| | Squids Odyssey Review |  Sun Jun 29, 2014 3:26 pm by Cap'n Pancakes | Treasure of the Deep
With Nintendo's much improved eShop service on the Wii U and 3DS have come many new and exciting possibilities. One such example is the porting of popular mobile titles to Nintendo's machines. The subject of today's review is one such game. Is Squids Odyssey worth your time, or should it have stayed on mobile platforms?
The story in Squids Odyssey is a rather basic and cliched affair. An evil black slime has started to spread across the ocean, destroying everything in its path and turning the sea life into aggressive monsters. You take control of a party of four heroes, (meeting more along the way), to journey across the ocean and seal the malicious ooze back in the seven temples. The cast of characters that you meet along the way is colorful and charming, if not a little generic. The story isn't the game's draw however, instead the unique gameplay mix of action, RPG, and strategy is the main reason the game is so compelling.
The game is split up into various chapters, each containing a multitude of levels. Unfortunately, progression is linear, so previous chapters must be completed before the next is unlocked. In each level you are given a certain objective, usually either reaching a certain point on the map or defeating all the enemies in the level. You control your squids by flinging it around the level by stretching back its squishy tentacles, releasing, and watching it zoom and bounce off obstacles. Each squid has a stamina bar regulating the amount of times it can be flung before ending its turn. Attacking enemies is as simple as letting a squid fly straight into them, but there is also an element of strategy to be had here. There are four different classes of squid and each one has a special ability. The game gets challenging rather quickly, so you need to manage your turns as well as each squid's special ability wisely if you want to survive.
In addition to this there are also some RPG styled customization elements that add to the gameplay. Using pearls collected throughout the missions, you can purchase a variety of hats and power-up items from a store, as well as level-up each individual squid's stats. Unlike many RPG's however, once an items attributes have been added to a character, they stay forever. This is nice from the perspective that you are free to wear whatever hat you like the most rather than the best one, but it also means you won't be comparing gear and selecting the piece most suited to your playstyle like most RPG's. The only other complaints I have about the gameplay are rather minor. The fact that you buy level-ups instead of earning them by beating enemies makes leveling-up feel underwhelming since hats do the exact same thing. The core gameplay is also a bit simple with little variation throughout the game, though thankfully it doesn't become too much of a problem, but it is best suited for shorter play sessions because of this.
The overall game is fairly polished, but there are a few spots where its roots as a mobile game show. The graphics are bright and cartoony, but they won’t blow you away by any means. Listening to the soundtrack however, I was quite surprised at how good it was. There are some great tunes here even if they aren’t particularly memorable. Off-TV play is supported, and well as touchscreen controls for navigating menus and flinging squids. For some reason or another, while the game is displayed on the TV you can’t use the Game Pad’s touchscreen to navigate through the shop and menus. While it’s just a small inconvenience, it is a strange design decision.
Squids Odyssey is a very enjoyable strategy game with an extensive amount of content that justifies its fifteen dollar price tag. With a flurry of indie titles coming to the Wii U’s eShop this year, it would be easy to overlook Squids Odyssey, but if you do you’re missing out on one of the system’s most unique and charming offerings.
Score: 8/10
Review Copy provided by The Game Bakers.
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