Yumi’s Odd Odyssey

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

Yumi’s Odd Odyssey, also known by the title Sayonara Umihara Kawase, is a challenging Platformer released on Nintendo 3DS in 2014, followed by releases on PC and PlayStation Vita in 2015. This is the third main game in the Umihara Kawase franchise, and features a young girl navigating through an odd and surreal world filled with fish-creatures and using a fishing line as a grappling hook.

The presentation in this game is decent but not especially impressive, featuring somewhat simple 3D visuals and backed by a somewhat relaxed synthesized soundtrack.

The gameplay here has players making good use of the grappling hook to traverse levels, and their skill at using this grappling hook will be key to their progress – you really do need to make good use of it to get through the game’s challenging stages. Unfortunately, the core Platformer gameplay is not especially good – it feels clunky, your character’s movements when not using the grapple are slow and highly limited, and movement when using the grapple seems far more difficult to control than it should be.

I could see Yumi’s Odd Odyssey being an acquired taste for Platformer fans looking for a challenge. However, with a price tag of $20, the target audience for this game seems far too narrow for the price. The frustrating controls and high challenge level make this a game most fans of the genre will likely want to skip.

tl;dr – Yumi’s Odd Odyssey is a challenging Platformer where players take the role of a young girl trying to make her way through bizarre levels using a fishing line as a grapple. While the level design here is pretty good, the platforming itself is not. The result is a game that may appeal to some who crave a unique challenge, but most will want to skip it.

Grade: C

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