PN Double Review: Squid’s Odyssey

Pure Nintendo is pleased to bring you another Double Review, as James Casson and I take an in-depth look at Squid’s Odyssey on the Wii U eShop …

James Casson’s Review

Squids Odyssey is an endearing little game from a studio named The Game Bakers – interesting, because it’s an unusual recipe that borrows from varying genres to create something new. It blends elements of RPG and strategy games, but is reminiscent of Angry Birds, both in the flick and soar mechanics and some of the sound effects.

Squids Odyssey revolves around a squid named Steev and his companions, who begin the game looting for pearls and end up on a mission to save the underwater kingdom. Their world is threatened by a mysterious black ooze courtesy of The Baron, an evil squid with a world-domination view of inking everything into submission. The ooze has the unfortunate side effect of turning crabs, crayfish and other critters into dangerous monsters, and it’s these guys that Steev and co. must battle in order to reach The Baron and save the day.

The game is divided into 8 temples, each named after a famous movie title, complete with sea pun intact – this type of humor is throughout the game, and will either make you smile or groan.  Each temple contains a number of levels – the number varies between temples for some reason – with a particular goal, from defeating all enemies to finding an exit. There are a few more novel goals thrown in for good measure – these are Trevor’s favorites for good reason, as he describes below – but unfortunately these are not as common as we’d like as they definitely add to the variety. Confusingly, I was able to circumvent the goal of defeating all enemies several times by stumbling upon an exit and thereby completing the level anyway – and I’m not sure whether that was intentionally built into the game or not.  There is good replay value here though, with each level consisting of more than just the primary goal. Completionists will want to fulfil the challenge of three additional tasks per level: collecting a hidden star, finishing with all squids intact, and finishing within a certain number of moves.

The gameplay is where this game stands apart in terms of most RPGs, and where that Angry Birds comparison kicks in. Each level sees you looking top-down over an underwater terrain, littered with obstacles and enemies. The game is turn-based, so you use each squid in your team, and then the enemy follows suit.  Your turn consists of using the stylus or left control stick to pull back the current squid’s tentacles, then release and watch your squid move like a billiard ball to hit whatever is in his or her path. You not only control the direction but the force of the attack, by pulling back the tentacles further for a more forceful strike.

The attacks are fun to use once you get the hang of them, though it does take a few goes and, even then, there’s plenty of room for error. One of my biggest gripes with the game is that many times I more or less accidentally completed a level through sheer luck. It was also excruciatingly easy to fall over the edge, wasting your squid for the rest of the round. Trevor explains very well in his review below how the art style heavily impacts on the performance of your squids by making edges and depths very hard to detect.

Like any good RPG, Squids Odyssey offers different classes of characters to help reach your goal. One of the best elements in this game is the different classes of squids you can control, adding much needed variety. There are four types: scout, shooter, trooper and healer, with each able to perform slightly different moves in addition to the usual pull-back-and-release attack.

Scouts can extend each move a number of times, useful for traversing further or repeatedly hitting an enemy for successive damage. Shooters are gunslingers who can fire a weapon on close enemies. Troopers are more your mêlée specialists who can dole out an additional attack on enemies within close range by thumping into the ground. Healers heal – naturally – and this is achieved by bumping into fellow squids to replenish their hit points (HP).

Your squid loses HP when hit by an enemy or object, and you can level up to gain more HP (and other stats) by spending pearls, collected in treasure chests or by completing certain goals. Levelling up is easy – once you know how. It’s a manual process, and it wasn’t until my squids were being defeated too easily that I tested some options back at base to realize I could do it all along. Like Trevor, I commend this level of customization but at the end of the day, it’s unnecessary – your level will only ever go in one direction. You can also power up with hats, which again isn’t hard but fiddly and not clearly explained. Hats provide a permanent boost to your stats, so you can unlock and then wear others. A little different to other RPGs.

The graphics are nice and clean, with some of the stills used between levels quite stunning. The cartoon-like style sits very well on this platform and the characters have personality, with humor injected into every scene, though again it’s perhaps a little on the nose for some. One particularly fun element is the random snippets that appear on the screen while the next level loads, like “Steev knows the secret ingredient”. These usually bring a smile to my face and nicely distract from an otherwise boring loading screen.

