Recent reviews by protagoras

This is an Art game done well. This... simplistic weirdness of it all. Stories, lives, thoughts jammed together in a blender and smeared across a fledgling 3D representation of... something. You'll recognize the notes, maybe some riffs here and there, but the whole song? No. Not for you. Not for anyone.

Turns out there's notes all around you.

Oh, the music is catchy.

Played this through EA and am so happy to see the devs release 1.0.

Do you suffer from thalassophobia? Play Subnautica and find out!

I can't remember a space game that made me anxious about the vastness of space. This game came along and nailed the anxious feeling of the vastness of underwater.

Highly recommended particularly if you enjoy the survival genre.

I recommend this game not on the sum of its parts, but of specific parts themselves.

As a whole, Owlboy offers a startling small amount in terms of advancing this genre. It feels more of a "last breath" than "youthful fresh air". I keep thinking about the span of development time that the reviewers would not let us forget: A decade. I then turn to the times during my ~8 hour playthrough where I found something not quite as polished as I expect even for (I assume) a small team over a long time. No fast travel (even though there is little reason to backtrack), no map (even though areas/sections are linear), some bosses are frustrating until you learn how to "cheese" them, etc.

The pixels are indeed beautiful. The orchestral soundtrack - while sounding very out-of-place at times - still shines in enough cases to make me believe it was the right choice. The story was traditional at the core while offering a couple twists that keep it from being entirely rote.

Playing this for the first time over a year later after all the hype has gone and "Best of" lists written... I feel conflicted. My sense - and I have no facts to back this up - is that 10 years is a very long time for a game (surely a labor of love) to gestate. During that time tastes change, people come and go, events in the world color your perceptions as a person, you grow older and possibly wiser. Perhaps, you find chances to alter parts of yourself. That correction fixes the initial flaw, but subtly adds another. Owlboy feels like that.

I still must recommend this, if only as something to experience and learn from. The parts that make up the flawed whole are indeed something special.

Great for a quick 5 minute diversion when the need arises. Smooth graphics, simple premise, good times.

A nice little charming adventure.

More of the same here if you're a Samorost fan. Fun, rather simple and serene, classic Samorost art style, excellent sound (use headphones!)

I have to give a thumbs up simply because of the neat concept. It's rather short, there's little "game" here, frankly it's all average aside from the scanner and the sound. Worth a play regardless.

This is not a strong recommend, but it's a quick adventure with endearing pixel art graphics. The story, characters, and puzzles lack substance. I'm giving a thumbs up as I want to encourage Squiddershins to go much further in their next game. On the surface, there's talent here. If you can and want to - dig deeper, dev.

This is an interesting mix of interactive fiction/puzzle, walking sim, and horror. Everything about this is well done. The 80's synth music, the general ambiance, the light puzzle elements. The story had just enough of a twist to stay compelling throughout. What makes this worth playing is how all the pieces of the presentation fit together. Substance is there, but it's the styling that wows.

Fun little sand (+ others) physics sim. Worth checking out if you want something a bit more refined than free online sand sims. It's newly released at the time I'm writing this - here's hoping it gets some unique mods to spice things up even more.