Note: These impressions were all based on the PC version which released two days ago. I haven't played the PS4 version, which from my understanding had a lot of audio issues and iffy control options during release. I don't know if they've been patched, but in the case of the PC edition the bugs are practically completely non-existent (at least, none of them hampered my full playthrough) and the lack of options has been remedied. I'd say they nailed the port.
If someone were to ask me what my favorite series is, I'd undoubtedly say it's Oddworld. Not just because the entire series has had a streak of generally lovable and classic games, but also because the entire series "gets" the concept of theming and creating a huge, lived-in world with lore and memorable characters that can go in any way possible. Even with something like Stranger's Wrath being a huge deviation from the preceding titles, you don't really "question" why the series takes that kind of turn. It's just a separate story in the ever expanding lore of Oddworld. So I've been anticipating New 'n' Tasty in quite some time now because I'd feared for a long time that this franchise was dead and buried. I always held hope that the Oddworld franchise would return one way or another. Lorne Lanning's accumulated portfolio of oddness deserves to reach it's audience and I'd long, long been awaiting the grand return of the Inhabitants, in one way or another.
And truthfully, I think New 'n' Tasty pulled off exactly what it wanted to achieve. Not just in a "barely passes the mark" way either. I mean with flying colors.
Now, I know for a fact that many, many Oddworld fans have been a little less than pleased with New 'n' Tasty, and I honestly don't blame them. The thing about games that are essentially a bottle of genius is that if a series succumbs to an ill fate of budgetary constraints or publishers not believing in the material, it will cause an audience to appreciate it all the more and turn them into the cult classics they are in today's day and age. The first two Abe games are proof of that. While I'm more of an Exoddus person myself, Oddysee is the one that still widely stands as the quintessential, defining "accomplishment" of Oddworld. That game is pretty sacred in spite of it's flaws, and there are perfectly good reasons for that.
A large portion of why that is, is largely thanks to it's perfect execution of theme and narrative, which I'd argue is pretty unparalleled to this day, and it's all lead by one of the most relatable and lovable protagonists in all of gaming. Fortunately, that is one of those things New 'n' Tasty still maintains intact. It's the same story, and I think all of us can appreciate that for it. But this time there's a little more extravaganza involved. There's a little more to the cutscenes and there's more cutscenes in general. I heavily appreciate it, mostly because the new additions to the cutscenes not only adds an additional layer to the already simplisticly beautiful story, but also because it in general allows us to see more of Oddworld. The best thing about this series has always been its world, and as technology's evolved we've been allowed to access more of everything that's within that world.
However, where that narrative is still intact, New 'n' Tasty has done a lot with the game play and visual style to adapt it to a new generation, and this is where people might feel a bit let down. Abe's Oddysee was a very, very deliberate game. The cinematic platforming and puzzling with static screens were the only way everything could be achieved, and due to that very scripted mentality there was a huge sense of focus. With New 'n' Tasty, many things have changed, and although many areas remain similar, it has added a lot of things to the mixture such as non-static screens, more sensitive controls, and most notably of all, a plethora of more Mudokons to save. In keeping with adding all these features, there was no possible way for Abe's Oddysee to remain intact in it's deliberate nature. Some of the design has escaped it's restrictancy and "opened up" a bit. The game play feels a lot more pronounced this time around, as although many solutions to puzzles are still linear, I was thrown for a curveball multiple times in the story when levels I thought I had figured from my experience with the series were changed. But once I delved into the mindset of the game it all ended up filling me with the same joy I'd had with Oddysee, not only allowing for slightly more leeway in terms of puzzles and sometimes more solutions than one, but also having to balance a difficulty curve rather well which can still be amped up with the settings. Admittedly I had to change back to classic controls for me to feel comfortable with it, but in the end I came to appreciate New 'n' Tasty in new terms.
The same can be said about New 'n' Tasty's visuals. A lot of people have criticized the new visuals for turning the previously oppressive atmosphere into something like more of a techno dystopia which might not convey the actually realistic feeling tenseness that's associated with the original Oddysee and Rupture Farms as a whole. But how about the benefits that come with it? Scrabania and Paramonia look more beautiful and than ever. Every area that embodies "nature" is ten times more beautiful than it's ever been. Gorgeous vistas and busy fauna have added such an amazing level of depth to it that it ends up looking how I imagined Oddworld would look with improved technology when I had first played Oddysee. The fact that so much work has gone into making Paramonia look like more of a dense wilder beast jungle and Scrabania look like a dry, yet warm and beautiful, desolate desert/mountain area with amazing sunset horizons adds a lot to the theming Oddysee tries to convey. You're informed throughout the game that Sligs and Glukkons, for the sake of industrialization and profit, had overrun these once majestic lands where the creatures would roam free and rule their territory. Now the visuals drive home the beauty of the landscapes even further, incentivizing the player's hopes to restore everything to its former glory.
