Odallus: The Dark Call

in library

4.3/5

( 20 Reviews )

4.3

20 Reviews

English & 3 more

Overall most helpful review

Posted on: July 20, 2015

doppelschwert

Verified owner

Games: 322 Reviews: 5

Classic Metroidvania

This game quite neatly fits wikipedias description of metroidvania, although there is no experience / leveling mechanic involved. Set in a grim world, you play as a badass hunter in search for his lost son. The game consists of 8 stages, each containing a boss and several secrets. Like in Castlevania Order of Ecclesia, you can replay the stages as oft as you want, but once defeated the bosses stay dead. There are also several upgrades which you need to find in the world in order to proceed. Once you have them, you can go back to stages you already beat in order to find some optional power ups / secrets. The game is kind of oldschool in both presentation and gameplay. For example, you have a limited amount of lives (once you lose all of them, you can continue with a new set of 3 lives, but you have to start the current level all over again). There are checkpoints though and if you clear a barrier like a locked door, it will stay unlocked forever. There is a merchant in the game, but his prices permanently rise everytime you buy something (they don't reset after clearing a stage!) so keeping track of your ressources is part of the game if you want to go fully decked to the bosses. This game is mostly about skill and a homage to ghost'n'goblins as well as castlevania, so if you like them you should definitely give it a try. I've heard people can play through the game in 5 hours with 100% completion, but I'm nowhere good as that since I barely covered half the levels after 2.5 hours (which might say more about my lack of skill than about the game). I can only recommend this game from the bottom of my heart - this is the truest successor to the old NES/SNES castlevania games I can think of - thanks to the developers!

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: October 21, 2015

SargeSmash

Verified owner

Games: 663 Reviews: 7

Great Dracula X-Metroid combo

You really can't throw a stick without hitting Metroid-styled indie games these days. This, of course, is a good thing. Odallus falls into this camp, with some differences. It's more akin to Dracula X with the alternate stage paths, and Metroid with the permanent upgrades. The ever-classic Demon's Crest is a good example as well. While taking the role of Haggis, you'll come across the usual abilities: double-jump, float, dash, and so forth. This makes it necessary to revisit previously completed stages to suss out all their secrets. Some are quite the bit tricky to find. Combat takes a bit to get used to. Your initial sword swing is pretty fast, but there's a significant recovery period after, which leaves you open to attacks. Combat in the early going, in particular, can be fast and brutal. If you can track down the health and armor upgrades, things get easier, but they never get too simple. Haggis controls well, for the most part, although some of the physics don't feel completely right, much like JoyMasher's previous title, Oniken. Still, it's nothing that really gets in the way of enjoying the game. Levels are pretty varied, although fielding so many underwater areas is a bold move. It lends to the atmosphere of exploration, but your movement rate is pretty slow there. The graphics are quite excellent, with good spritework and a feel that approximates the NES, although the larger sprites and multiple layers of parallax scrolling will have you thinking TurboGrafx-16 instead. The soundtrack is solid, as well. The plot is pretty dark, but it's really not overly important to this type of game, much like NES games of the time. It's the exploration and upgrading that proves addictive. There are a few slick-looking cutscenes along the way, done in the style of Ninja Gaiden, and they are much appreciated. Really, if you're looking for a solid, NES-style action-platformer, it's hard to go wrong with Odallus.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: November 13, 2016

MoonSong

Verified owner

Games: 199 Reviews: 4

LINUX: Runs well under wine

Unfortunately it's not native to Linux but runs well under Wine, does not work with XInput controllers but if you have a Logitech F310 you can use use your favorite Linux utility to convert Direct Input to keystrokes and it'll work. (Tested on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS 64 bit and Wine 1.6.2) Trying to use the controller on Xinput makes the game crash.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: January 30, 2016

DoubleT28

Verified owner

Games: 63 Reviews: 1

Great Retro Action Platformer

Retro styled games are all the rage today but you instantly feel that this one was made with love. The color palette gives a really dark tone to the game and the gameplay even if ultra classic is top notch. It is a true pleasure to travel between the different levels of the game trying to uncover all their secrets. If you like games like Castlevania or Ghouls'n'Ghosts then you must give this one a try. The only bad point is that I experienced some game crashs without any apparent reasons.

Is this helpful to you?

Posted on: November 2, 2020

BlakouttheMM

Verified owner

Games: 157 Reviews: 2

Retro Does Not Mean Good

This game is exceptionally unfun. I've been gaming since the 90's. I've played every classic Castlevania title, beaten Super Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, and had fun doing it. I like challenging platformers, clearly, and in my quest to play as many as possible, I've run into several awful games. Some have been easy, some have been hard, but they all shared similar traits, issues in design that made them unsatisfying to play. This game contains several. 1. Lack of Recovery Time - The recovery time is so short in this game, that you can easily take a ton of damage from an enemy by being knocked on top of their sprite. 2. Lack of Decent Knockback - Enemy attacks fail to knock you away, compounding with the above problem to cause enemies to jump on you and quickly drain your health. 3. No Range - Part of what made classic Castlevania so fun was cracking that chain whip. It allowed you to attack without having to get right up next to an enemy and risk a cheap hit. Here, you swing a sword, and the hitbox is actually a bit shorter than the sprite! You also swing slightly upwards, forcing you to duck most of the time, and even then you have to get so close to land a hit. 4. Too Big - This game looks and plays a lot like the much-hated Castlevania arcade game, Haunted Castle. That game and this game, Odallus, suck because you have a huge sprite making it hard to dodge incoming fire, Note that in Synphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood, your sprite stays small. Well-animated, well-detailed, but small. This allows for a more fair challenge, as you have more room to maneuver, even when enemies and attacks flood the screen. 5. Too Much Memorization - You should be able to play dynamically, with unpredictable enemies that have attack patterns you have to counter with skill, even after memorizing what to do. But bad games often have cheap traps, forcing you to rely entirely on memory. Like this game. I've run out of room, but in summary this plays like a bad NES game. Retro =/= good.

Is this helpful to you?

...

User reviews

Something went wrong. Try refresh page.

This game is waiting for a review. Take the first shot!

{{ item.percentage }}%

Awaiting more reviews

An error occurred. Please try again later.

Other ratings

Add a review

Edit a review

Your rating:

Stars and all fields are required

Not sure what to say? Start with this:

What kept you playing?
What kind of gamer would enjoy this?
Was the game fair, tough, or just right?
What’s one feature that really stood out?
Did the game run well on your setup?

Inappropriate content. Your reviews contain bad language. Inappropriate content. Links are not allowed. Inappropriate content. Content contains gibberish. Review title is too short. Review title is too long. Review description is too short. Review description is too long.

Not sure what to write?

You cannot save your review due to the following reasons:

You need to select star rating
You need to enter review title
You need to enter the content of your review

Filters:

No reviews matching your criteria

English Deutsch polski français русский 中文(简体) Others

Verified owners Others

Last 30 days Last 90 days Last 6 months Whenever

After release During Early Access

Discover CD PROJEKT RED games

Highlights

Featured

Close, but not an exact hit

Odallus: The Dark Call

Other ratings

Add a review

Edit a review

Delete this review?

Report this review

Additional Details (required):

Report this review