GamePass reminds me a lot of Blockbuster, you never know what you're gonna find. Today's game is
Olija This is more of a first impression (though I think I'll be finished with the game in just another plays-session or 2).
Olija is a beautifully detailed AND animated pixel-art sidescrolling adventure. I almost rolled my eyes when I learned it was pixel-art, but what assuaged me was how beautifully done the animation is. The movements are so exaggerated that it lends a lot of character to the game. Also, the environments are richly detailed, punctuated by animated ambient elements such as flags or grass. The environments also feature a generous amount of destroyable objects and ambient props. The sound design is excellent, there's a lot of quiet time here so the audio gets to shine as you traverse the environments and deal with your foes. Combat feels snappy and combo heavy, think Guacamelee or Shank. You have two different melee attacks (function the same really) and once you land a fourth consecutive hit you have the opportunity to land a unique powered attack. Each weapon has a thurst move as well, so you can have some mild find mixing your moves. I really do hope the game introduces enemies that necessitate specific inputs, otherwise the combat is definitely going to remain the weakest aspect of the game.
Platforming: the game's biggest hook is the harpoon weapon. It functions both as a melee weapon and as a projectile that can be thrown. The unique mechanic here is that if it lands on an enemy or an environmental prop, you can teleport to it instantly. This is what makes the combat feel MUCH better than it would otherwise if the game just had you close the gaps to your enemies in a more traditional sense. There's some cool visual flair as you zig and zig through the combat engagements. I hope the game amps up the difficulty with the platforming using this mechanic later on (and again, enemies that necessitate its use in strategic ways).
The only boss I've faced thus far didn't necessitate it, but did encourage its use as it hovers high up in the air, giving you the opportunity zip to it and do some damage before it comes down.
Thus far, I've gotta say I'm glad I have this a spin. It's better than I anticipated and definitely see myself seeing it through to the end (which I hear won't take long as I've heard some folks wrap up the entire game in ~4hours).
nerdy details:
-pretty pixel art, great effects, the moving fog, the leaves in the wind
-like that the harpoon stays locked in its place even when you transition to a different "room"
-wonderfully detailed environments and destructible props really sell the environment
-some odd collission bugs where you need to jump over some floors (no biggie, but seems like a minor oversight)
-gameplay things that feel off or affect pacing:
slow climbing (though not too present in the game)
the intro to stages feels laborious and slow as you slowly dock your boat to each level
-combat feels and looks stylish, thanks to the zip mechanic
-groundpound feels great
-the game uses punctuated pauses to sell powerful strikes (groundpound feels great, as do charged attacks)
-YES! You can harpoon walls for climbing, sadly it's very scripted, like the rope arrows in Thief 4. Sucks, b/c I was so excited to see this feature as I loved it in Volgarr the Viking
TLDR: 
knows what it wants to do, does it well while looking and sounding great, not much fat here at all
