*Real playtime is on PS1*

I am a huge fan of the immediate sequel of this game, called Abe's Exoddus. Recently, I've taken the time to play through this first game, going into it with the knowledge that it's "the same game but shorter and with a few less mechanics".

I was wrong.

Now I need to stress that this game is NOT atrocious by any means. The music, atmosphere, sound effects, characters designs, world building, etc. are masterclass and leagues ahead of today's games industry.

Sadly, Oddysee flops badly in the gameplay department. The challenges and puzzles involved in making progress through this game are really, really awful. The solutions often involve having to do the last thing you'd logically think of, such as jumping into a well that launches you back into the air from right next to it, instead of jumping into it from on high, with the game never explaining that there's a difference. In general, a lot of progress is done by first faffing about for several minutes, before coming up to a precision timing or other critical point, which can be easily failed, then you have to watch the game load for 3 seconds, Abe spawn for 3 seconds and then spend the several minutes faffing about just to get back to the critical point again.

I don't recommend getting this version as it has no emulation save states, which is something that you will need to make this game more bearable.

If you think this game sucks, I do highly, HIGHLY recommend not skipping Exoddus, as the puzzles and challenges are far better designed in that game.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun this game turned out to be. It has a nice balance between challenge and accessibility.‍

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