Pr0methiumX

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.