Owlboy

It’s hard matching Owlboy’s artwork, but the orchestral tracks that play in the background of the game’s highs and lows help make Owlboy an absolutely incredible experience both visually and aurally. It’s a shame that, for me, some of the experience was marred by problems with gameplay mechanics or controller quibbles as, barring the occasional frustration, D-Pad Studio have created a wonderful and satisfying tale filled with superb characters and marvellous presentation.

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.

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!