the game just seems to be missing an exit app button? Thats like two minutes of work, so not sure what thats about. Did they just forget lol?

    The puzzles are okay, but need some work. There are a lot of arbitrary rules for how the game works that really don't make a lot of sense and aren't communicated well. Sub par UX. The level design itself is pretty good. The first level is small but interesting. The boss fight at the end just doesn't make any sense. I had to watch a video to understand why my hits weren't landing when they clearly should have. You have to hit him at a specific time, which really isn't communicated at all.

    Combat is just abysmal. They should just remove it if they are unable to fix it. There are no real stagger animations or wind ups. No viable strategies for defeating enemies. Combat actions are waaaay to slow and clunky to the point of being really frustrating. The combat really gets in the way of an otherwise decent (if unpolished) game.

    I want to like this game, but it really seems like this is their first attempt at something and they don't know what they are doing. I kinda want to help them fix their issues. I wonder if they would accept free help from dev who likes the idea, but is pretty disappointed with the execution lol. Can't recommend in its current state.    … Expand
  2. Landsalkerer
    Sep 2, 2021
    2
    Honestly, LOVE the game but it has ISSUES!

    Love this game and it could really be my favourite Action/Adventure RPG of all time but it's in need of some serious reworking/re-balancing.. here's a few things I feel that needs to happen to make the game better/enjoyable for everyone.. 1. Change the game's title to.. 'Baldo and The Guardian Owls' would be better. There's just something about    Honestly, LOVE the game but it has ISSUES!

    Love this game and it could really be my favourite Action/Adventure RPG of all time but it's in need of some serious reworking/re-balancing.. here's a few things I feel that needs to happen to make the game better/enjoyable for everyone..

    1. Change the game's title to.. 'Baldo and The Guardian Owls' would be better. There's just something about the title used atm that's bugging me and I don't know what it is.

    2. The game is just ridiculously hard, all that dying just to progress anywhere in the game, it NEEDS re-balancing for every monster. It's a guessing game if your going to survive each and every room/area because all the monsters can 1 shot you, game over > restart! even with more hearts. The devs need to incorporate a system that's similar to Legend of Zelda instead with how the monsters work atm cos it's just ridiculous entering areas.. especially caves.. 100% thinking all the time if you're gonna get r.@.p.e.d by orcs is NOT a great game. I get you probably dont want your game to be easy but atm its just too damn hard.

    3. Getting knocked down, when you are getting up it takes too long which in turn allows monsters to hit and kill you instantly, game over > restart over and over yet again, especially if you die at a cave entrance that has a few orcs there waiting.

    4. Clearly you see I have issue with how tough the orcs are, if i'm experiencing this then also every other player on the planet is also. These orcs need their strength lowered and their Health too. I have a feeling you've just copy/pasted the same monster with same stats all over your game.. you need to have weaker versions of the same monster that gradually get harder as you get further into the game.. THIS is called balancing.. it like you've put end game monsters at the beginning.

    5. The 1st dungeon needs to be made easier with the monsters, EVERY monster in there can kill you instantly, the tentacles, the rats, EVERYTHING! This is meant to be your introductory into how dungeons are expected to work later in the game and well, all it did for me was pi.s.s. me off dying over and over just to progress further. I have the patience of a rock so stuck with it but I get the feeling by about the 20th death people would turn your game off, refund it, never play it again.

    6. Scrap suggestion point 1, you could just name it 'Baldo: The Gameover Caper'.. LOL!    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Critic score distribution:
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  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
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  1. The Games Machine
    Sep 4, 2021
    86
    A complex, amazing Zelda-style action adventure set in a beautifully crafted world with plenty of towns, creatures, buildings, shops and NPCs. There’s a lot to discover and a lot to play, although some mechanics might feel dated to younger players. The game suffers from some still-to-be-fixed bugs which can be annoying. Overall, NAPS Team did a great job, and brought us a game that Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli could have done themselves.
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