Octodad: Dadliest Catch Reviews
Octodad: Dadliest Catch offers a short, good value and entertaining romp that should satisfy those looking for something a little different.
The game stumbles, though, when it focuses more on the "octo" and less on the "dad."
Octodad is a short, sweet story with some fun gameplay and challenging tasks. Grab three friends for some multiplayer action.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch's back half wouldn't be so disappointing if the front wasn't so wacky and enjoyable. The titular octopus has the potential to gain as iconic a status in indie gaming as Meat Boy or Minecraft Steve - he just needs a consistently great game to achieve it.
It's hard to recommend a game that may or may not work each time you load it up.
In the end, the entertainment value of Octodad rests on one all-important factor; what kind of sense of humor you, as a player, have. If you can laugh at the absurdity of game mechanics, then this game will be silly, goofy fun and well worth the $15. If, on the other hand, you get mad at any design failing that impedes your ability to win, this game will simply bore you at best, enrage you and make you put your foot through your TV at worst.
Octodad: Deadliest Catch is a silly game with a silly yet simple idea, and it works well in just being that.
Octodad is a pretty interesting game. It takes a huge risk in making frustrating controls its centerpiece of gameplay, but it really pays off considering the absurd subject matter. It's not without its flaws, especially considering the repetitive level design, but it's undeniably fun. Octodad is one of those rare games that literally gets you to laugh out loud while playing it. It's a comedy in a landscape filled with dramas starring hardened marines and action movie stereotypes. It's a real gem of an experience and for $10-$15 dollars, depending on whether or not you have a PlayStation Plus account, it's certainly a game worth spending your time and money on.
Octodad succeeds as both a gut-busting slapstick routine and a touching treatise on what it means to be a family. It's a little short, and it won't turn the gaming world on its head, but at least it's fun, replayable, heartwarming and didn't cost 15 million dollars.
Still, Octodad is three hours of fun I wouldn't want to throw back. While it is too short an experience it's a great, unique one and I urge anyone who likes fun games to give it a go. Anyone who played Surgeon Simulator and thought it was hilarious should immediately pick up Octodad, and anyone who thought it was funny but wanted a fuller game experience should be covered too. Dadliest Catch is funny, charming, challenging, and packed with loveliness. It's over too quickly, but I can't think of anything I'd rather be playing in that time.
Playing and enjoying Octodad: Dadliest Catch seems to require an active narcotic influence; however, thanks to deliberately obtuse controls and a conscious sense of humor, even the most capable operator will inevitably render their invertebrate avatar a hilarious mess of tentacles and destruction. In a game like this there's careful line between frustration and elation, and Octodad walks it (or slides down, falls along, slithers against - whatever) with appreciable balance.
Don't get me wrong, Octodad is a ton of fun. It's got a self-aware irreverence—call it the Katamari factor—that you usually only find in indie games. That being said, with games like that, I usually focus on the stand-out moments, like the big reveals in Gone Home, the progressive decay of Limbo, or even the silly mysteries of something as slight as Frog Fractions. Octodad doesn't have anything like that. It's a giddy little glide full of heart and genuine goodwill, but never manifesting into anything more than a distraction.
Young Horses' Octodad: Dadliest Catch makes up for clunky controls and a rough final act with undeniable humor and charm.
Dadliest Catch may have the worst control scheme of any game I've ever played, and that's the entire point.
As a game, Octodad seems less interested in entertaining and is more intent on taking the player through a journey, and by its own design can be an incredibly stressful affair. Break it down and you'll see why: challenges involve shopping, chopping wood and pouring yourself a cup of coffee. Add this on top of a few technical hiccups, such as slowdown and some drops in framerates, and you have a middle of the road title.However, this game is all about portraying life's bigger picture and would appear to be one big analogy for some of life's biggest challenges and the problems some of us face, depending on you interpret it. That in itself is good art and also where Octodad is a success. The real fun lies in seeking your own meaning behind this bizarre title and helping Octodad cross the metaphorical finish lines that seem to plague his every turn - no matter how mundane the challenges are or how taxing it may be to guide him through life, he's a character you'll want to see succeed.
Dadliest Catch is a wily, outstanding title in the vein of infamous freeware QWOP. With awkward controls, volatile physics and formidable environmental puzzles working in compelling harmony, Dadliest Catch makes the player the architect of physical comedy in a brilliant and idiosyncratic way.
Smartly built, endlessly entertaining, and unexpectedly heartwarming, Dadliest Catch manages to turn an utterly ridiculous concept into one of the most surprising games in recent memory.
Originally and stupidly funny, with plenty of charm wrapped up in a package that is a bit too short.
Octodad has brilliant ideas, endearing characters and a great sense of humour, but as a game it's not quite where it should be. The deliberately vague controls cause a little frustration along with the hilarity, and it's not long enough or rich enough to hold your interest for more than an evening or afternoon. There's potential here for something great, but Octodad needs to stretch those tentacles further if it wants to reach that point.
Octodad isn't a game that's for everyone but it is unique and for that I applaud it.