I recently wrote some early impressions on Olija created by Skeleton Crew Studio, a small indie dev based out of Kyoto Japan. As a brief recap Olija is a side scrolling, retro themed, action game that aesthetically borrows heavily from Flashback and to a lesser degree Prince of Persia. It's a stranger in a strange land tale that has you looking for a way back home while also getting mixed up in some local otherworldly business. In a sea of indies that continue to impress with just how how much a small team can accomplish these days Olija came and went with little fanfare. It's a relatively short game that clocks in at around 5 hours and offers no replay value - the game quite literally takes you back to the main menu after you finish it without the ability to go back to a time before the final boss encounter. There may be some cloud save tomfoolery one can engage with to get around the issue but honestly, when I was done with it I didn't feel the need to go back. I don't mean that in a negative way, quite the opposite, I had a great time playing Olija. The controls are snappy, the world is intriguing and the presentation is unique enough to stand apart from its contemporaries out on the market. While the story is slight, it does enough to keep you on track with seeing the journey through to the end. What I most enjoyed about this bite sized indie is that unlike some other similar titles that I've played in the past, Olija wants you to see the credits.

In an age of ever increasing accessibility, being able to tweak a myriad of options to tailor an experience to your personal enjoyment has started to slowly become normalized and accepted. Thankfully developers are starting to move away from verbiage such as "the way it's meant to be played" and recognizing that the way everyone plays and enjoys games is very different from one individual to another. We are moving towards an era of ticking boxes and setting toggles that can alter gameplay mechanics in profound ways. Unfortunately not every team can afford to hire in-house psychologists like Microsoft did for Psychonauts 2, or armies of testers that can put these options through the ringer and make sure that accessibility isn't actually compromising the experience on a technical level. Smaller teams, especially indies, have to rely on internal balance. The accessibility has to be baked into the product when it goes out the proverbial door. This is where I find a lot of indies tend to falter. Smaller teams tend to have more laser focused goals that leave less wiggle room for a broader audience. One might argue that the lower price tag on these titles is another reason why you should "know what you're getting into" before you make the leap. A few years back I remember pulling my hair out playing Capybara’s BELOW. Another highly stylized indie that draws you in with a highly unique presentation and deeply brooding atmosphere accompanied by a melancholy Jim Guthrie score, what was there not to like? Well turns out quite a bit. Below was an incredibly harsh experience that seemed to punish the player at every step of the way. If the enemies didn’t get you, then easily missable instant-kill traps would and the constantly ticking hunger and thirst meters made sure you never felt quite safe. You could even lose a mission critical item required for completing your adventure and be forced to retrieve it upon respawning, except without said item you were at a massive disadvantage just trying to get to it. Everything from the in-game mechanics to the general design of the experience seemed poised to detract you from ever actually seeing the credits. What was most frustrating was that beneath the harsh overbearing exterior I could see how with a few tweaks this could be a really fun adventure that a lot more people would actually see through to the end. Nearly two years after release Capybara announced the addition of an “Explore Mode” for Below that let players take in the brooding atmosphere without having to brave the “brutal test of endurance” of the original experience. At this point one might argue the damage was already done. How many people actually went back to finish Below after it was made more palatable?

What I found most refreshing about Olija was that it’s a game that wants you to finish it. Olija doesn’t go out of it’s way to put roadblocks along your path. You’re not being punished for attempting to see the work of these talented developers. Yes there is platforming but should you die you’re typically respawned a room earlier and allowed to keep trying. You’re never put back at the beginning of the level, forced to replay all the earlier bits just so that you can make your way back around to that one tricky jump. There are no lengthy runbacks or similar tricks that typically serve only to pad out the length of the experience and frustrate the player. The game never burdens you with limited lives, sparse checkpoints or obtuse puzzles. Olija says “here is a little challenge but if you don’t make it hey don’t worry about it, we got you.” The combat has surprising depth with the various weapons and movesets it presents you with, but should you simply mash on the attack button that will get you through most problems just fine. You are allowed to get creative if you want, but you’re not punished for failing to do so. In fact the final boss encounter feels almost out of place and takes you by surprise when you encounter it the first time considering how gentle everything else has been up to that point.

Some might scoff at this and say it’s too easy. That there is no challenge. I would argue that not every game necessitates a challenge in the classic sense of the word. Olija is ostensibly an action game, but first and foremost it is an experience, and it’s not embarrassed by lending you a hand so you can see everything that it has to offer. Rather than getting bogged down by how much pushback these flying green man are giving you with their basic attacks and slow movement speed - no match for your harpoon that lets you close the gap instantly and unleash a barrage of strikes with your sword - you’re encourage to enjoy the sights and go with the flow. This is a much healthier alternative for a smaller team that might not have the resources to put in a dozen different toggles and it’s better than simply giving you a God mode that offers no pushback at all. I had a great time with Olija. It feels great to play and it certainly kept me engaged when I was traversing it’s exotic islands and eerie dungeons. I was always making forward progress which was a welcome respite from some more difficult titles I had played recently. For the story it’s trying to tell it never outstays it’s welcome and by the time the credits rolled I was happy with the time I put into it.