As much as I love Abe's Oddysee, a case can be made that it isn't a very accepting game, and that doesn't need to be a bad thing because I fell in love with it in spite of that. But despite the very deliberate game play it has set up, it's easy to call the game a "tour" more than anything. The scripted solutions to a problem tie-in mostly well with all it's mechanics but it's still something of a binary experience in contrast with New 'n' Tasty. But it's important to note that with New 'n' Tasty I feel like it wouldn't have made the franchise justice to have pumped out the same game that we all loved with upresed assets. The game is a reimagining more than anything, and most importantly it's not a game trying to replace it's predecessor.
I think that last part is important, because before I got to play this I watched Matthewmatosis' review on New 'n' Tasty which was on one hand an endless barrage of nitpicks, but on the other a valid critique on the idea that Oddysee needed improvements to it. You can argue whether or not that fully needed the redone treatment, but if it's a matter of reintroducing Oddworld there's not really a better place to start here. I always feel like the worst remakes are those that disrespect their predecessors by adding game play innovations and useless changes without accounting for how that changes the design (i.e Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes). That's not really the case with New 'n' Tasty as it's clear the developers recognized that in many aspects, Oddysee is still appreciated throughout the world, and they can offer a bit more on top of that. It feels like when GRIN remade Bionic Commando: Rearmed when coinciding with the franchise revival - it's a fantastic game in it's own right that is based on a game that came before it, but changes everything with an array of improvements so as to make it feel like it isn't replacing the original, but adding new things with a new perspective. It's a game that co-exists with it's franchise as a separate perspective, and depending on my mood I'm very much invested in the idea of replaying both the remakes and originals in the future. Oddysee is that nostalgic, classic dish I always cherish, and New 'n' Tasty is something... well, new. And pretty tasty.
I don't think there's any right or wrong way to think of the new entry in Oddworld, at least from the perspective of "whether it's better or worse". I feel like both games are fantastic in their own right and whatever you prefer comes down to your subjective view on how you ideally picture the franchise (real talk Exoddus is still better than Oddysee, fight me). The interesting thing that's always baffled me from time to time however is some of the audacity associated with a large number of Oddworld fans who have felt relatively betrayed with the new series in regards to what it does. I mentioned earlier how Matthewmatosis' review was a relentless skewering of the game which also went so far as to criticizing JAW's competency as developers and whether they're even a good fit for the franchise going onward, without recognizing the strengths achieved by adapting Oddysee from a new perspective. I've seen people who haven't even played New 'n' Tasty because of that review, quite a few who share that opinion in general and so forth. People kept citing it everywhere, including on Jimquisition's Game of the Year 2014 video because of him having nothing but praise for New 'n' Tasty as one of his favorite games of yesteryear. Usually feedback like this doesn't phase me but because of the incredibly thin line this franchise walks in terms of falling back into a bottomless pit of irrelevancy, it was all a little bit upsetting for me to stomach when the game is this great. I will admit, for a while before release, I was skeptical going into New 'n' Tasty. But the end result had me more surprised than I'd ever been.
I generally feel like that might just be because when you actually sit down and look at the facts, what I've been most skeptical about for a long time isn't whether Oddworld would get good games, but whether or not the Inhabitants have done good in entrusting the entire franchise in the hands of a pretty small indie studio, which is only half the size of what Inhabitants was when Oddysee was made. You'd think that something of such sheer scope would demand an AAA studio attached, and that the end result here is this amazing has me optimistic in every way. The small team at JAW managed to push the Unity Engine to the absolute brim with this game in a respecting new iteration. All of the new content is a welcome addition to the Oddworld series and is competently designed for it. The entire gaming sphere has regressed from it's wild west market sphere and with indies on the rise it's getting back up there. But it still has a long way to go, and I'm still wary for the future of Oddworld. I hope that JAW can continue to carry it because they've impressed me.
And if you were on the fence with the game or never played it on account of being scared that it'd somehow be an inferior remake or even tarnish the legacy, I implore you to try the game, or at least, replay the game with a different perspective. This is one of the golden opportunities that gaming has had at rekindling that love and appreciation for one of the most amazing franchises of all time. It'd be one thing to not support a bad game, but this is far from a bad game. It's a stellar reimagining that even though might not ever be as appreciated as Oddysee, has shown signs of dedication, love and quality put into it. JAW have been incredibly dedicated to this series for quite a while now, and I can't wait to see what the Inhabitants are going to cook up next if this is of any indication.
