Owlboy

 PC
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 273 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 182 out of 273
  2. Mixed: 60 out of 273
  3. Negative: 31 out of 273
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  1. phildog
    Jul 14, 2017
    3
    I gave this game 3 out of ten for good reason. The game may be beautiful, but it's painful to play. Literally and figuratively. My hands hurt and the **** game-play is no fun at all. The characters blend to well into their backgrounds so much that it's often hard to see what is happening, and that just get's WORSE.

    When a game leaves you as angry after playing it as this did, its time    I gave this game 3 out of ten for good reason. The game may be beautiful, but it's painful to play. Literally and figuratively. My hands hurt and the **** game-play is no fun at all. The characters blend to well into their backgrounds so much that it's often hard to see what is happening, and that just get's WORSE.

    When a game leaves you as angry after playing it as this did, its time to toss it in the garbage and never play it again.    … Expand
  2. ManoLima
    Sep 12, 2018
    3
    The biggest misleading advertisement I've fallen into.
    Seriously ... so much propaganda, so many positive comments ... for a simple game, annoying, boring and short.
    Idiot characters, even for children, history too ... bah, there are many games that are much better than this, what a regret. BUT THE WORST OF EVERYTHING IS THAT IF YOU LOOK FOR ANALYSIS OF THE GAME, SAY IT'S GOOD ... IN    The biggest misleading advertisement I've fallen into.
    Seriously ... so much propaganda, so many positive comments ... for a simple game, annoying, boring and short.
    Idiot characters, even for children, history too ... bah, there are many games that are much better than this, what a regret.
    BUT THE WORST OF EVERYTHING IS THAT IF YOU LOOK FOR ANALYSIS OF THE GAME, SAY IT'S GOOD ... IN GOOD, IT'S NOT GOOD NO.    … Expand
  3. Guishu
    Apr 25, 2018
    4
    I wanted so much to like this game, I tried so hard. I am so sorry but sincerely I couldn't bring myself to even finish it. Beautiful graphics don't necessarily make a good game. I really can't say why I didn't like this game exactly, but it was a mix of everything. First of all: Characters, most of them are boring stereotypes which would be fine if you had something to drive my attentionI wanted so much to like this game, I tried so hard. I am so sorry but sincerely I couldn't bring myself to even finish it. Beautiful graphics don't necessarily make a good game. I really can't say why I didn't like this game exactly, but it was a mix of everything. First of all: Characters, most of them are boring stereotypes which would be fine if you had something to drive my attention towards so I wouldn't care about that too much. Then the game-play; it felt bland, boring, just not what I expected I guess. I don't know how to fix this game, and that is what bothers me the most. Please do not think that because I didn't enjoy it, you won't. But it is true that this could have been so much more. The potential was there, it just falls way too short to be actually good. Maybe just not my cup of tea.… Expand
  4. Brousitch
    Dec 31, 2016
    3
    Pixel art gem, but mechanically and dynamically so un-intuitive, cumbersome and clumsy, it just cannot work for me ever. I will always put gameplay first and unfortunately among those amazing animations, parallaxes and vistas, there wasn't much of that fun and enjoyable gameplay to be found.
  5. TheBlondeBass
    Nov 4, 2016
    4
    Unfortunately, Owlboy didn't deliver as much as I hoped it would based on the hype. I have completed the game, including collecting the three owl medallions. My verdict? The graphics are definitely top class, but otherwise the game has many issues.

    For starters, let's talk about stability. The game crashed twice, and soft-locked once... For a game that lasts around 10 hours to complete    Unfortunately, Owlboy didn't deliver as much as I hoped it would based on the hype. I have completed the game, including collecting the three owl medallions. My verdict? The graphics are definitely top class, but otherwise the game has many issues.

    For starters, let's talk about stability. The game crashed twice, and soft-locked once... For a game that lasts around 10 hours to complete all the way through, that's not very good. The steam achievements are also buggy, locking me out of tasks that I clearly completed.

    Now, the controls. While I can't comment on the game when played with a controller, I can say that the mouse and keyboard controls are awkward to get used to. The game definitely isn't difficult outside of a monkey boss and the boss right before the final battle, but despite being generally not difficult the game was still frustrating when the controls didn't behave the way I expected them to. The right mouse button in particular is used for too many moves. You use it to stop flying, to grab onto things (And for some reason these things have different priorities, you don't just grab to the nearest thing), to aim something, to throw something, to go through doors... When you're in one of the two challenging battles I mention and you want the game to respond as well as you want, that's a bit unfortunate. Other perplexing control choices are using the same left click button for a shotgun blast (that takes 5 seconds or so to recharge) and a harmless flame with one character. Meaning, if you have to burn something you end up wasting that character's attack. That shotgun blast is also used for padding when putting multiple ice walls in a row, for example, that can be only destroyed with the shotgun blast. You must wait multiple times for a recharge despite there being no danger in sight. In general, the game attempts to "correct" the player's input way too much, which can be frustrating. For example, I wanted to make a sweet zip-line from one end of the room to the other in a stealth section, but it was impossible to make the line I wanted without the cursor locking into place into a vent... Removing said vents alerts the enemies, so this was frustrating to deal with.

