Orbitals

A gorgeous and cleverly designed two‑player co‑op adventure that turns retro anime nostalgia into smart, heartwarming puzzle‑driven storytelling.

A well crafted adventure that shows real charisma and an excellent level designs for two. One of the most interesting games of the year for Switch 2.

Orbitals is proof that there’s space in the co-op adventure genre for other teams to create something truly special. Its incredible art direction and fantastic moment-to-moment gameplay make this an engaging adventure from start to finish. Although the main plot sometimes fades into the background and you’ll hit the credits sooner than expected, it’s still a memorable experience, one that stands out through its creativity, charm and sheer sense of fun.

For younger audiences and those who still cherish the couch co-op experience, Orbitals is one of the must-buy titles of the year.

Orbitals is a charming co-op adventure that stands out thanks to its stunning retro-anime aesthetic and a great variety of puzzles that steadily increase in difficulty. While its story isn't quite as compelling as it could have been, it delivers a polished, carefully crafted experience that proves you don’t have to reinvent an entire genre to make something genuinely good.

Orbitals is a charming, visually striking co-op adventure. It takes a while to get off the ground, but when it does, it really sticks the landing.

Despite its gorgeous anime-inspired presentation, Orbitals never quite manages to reach the heights it desperately aims for. There is an undeniable passion stitched throughout each piece of the game, but a lack of difficulty and lackluster narrative leave me mixed. Younger players could have a great time with Orbitals, but I struggle to recommend it to anyone looking for anything more than a surface-level experience.

I recommended this game to anyone that loves retro anime and wants to experience something different with a friend or family member. I love the esthetic, the atmosphere and the music. I have not completed the game 100% but so far I’ve been enjoying playing with my friend. The other cool feature of this game is that you only need one copy of the game to play it. And the other person doesn’t even have to own a Nintendo Switch 2 to help you in this journey. I share my copy of the game with a friend by using Gamechat when his not near, and it works wonderful. You can also play it locally with a second controller or by using GameShare. You can also play online with another person that owns the game. It really gives you multiple ways to enjoy this experience with another player. The other great thing is that it came as a full physical cartridge, and for the price I think is worth it! I have been enjoying the story so far, the gameplay feels snappy and the voice acting is 10/10! You also have multiple languages that you can change for added customization and accessibility. It might be a short game but this game deserves recognition and I would love a sequel!

The gameplay feels a little bit tacking ... the mobility is not good but the artist design feels magical and charming.

This is an extremely solid game. The aesthetic is absolutely perfect. The game length is perfect. My big issues are there just isn’t enough variety and creativity in the moment to moment gameplay. I was never super excited about what I was playing. Another small issue was there would be dialogue happening in Japanese while action was happening in game, so obviously might be missing cool/funny/story content! I would recommend this game though!

This game did not meet my expectations. To be fair, all I had heard about this game was that is was a Co-Op game akin to It Takes Two set in space and in a retro anime style, which it definitely is. But I guess I overestimated the depth of the game's systems. I found the ship navigation/combat to be woefully simple. Even when my partner and I had some difficulty, it was never for long. And there was not nearly enough of it. Outside of the visual style, the atmosphere of the space environments felt dull and further added to my boredom while playing through the ship portions. The puzzle platformer sections are more enjoyable, but for the most part very simplistic and equally linear. My partner (who is a fairly casual gamer) agreed that the puzzles were pretty easy. Why does the game tell you what items you need before starting a mission? Doesn't that remove all the trial and error that comes with a puzzle game??? We breezed through the game in about 6 hours. The final main area is when the game finally started to feel like iNarratively, the story is lackluster. Plot information is exposited and then suddenly reintroduced with great import but zero emotional weight. The characters are shallow archetypes, which definitely fits in with the retro anime style, but is frustrating when so much of the emotional arc hinges on you buying into the main characters emotional connection with the colony and it's inhabitants, and I felt none of that. How am I supposed to care about a home base when you spend absolutely zero time there? Overall, I got caught up in the hype, and was left wanting much more than this game could deliver. Orbitals is all flash, and very little substance.

As my first switch2 game, it left an awful lot to be desired. game is uninspired. Just a blatant copy cat of the classic It Takes Two but with anime aesthetic. I got bored before the midway point which is a mark of a bland game design. After beating it I felt compelled to vent about it.