The credits music was kinda jarring though. Also wish the cutscenes were 60 fps.
If someone were to ask me what my favorite series is, I'd undoubtedly say it's Oddworld. Not just because the entire series has had a streak of generally lovable and classic games, but also because the entire series "gets" the concept of theming and creating a huge, lived-in world with lore and memorable characters that can go in any way possible. Even with something like Stranger's Wrath being a huge deviation from the preceding titles, you don't really "question" why the series takes that kind of turn. It's just a separate story in the ever expanding lore of Oddworld. So I've been anticipating New 'n' Tasty in quite some time now because I'd feared for a long time that this franchise was dead and buried. I always held hope that the Oddworld franchise would return one way or another. Lorne Lanning's accumulated portfolio of oddness deserves to reach it's audience and I'd long, long been awaiting the grand return of the Inhabitants, in one way or another.
And truthfully, I think New 'n' Tasty pulled off exactly what it wanted to achieve. Not just in a "barely passes the mark" way either. I mean with flying colors.
Now, I know for a fact that many, many Oddworld fans have been a little less than pleased with New 'n' Tasty, and I honestly don't blame them. The thing about games that are essentially a bottle of genius is that if a series succumbs to an ill fate of budgetary constraints or publishers not believing in the material, it will cause an audience to appreciate it all the more and turn them into the cult classics they are in today's day and age. The first two Abe games are proof of that. While I'm more of an Exoddus person myself, Oddysee is the one that still widely stands as the quintessential, defining "accomplishment" of Oddworld. That game is pretty sacred in spite of it's flaws, and there are perfectly good reasons for that.
A large portion of why that is, is largely thanks to it's perfect execution of theme and narrative, which I'd argue is pretty unparalleled to this day, and it's all lead by one of the most relatable and lovable protagonists in all of gaming. Fortunately, that is one of those things New 'n' Tasty still maintains intact. It's the same story, and I think all of us can appreciate that for it. But this time there's a little more extravaganza involved. There's a little more to the cutscenes and there's more cutscenes in general. I heavily appreciate it, mostly because the new additions to the cutscenes not only adds an additional layer to the already simplisticly beautiful story, but also because it in general allows us to see more of Oddworld. The best thing about this series has always been its world, and as technology's evolved we've been allowed to access more of everything that's within that world.
However, where that narrative is still intact, New 'n' Tasty has done a lot with the game play and visual style to adapt it to a new generation, and this is where people might feel a bit let down. Abe's Oddysee was a very, very deliberate game. The cinematic platforming and puzzling with static screens were the only way everything could be achieved, and due to that very scripted mentality there was a huge sense of focus. With New 'n' Tasty, many things have changed, and although many areas remain similar, it has added a lot of things to the mixture such as non-static screens, more sensitive controls, and most notably of all, a plethora of more Mudokons to save. In keeping with adding all these features, there was no possible way for Abe's Oddysee to remain intact in it's deliberate nature. Some of the design has escaped it's restrictancy and "opened up" a bit. The game play feels a lot more pronounced this time around, as although many solutions to puzzles are still linear, I was thrown for a curveball multiple times in the story when levels I thought I had figured from my experience with the series were changed. But once I delved into the mindset of the game it all ended up filling me with the same joy I'd had with Oddysee, not only allowing for slightly more leeway in terms of puzzles and sometimes more solutions than one, but also having to balance a difficulty curve rather well which can still be amped up with the settings. Admittedly I had to change back to classic controls for me to feel comfortable with it, but in the end I came to appreciate New 'n' Tasty in new terms.
The same can be said about New 'n' Tasty's visuals. A lot of people have criticized the new visuals for turning the previously oppressive atmosphere into something like more of a techno dystopia which might not convey the actually realistic feeling tenseness that's associated with the original Oddysee and Rupture Farms as a whole. But how about the benefits that come with it? Scrabania and Paramonia look more beautiful and than ever. Every area that embodies "nature" is ten times more beautiful than it's ever been. Gorgeous vistas and busy fauna have added such an amazing level of depth to it that it ends up looking how I imagined Oddworld would look with improved technology when I had first played Oddysee. The fact that so much work has gone into making Paramonia look like more of a dense wilder beast jungle and Scrabania look like a dry, yet warm and beautiful, desolate desert/mountain area with amazing sunset horizons adds a lot to the theming Oddysee tries to convey. You're informed throughout the game that Sligs and Glukkons, for the sake of industrialization and profit, had overrun these once majestic lands where the creatures would roam free and rule their territory. Now the visuals drive home the beauty of the landscapes even further, incentivizing the player's hopes to restore everything to its former glory.