    Other game design oddities:
    - An underground section where 97% of your screen is pitch black, making traversal pointlessly annoying until you find light berries, torches or a flaming lamp dude.
    - A poorly designed section where a ship shoots at you, and you need to hide behind rocks to avoid being one hit killed. These rocks are destroyed in a single shot too. Unfortunately, the ship's laser aim and shots go through geometry that aren't on the screen, which could have been prevented with tighter level design. As it is now, the laser could be pointing at a rock right in front of you, but as you get closer to the rock the laser aim shifts to the rock in front of it that just barely appears on the screen... Destroying your next cover that just materialized.
    - The throwing arc shown on the screen being completely different than the actual throwing arc.
    - Regular enemies posing more of a threat than most bosses, to the point where two bosses in a row are 21 copies of a regular enemy followed by a larger version of a regular enemy.

    The story was fine, if not a bit simple. It's similar to a CliffsNotes' version of Golden Sun. The game starts off with the player being forced to act stupidly, and then the game repeats a structure of:
    a) Attempt to do something
    b) Do that thing
    c) That thing didn't matter
    From start to finish. It's one of those games where the end result would have been the same if the player character just slept through the entire thing... Which isn't necessarily inherently bad, but it didn't feel like a strong narrative to compensate for the gameplay shortcomings.    … Expand
  6. MrStu
    Nov 4, 2016
    4
    I really wanted to like this game. I remember loving The Legend of Zelda and Metroid and I hoped it would be a similar experience, but it’s not. In my opinion, Owlboy barely qualifies as a game. It feels more like an interactive story that leads you around by the nose through various set pieces. I’m about half-way through and there's been no more than one or two fun scenes. It’s tooI really wanted to like this game. I remember loving The Legend of Zelda and Metroid and I hoped it would be a similar experience, but it’s not. In my opinion, Owlboy barely qualifies as a game. It feels more like an interactive story that leads you around by the nose through various set pieces. I’m about half-way through and there's been no more than one or two fun scenes. It’s too easy –as an example, it’s almost impossible to take a wrong turn. When you’re finished with an area the game often literally closes a door behind you as if to say there's nothing you missed, just keep moving – way to kill the mystery. The puzzles are simple and the clues to solving them are telegraphed. The retro Art and Music are great but the gameplay is boring.… Expand
  7. stop9091
    Nov 16, 2016
    0
    Imagine:

    - a Metroidvania with a straight, linear, structure - a platform without challenging screens - an adventure without puzzles - a walking simulator without a compelling story put those all together, and there you go, you have Owlboy. for the first 4/5 minutes of the game, the only thing you do is: - click space for 50/60 times - walk around one screen on the right    Imagine:

    - a Metroidvania with a straight, linear, structure
    - a platform without challenging screens
    - an adventure without puzzles
    - a walking simulator without a compelling story

    put those all together, and there you go, you have Owlboy.

    for the first 4/5 minutes of the game, the only thing you do is:

    - click space for 50/60 times
    - walk around one screen on the right

    while listening to a cliched and depressing story about the main character being a complete disaster.

    This game will probably appeal the same audience who likes typical Disney stories of loser-turns-hero, and/or maybe those ones who feel warm and fuzzy when they see pixelated graphics; the problem is that there are much much better games for every single genre you can frame this game to be.

    Owlboy fails to be anything, because it doesn't try to be be anything.

    It's definitely one of the most overrated games I've ever played.    … Expand
  8. hoanns
    Jun 5, 2020
    4
    Too many dumb bossfights, lost my interest after that . aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best PC Game of 2016
66
#66 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
57
#57 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 47
  3. Negative: 0 out of 47
  1. Riot Pixels
    Feb 22, 2017
    71
    All in all, it's a decent platformer worthy of your 10-20 hours of free time. But, as far as metroidvanias go, there is so much stuff to improve in the potential sequel, for example, a map, a teleport system, a bag of collectable items and lots of well-hidden secrets.
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  2. BaziCenter
    Feb 10, 2017
    80
    In development for nearly a decade, Owlboy has somehow managed to get every single thing right. From amazing storytelling to great characters, detailed pixel-art visuals to fluent gameplay, everything in this game is just the way it should be. Easily one of the best 2D platformers ever.
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  3. games(TM)
    Jan 27, 2017
    90
    Owlboy’s deceivingly simplistic delivery belies an enviable narrative, tourniquet-tight gameplay, and a cast you’ll fall in love with. Don’t miss it.
    Read full review
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