Despite a few downsides to gameplay mechanics and the menu system, this game is fun and creative, with enough flair and personality to make it interesting, and enough replay value to just about justify the $14.99 price tag. This is worth checking out if you’re looking for something different, although hopefully the upcoming 3DS version picks up on some of these issues.

Squid’s Odyssey gets a 7/10

Trev’s Review

Squids Odyssey is a curious blending of a tactical RPG with Angry Birds style physics based gameplay.  While the individual elements are familiar ones, the way they’re scrambled together makes this a game unlike anything else I’ve played.  I’ve really enjoyed the unique feel of the game.  That said, perhaps The Game Bakers would’ve been better off had they set their sights on just one style to start – Squids Odyssey, though very good, had potential for greatness if not for its divided focus.

The plot has you leading a party of heroic squids trying to fend off the evil advancing black ooze that’s wrecking havoc in the ocean.  The underwater setting makes the story feel fresher than it would otherwise, and avoids magic clichés and the like which I appreciate.  I just wish the plot advanced even better – the static cutscenes are adequate, but don’t excel at highlighting the delightfully quirky cast.  There’s a very good plot here, one that should be taken even greater advantage of – these Squids are lots of fun!

The game controls either traditionally or through stylus use.  The flinging mechanic seemed basic at first (perhaps overly so) but eventually proved varied enough.  Frankly though, it doesn’t add much to the game.  In fact, one could argue it detracts more than it benefits.  For one, I notice that tapping shooting enemies often result in them ricocheting rather than firing, often with disastrous results. Worse, the levels are designed in such a way where you’ll routinely fall off the playfield and into holes despite being well clear of them.  As James said, it’s “excruciatingly easy to fall over the edge” and not simply due to errors on your part.  It’s more of a problem with the art (which I’ll expound upon) but the control makes it stand out more so.  It ties back into my earlier point of divided focus.

The visuals themselves look fine – they’re attractive, very colorful, packed with details, and showcase fun animated characters.  It’s the art style that’s just not well suited for the way this game’s been designed.  Often I can’t tell where the playfields end and the backgrounds begin.  Other times the visuals show me well clear of an obvious edge, yet I still fall.  This might actually be indicative of a detection issue as well, but the art’s frequently insufficient at conveying the height and depth of the layered backdrops.  I can’t wait to see how much this game improves when it moves to stereoscopic 3D on the 3DS!  I recall one level that I spent carefully navigating toward the end, only to find out a few feet short of the goal that I was blocked by what appeared to be flat scenery!  Situations like these stem from the art style, and they occurred with enough frequency to affect my enjoyment.  The game already has some issues with difficulty balance (fluctuations from very challenging to ridiculously easy) and the art adds to it.

As you get new recruits to add to your party, they don’t level up automatically.  You must manually choose to do so by using pearls collected throughout the game.  It’s an interesting approach for sure, but one that I have mixed feelings on.  It could be argued that it allows for an extra layer of strategy, yet it feels in ways like a remnant of the game’s mobile origins.  The different classes and item customization allow for experimenting with your party finding the crew that’s best suited to the games fluctuations in challenge.  Overall the setup might not be perfect, but it tries to give the player more control which is a commendable idea.

My favorite levels in Squids Odyssey are those that don’t try to bite off more than they can chew.  Whether trying to bounce friends off the back of a turtle, or navigating dangerous corridors sans enemies, Squids Odyssey is at its best in those levels that reflect a more singular focus.  Unfortunately as James pointed out, these aren’t that common.  In some ways, I think The Game Bakers reach might have exceeded their grasp.  Nonetheless, I really do admire their ambition and desire to try something different.  I don’t think they’ve nailed it this time, but perhaps they soon will – I have confidence!

In spite of these mixed feelings I presented, I really have enjoyed Squids Odyssey.  It’s a fun tale, with a great cast, and some interesting gameplay ideas.  The happy soundtrack is a fine compliment, that’ll grow on you with its enjoyable tunes.  Replay value is well covered, with lots of bonuses to earn, and level grinding that’s refreshingly fun rather than tedious.  And there’s a lot of content here that makes the $14.99 price easier to swallow – this is a compilation of budget mobile games.  I hope The Game Bakers next project will be Wii U native, which might eliminate some of our concerns.  However I still recommend Squids Odyssey – like James, I look forward to the 3DS port which I suspect will be even better!

7.5 out of 10