Nicely written. This neatly sums up my thoughts on another indie title, Raji. Thanks Humanity :)

I didn't really like Olija for reasons I've explained.

On the other hand I don't think it's a game that would be improved if it were just more difficult. I think that raising enemy health or damage, or being less generous with checkpoints (not that you really need them) would just make the game more frustrating without making it more engaging.

On the other hand you say that Olija is "first and foremost an experience" and...It doesn't really seem to be built that way. The story is very bare bones. It has some poetic writing but doesn't develop any of its characters or do any world building beyond vague allusions. Its mechanics are very simple and though it adds a few as time goes on it doesn't really do anything with those either. The environments aren't particularly distinct or memorable; if you showed me a random screenshot I couldn't tell you which island it came from unless it related to a very specific moment like a certain boss or story beat.

I think it's pretty telling that you say that "Olija is ostensibly an action game" when actually I think it's at least 50/50 puzzles and action. The puzzles are just so perfunctory that they seem thrown in because it needed to give you something to do. So does the action. There are long stretches where you just walk from one side of the screen to the other and nothing happens. Sometimes it even prevents you from jumping or doing anything else during these walks.

I think your general premise that games don't have to be challenging to be good is correct. I think that games certainly can be good or even great just by providing you with an interesting story or experience or set of visuals and that a lot of developers get caught up in the idea that what makes gaming great is turning it into a test of skill and that alienates a lot of players and often frustrates and annoys even those who push through. I've said before that difficulty is like chili pepper; great in the right dish but not something you need to include in every food you serve and something that can overpower the rest of what you're doing.

But Olija specifically is structured like a game that's more focused on its gameplay than it actually is. It sort of works as a mood piece, I guess, providing a vibe of dread and despair that's pretty effective, but its lack of engaging mechanics makes it pretty monotonous. The rapier is the first weapon you get and you never actually have to move on from it. The last weapon you get adds what seems like it should be a good wrinkle to the puzzles, but there are only like 2 that actually use it.

I guess what I'm saying is that there's a line between making a game forgiving and focusing on the experience and making a game that's kind of dull and doesn't seem to be doing anything with its gameplay. Some games just forego the gameplay altogether and focus on story or atmosphere or aesthetics, and that's fine. I've liked some games that people would term "Walking simulators." But Olija doesn't seem to be going for that and instead provides a good deal of gameplay, and just makes it simple, easy, and uninteresting. I feel like it has a whole lot of content that kind of lacks purpose, especially when its brutal aesthetic seems to imply that it should be a tough and desperate struggle and then it's just...not.

I've always said that difficulty almost always compounds the worst parts of a bad game rather than rescuing it. If you're not having fun with something you won't have more fun by being forced to repeat parts of it over and over, or not being able to satisfy whatever curiosity you have. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call Olija a bad game but I definitely think the same applies in terms of difficulty here. However I think the counterargument is that if you're not going to focus on difficulty and instead going to work on providing an 'experience' you might want to think more about how all the parts of the game you've made fit into that experience and whether everything you've done is serving it well.

I think in Olija a lot of what's there just ends up seeming like filler, when something more interesting could have been done with it.

I played it recently and enjoyed it up to a point, after whcih I fell of so hard and immediately that I don’t think I’ll ever go back. And it wasn’t some boss fight or tough platforming. It was just sudden loss of interest.

My resolution this year has been to walk away from games I’m not enjoying. In the past I have finished almost everything I touch, and I touch a lot. This has resulting in a lot of time spent being unhappy with a game.

I’m the case of Olija, I genuinely enjoyed the first few hours of the game. The combat was zippy, the setting was intriguing and the style was dope. But after I got the last secondary weapon, the moonblade, things suddenly felt tedious. I slogged on for about half hour or so, but I lost all the fun in it like losing your sense of taste. Eventually it felt like mindless chewing. The surprising lack of upgrades to the town (it makes it seem like there will be a bit of base building at first), having maxed out the life and hat upgrades perhaps too quickly, and never totally feeling in control of the combat over mashing buttons and hoping for the best all came to sudden realization for me, and I stopped in the middle of a level, turned it off and uninstalled it.

It’s not really the games fault. There is a ton to like about it. I don’t have an explanation on why I suddenly lost interest, like a good set of dates that you still decide to not continue because it turns out you aren’t as into them as you thought at first.

@tartyron: I doubt you will go back at this point but if it's any sort of motivation, once you get the sword the game is basically almost over. That island with the sword is the very last "level" so if you want to see the ending then there is that. Although if you lost your taste for it altogether then I don't think slogging it out to see credits will be satisfying.

Good write-up! I totally agree - was actually a bit caught off guard by how much I enjoyed the game! I had played the demo and it didn't really stick with me as a Must Play, but I am glad it appeared on Game Pass, where it grabbed me.

It felt propulsive and well-paced, and it compelled me to keep going. I enjoyed the vibes, combat and jumps and puzzlin'. Nothing revolutionary, but slickly executed and a good time! Good it does not overstay its welcome: probably could not have sustained being stretched out over several hours more, unless the mechanics were expanded. Also, I just appreciate a concise experience.