Japan-based developer Skeleton Crew Studio has teamed up with Devolver Digital for Olija, an adventure platformer about love, death… and a legendary harpoon. Let’s take a look at this bite-sized indie available now on Steam and consoles.
A tall tale
While exploring the high seas for riches and adventure, Lord Faraday and his men were outmatched by a storm, which managed to not only destroy their ship, but also scatter the crew in all directions. This is where the tale of Olija begins – and where the sanity ends.
I will avoid spoilers for obvious reasons, so here’s the short version: Faraday finds himself rescued by a boatman, who brings him to a small island, that will serve as your hub during the adventure. You will encounter – and fight – both the living and the dead, as well as Lady Olija, a character whose importance is probably quite obvious. Your objective is to find and rescue your missing crew, while dealing with… well, all the strange things you find on the way.
Marooned and… harpooned?
Early in your travels you will find the harpoon of legend. A magical weapon that can be summoned to your side with the press of a button. It also works the other way around, however, letting you essentially teleport to wherever you’ve thrown it. Olija is all about figuring out how best to use your harpoon, both in puzzle-solving, platforming and combat.
The harpoon can lock onto a number of things in the world, like enemies, crates and some weird-looking, regenerating plants with eyes, that seem to not mind being murdered if you need to get around. Throughout the story you’ll also find an additional three weapons to supplement the harpoon, one of which can be used for both combat and puzzles.
Each level is an island, or at least part of one, and your trusty boatman will take you where you need to go. Many levels have branching paths, which means that while there may only be one way to start a specific level, you will sometimes find two or three places to finish it. You’re pretty much always looking for two main things, though; maps and keys. Bringing a map to the boatman opens up new levels, and once you’ve collected enough keys, you can unlock a different set of keys that you will need to gain access to the last boss to finish the game.
Each level has a number of collectibles for you to uncover, including your missing crew, though it’s worth nothing that if you take on the last boss without finishing up all your collectibles (and trophies/achievements), you will need to start anew.
Home is where the loot goes
Your hub will gradually expand and come alive as you get through the story and find your missing crew, but you will also need resources found in the environment and dropped by enemies, to buy and upgrade certain things in your hub. This allows you to both permanently increase your health, as well as craft unique hats/masks to equip.
Each time you sail out from your hub, you select a headpiece to wear. These all give unique bonuses, like health recovery from kills, or being immune to acid. They also all look different, giving Faraday a bit of flair too. If you’ve played Hotline Miami, you’ll be familiar with the concept.
Tough at times
Olija isn’t particularly difficult for most of the adventure, but there were a couple of encounters that definitely tested me. The last boss in particular took about an hour to beat, which is quite a lot in a 5-7 hour game. Let’s just say it involved several phases of pure insanity, testing everything the game had taught me thus far.
Oh and for the trophy hunters among you, there unfortunately isn’t a platinum trophy waiting at the end of this particular journey.
-K. A. Pedersen
VERDICT
It was the fast-paced, gory combat and unique visual direction that first drew me to Olija, and while I enjoyed my time with it, there isn’t much here that hasn’t been done better elsewhere. I’m always impressed by games made by small teams and this is no different – just be sure to go in with proper expectations.
Reviewed on: PS5
Available on: PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and Steam.
A review code for this game was kindly provided by the publisher.
