Developer: Infamous Rabbit
Platforms: Linux, Mac, PC (Reviewed)
Genre: Adventure, RPG
Publisher: Galaktus
Oddventure is a narrative JRPG. This game was developed by Infamous Rabbit and published by Galaktus. There are a few games similar to Oddventure, such as Omori, Earthbound and more. This review was done on the PC version, but the game is also available for Linux and macOS. Oddventure is currently in Early Access on Steam!
Oddventure is a single-player game where you play as Charlie, who takes on the dark, cursed fairytale world in hopes of reaching a spark of hope. Charlie is a rebellious teenage girl with anger issues who has found herself to be lost in a magical forest. Upon meeting a talking frog and battling gnomes, she meets Jack Grimm, who gives her a task in turn to help her with her troublesome brother, Bonzo. It is up to Charlie to take on the mysterious challenges that the Luxia kingdom has in store and for them to return safely back home.
Oddventure can be played either on the controller or keyboard. I found that for this type of game, playing with a controller will get players into a relaxing, journey-filled experience. Both methods of playing were effective with no noticeable delays and did not take away from the gameplay; it really just depends on your preference. Your tutorial for this game is meeting Slippy, the Hint Master, who explains the battle mechanics, and sometimes pop-up texts will show when introduced to something new. Like many RPG games, interactable items are not made distinctively clear, so the game requires players to go around and interact with objects that may seem important or pop out to them. In some moments of the game, I did find myself just interacting with any trees that looked slightly suspicious in hopes that I had not missed out on anything important, which did seem like a waste of time. I do wish that, in the future, there will be an addition of some sort of highlight to differentiate between what can and cannot be interacted with.
The art style for Oddventure seems to take inspiration from the Earthbound visuals. The hand-drawn pixel art and 2D sprites detailed with expressive animations add another level of detail to the game, which also gives a nostalgic feel. The game itself has several fantasy-like elements which are captured through bright and colourful visuals. The various locations and areas come to life through the still background and lively animations. For instance, the battle scene has a still dark forest background, but you see little gnomes popping out from behind a tree. Another animation that I adored was the long sleeves that fell over Charlie’s hands. As she ran, you could see the sleeves of the shirt flailing around, which added to the angsty teen girl behaviour. Even trampling over flowers as you run on them. Little details like such make the game much more aesthetically pleasing. Additionally, this game has a stunning charm to it, and with the dynamic lighting, it creates a fantastic environment. Effortless cutscenes that are designed so smoothly are so fun to watch and tie together the story that this game has beautifully created. Some of the character/enemy designs are quirky but make this fantasy/magic world so special and true to its name. The visuals are nicely paired with the music, which has a funky, whimsical vibe to it. I love the transition between the battle music and casual gameplay music. The tones of the instrumentals also shift between the mood of each scene, which enhances the atmosphere of the game.
The gameplay for Oddventure is like most other RPG games but with its own depth. A majority of the game consists of players exploring, talking to NPCs, and battling enemies. Battling enemies is done in a turn-based manner, which plays similar to other games but adds its own twist. In other RPGs, skill-based attacks tend to be elemental, but in Oddventure, the mechanics of emotional/mood-based skills are put into play. In this aspect, the game adds a sense of realism that can be seen through the perspective of a teenage girl’s eyes. Charlie has the ability to bad-mouth enemies to demotivate them or cheer them up with kind words to motivate them. These skills can be used to counter enemies so that they choose to skip their turn and give the party an extra attack. I felt that the combat was nothing too out of the ordinary; it was a nice mix of pace to add to the gameplay, but some of the battles were not as challenging. However, I did enjoy that you did not necessarily have to kill enemies but had the option to spare them, which still allowed you to gain XP and items.
Besides combat, Oddventure gets players to explore and interact with items and characters. Descriptive dialogues for items are endless, which I found quite surprising. There are some instances in the game that introduce solving puzzles, such as kicking moving blocks into holes to clear a pathway, but nothing too challenging. I feel as though the game needs to add more challenging obstacles and speed up certain animations as they can drag out scenes, though that’s the charm that comes with RPG games like this. Personally, I felt that this game shines in the story (now the gameplay is quite short, approximately 3 hours, as it is still in Early Access). The game seems to be heavily influenced by the Grimm Brother’s fairy tales and has a great sense of dark adult humour. What was so interesting was that the game will provide you, in some instances, with options to pick from, and these choices matter a lot to how the game plays out. Now, I was not able to delve so much into this part of the game mainly because of the disclaimer given at the beginning that would not make save files available in later game builds, but I found that there are slightly different paths due to the choices you make. The game also offers multiple endings, which is great as it gives Oddventure a good replayability value.
Oddventure is a hilarious game where you really do get a laugh out of all sorts of quirky, charming and interesting characters that fill this whimsical yet dark world. The game is great in the sense that you seem to be enjoying a cartoon show but actually have a part to play in it. It seems as if Oddventure takes great inspiration from games such as Omori, Undertale and Earthbound. I think one of the similarities I found to be the most distinct was how you could delve into Charlie’s psyche, that is, this dark realm filled with horrendous thoughts that seems to pay an ode to Omoris daunting vibes. I do have to say that I wish the game was much longer; I am aware that it is still in Early Access, but I feel that the story could be developed into something even greater given the time it’s needed. Even with the few hours of gameplay provided, I would still recommend Oddventure because it is worth the price and the time. You get to play in a world that is beyond your imagination and take on battles that you never thought you would expect.
Are you looking for a JRPG game where you get lost in a magical world that is inspired by the tales of the Grimm Brothers’; then this game might just be for you! Explore the magical forest, meet quirky characters, battle endless amounts of magical creatures and try to make your way back out. Oddventure delivers a narrative that is controlled by the player, accompanied by stunning pixelated visuals and a thrilling soundtrack. It is up to you to take on the oddest of adventures by checking out Oddventure!
Overall: 8/10
This is S & S. We are world game explorers. We play games. We have played over 10,000+ games! We travel, we write reviews AND we play more games!!!!
