Owlboy

Owlboy feels painstakingly, lovingly crafted, moving away from systems-oriented indie platformers to something that moves from point A to B and beyond with surprising new twists, turns and mechanics for each plot beat. During a holiday season of bleak, warmongering escapism, Owlboy is a welcome salve.

Owlboy not only has the hook of a new idea to mix up the genres it mettles in, but the fundamentals to follow up on it. Its sense of movement is fluid, its momentum is strong, and its characters are engrossing. The tone might be saccharine at times, but when so many other games go for either oppressive grittiness or eye-rolling irreverence, I’m willing to accept that.

Aside from playing like a dream and having flight-based gameplay that’s an absolute delight, it evokes the old quote of “You’ll laugh, you’ll cry” through an absolutely astounding and moving story with several lovable characters and a fascinating world to discover. In fact, if you’re reading this, odds are I’m still playing it in an effort to see everything it has to offer and to forage for every possible secret. To repeat: Owlboy was worth the wait. Eight years well spent, and then some. Bravo!