As much as I love Abe's Oddysee, a case can be made that it isn't a very accepting game, and that doesn't need to be a bad thing because I fell in love with it in spite of that. But despite the very deliberate game play it has set up, it's easy to call the game a "tour" more than anything. The scripted solutions to a problem tie-in mostly well with all it's mechanics but it's still something of a binary experience in contrast with New 'n' Tasty. But it's important to note that with New 'n' Tasty I feel like it wouldn't have made the franchise justice to have pumped out the same game that we all loved with upresed assets. The game is a reimagining more than anything, and most importantly it's not a game trying to replace it's predecessor.
I think that last part is important, because before I got to play this I watched Matthewmatosis' review on New 'n' Tasty which was on one hand an endless barrage of nitpicks, but on the other a valid critique on the idea that Oddysee needed improvements to it. You can argue whether or not that fully needed the redone treatment, but if it's a matter of reintroducing Oddworld there's not really a better place to start here. I always feel like the worst remakes are those that disrespect their predecessors by adding game play innovations and useless changes without accounting for how that changes the design (i.e Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes). That's not really the case with New 'n' Tasty as it's clear the developers recognized that in many aspects, Oddysee is still appreciated throughout the world, and they can offer a bit more on top of that. It feels like when GRIN remade Bionic Commando: Rearmed when coinciding with the franchise revival - it's a fantastic game in it's own right that is based on a game that came before it, but changes everything with an array of improvements so as to make it feel like it isn't replacing the original, but adding new things with a new perspective. It's a game that co-exists with it's franchise as a separate perspective, and depending on my mood I'm very much invested in the idea of replaying both the remakes and originals in the future. Oddysee is that nostalgic, classic dish I always cherish, and New 'n' Tasty is something... well, new. And pretty tasty.
I don't think there's any right or wrong way to think of the new entry in Oddworld, at least from the perspective of "whether it's better or worse". I feel like both games are fantastic in their own right and whatever you prefer comes down to your subjective view on how you ideally picture the franchise (real talk Exoddus is still better than Oddysee, fight me). The interesting thing that's always baffled me from time to time however is some of the audacity associated with a large number of Oddworld fans who have felt relatively betrayed with the new series in regards to what it does. I mentioned earlier how Matthewmatosis' review was a relentless skewering of the game which also went so far as to criticizing JAW's competency as developers and whether they're even a good fit for the franchise going onward, without recognizing the strengths achieved by adapting Oddysee from a new perspective. I've seen people who haven't even played New 'n' Tasty because of that review, quite a few who share that opinion in general and so forth. People kept citing it everywhere, including on Jimquisition's Game of the Year 2014 video because of him having nothing but praise for New 'n' Tasty as one of his favorite games of yesteryear. Usually feedback like this doesn't phase me but because of the incredibly thin line this franchise walks in terms of falling back into a bottomless pit of irrelevancy, it was all a little bit upsetting for me to stomach when the game is this great. I will admit, for a while before release, I was skeptical going into New 'n' Tasty. But the end result had me more surprised than I'd ever been.
I generally feel like that might just be because when you actually sit down and look at the facts, what I've been most skeptical about for a long time isn't whether Oddworld would get good games, but whether or not the Inhabitants have done good in entrusting the entire franchise in the hands of a pretty small indie studio, which is only half the size of what Inhabitants was when Oddysee was made. You'd think that something of such sheer scope would demand an AAA studio attached, and that the end result here is this amazing has me optimistic in every way. The small team at JAW managed to push the Unity Engine to the absolute brim with this game in a respecting new iteration. All of the new content is a welcome addition to the Oddworld series and is competently designed for it. The entire gaming sphere has regressed from it's wild west market sphere and with indies on the rise it's getting back up there. But it still has a long way to go, and I'm still wary for the future of Oddworld. I hope that JAW can continue to carry it because they've impressed me.
And if you were on the fence with the game or never played it on account of being scared that it'd somehow be an inferior remake or even tarnish the legacy, I implore you to try the game, or at least, replay the game with a different perspective. This is one of the golden opportunities that gaming has had at rekindling that love and appreciation for one of the most amazing franchises of all time. It'd be one thing to not support a bad game, but this is far from a bad game. It's a stellar reimagining that even though might not ever be as appreciated as Oddysee, has shown signs of dedication, love and quality put into it. JAW have been incredibly dedicated to this series for quite a while now, and I can't wait to see what the Inhabitants are going to cook up next if this is of any indication.
The credits music was kinda jarring though. Also wish the cutscenes were 60 fps.