Orbitals review

In the depths of space lies a small settlement. This community is constantly assaulted by a wave of energy known as the Storm Wall. To protect themselves, they’ve placed their consciousnesses into machines known as IMs, with their bodies being able to be reprinted any time they face mortal danger. Maki and Omura were placed inside IMs as kids, and have longed to explore the outside world ever since. As the settlement needs devices known as Reactor Cassettes to reup their shields for the next Storm Wall, the pair finally has their chance. 

Orbitals is pure joy from start to finish. It wastes no time in getting you to the co-op puzzle platforming, but allows you to waste your own time with a friend in a multitude of fun ways if you wish. Maki and Omura can run, jump, dodge, and utilize various tools to explore each of the game’s stages and solve puzzles. There’s no real difference between the two characters, though we noticed Maki might be able to hold her breath longer underwater, but what tool you pick will take you on different routes through the level. For example, the character who picks up the water gun tool will need to spray the lava above them to form a path for the other player, or one might need to steer a small ship by tilting it while the other grapples onto corners for sharp turns. You’re constantly encountering cool ideas and gameplay scenarios like this throughout the game’s five to six hour runtime. 

Between stages (or sometimes during them) you’ll be piloting the pair’s ship around space. More accurately, one of you will be piloting while the other is on the guns. The ship moves along a 2D plane, so no need to worry about up and down here, but you will have to worry about dodging and shooting enemies from every direction. I was the designated pilot for our entire playthrough, so I didn’t get the chance to shoot stuff, but the controls felt really good and I had a blast navigating through space debris, all while making sure my gunner had a steady shot lined up. We did encounter a few instances where we couldn’t really see what was going on or some wonky hitboxes when platforming, both in and out of the ship, but the game is lenient enough that it was never a big issue.

The game moves fast, and the moment you’ve delivered one Cassette you’re off to retrieve the next. The brisk pace gives Orbitals a playful energy mirrored in Maki and Omura. From their designs, you might think Omura is “the serious one” but in reality he’s just as much of a goober as Maki, and the two are constantly quipping and throwing puns back and forth. Their voice acting is fantastic, with both Rebecca Wang as Maki and Stephen Fu as Omura delivering excellent performances that both fit the retro anime aesthetic and make Maki and Omura sound like real people. The rest of the cast isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but these two definitely steal the show.

Orbitals’ visual style is striking. The first time I saw the game in motion, I thought I was looking at 2D sprites moving around a 3D world, but no it’s actually all 3D. I don’t hate realism or anything, but I’m certainly tired of it, so seeing a game absolutely master the retro anime style and run well while doing it makes me want every single video game to start looking like this. That’s hyperbole, of course, but Orbitals is gorgeous in motion and in stills. 

There are also tons and tons of anime cutscenes sprinkled throughout the game. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was enough for a full 20 minute anime episode. It’s all given to you in a way that really reminds me of a game from the era the style is drawing upon, something that would brag about having “blank minutes of animated cutscenes” on the back of the box. Playing Oribitals is less like watching an anime, and more like playing a brand new game in that same vein. The story the game tells is pretty basic, but it’s well told with an emotionally impactful ending and a good message. 

Even with all that going for it, the game part is definitely the highlight of Orbitals. The game’s first half feels so tightly designed it’s some of the most fun I’ve had playing a game in an already stacked year. Unfortunately, the game’s second half is less tight. It remains stunningly creative and a blast to play, but it starts going through gimmicks at a mile a minute, never fully exploring any of them like it did in the first half. The game’s final area feels a bit like a hodge podge of gameplay ideas that the developers just ran out of time or money to really flesh out. Every time we encountered something cool (which, again, was constantly) one or both of us would say something akin to “oh, that’s it?” once we cleared that zone. I’d love to see a follow-up of some kind that further explores these ideas and more, because the game definitely left me wanting more, even if it was a full, self-contained experience.

I’d also love to see some of the mini-games expanded into their own titles, particularly the laser tag one. The mini-games can be hit or miss, none are outright bad or anything, but the only one me and my co-op partner came back to was Laser Tag. Here, one player has the laser tool and must blast the other player as they run away. Rounds are on a timer, and the moment the timer runs out the players swap roles, giving some strategy as to how close you want to be to your opponent once that timer runs down. It’s a ton of fun, and I’m kinda itching to go back and play more, even if it does feel very limited.

Orbitals is a game I’m already itching to play again. It’s just so fun and whimsical that you want to stay in its world for as long as you can. This game is clearly a labor of love and you can feel it with every image drawn on screen, every sound coming from your TV speakers, and every input of the controller.