Olija: PS4 Review 

Developed by Skeleton Crew Studio
Released by Devolver Digital
Platform: PS4

One man made Olija, a pixel game about a man shipwrecked and trying to find his way back.

One man - and it's quite the achievement.

Olija is about Faraday, lost in a mysterious and dangerous land. Traversing its 2D edges, Faraday encounters many strange creatures, lost people and also a harpoon. A deadly harpoon that can be harnessed to wreak havoc and spear enemies from afar while allowing you to vault into them.

It's very much a modern version of the Odyssey, with nasty creatures like blobs to get in your way - as you try to head back home, using your harpoon to warp around the world, and get into places that you couldn't reach before. 

Combat in Olija is fairly frenetic and relatively fun, as you beat the critters up and then avoid getting hit. Supercharged repeated hits give you a chance to unleash a mega-attack, and it's all over, rover. 

It has to be said that the pixel style is a bit of a mixed bag.

At times, the 2D nature of the game works very very well, looking a lot like bizarrely, the old Commodore 64 game, Bruce Lee. But occasionally, it also hinders the game as well. A lack of defined faces or even limbs, sometimes means the game feels like its own blob. Climbing up and down ladders and so forth makes Faraday look a little much like a heap of pixels, rather than a fully formed individual.

All in all, Olija takes a little to get used to - certainly from its mapping possibilities, the game is a bit trickier to negotiate. But stick with Olija - much like its singular titular hero, the herculean effort put in by one man at Skeleton Crew Studio makes it well worth a brief investment of time for its short run.

A review key for Olija was provided by Devolver Digital for the purpose of this review.