Octodad: Dadliest Catch Reviews
So grab some friends, throw Octodad: Dadliest Catch up on the big screen, and prepare to laugh and stumble your way through the life of one of the world's best dads.
Once the novelty and the wackiness have worn off, you are left with a short and sometimes haphazard experience that treads an incredibly fine (and wobbly) line between hilarity and frustration. While kids will love the simple, bold, bright cartoon-like characters and physical humour, older players will likely feel that they are constantly at odds with the game's controls and become immune to its charms. If you haven't experienced Octodad before it's worth checking out, but be cautious - it will make you giggle as well as probably stretch your patience.
I wanted to like Octodad more than I did. The concept and craziness of the idea intrigued me and the humor was great. If Octodad were a more robust adventure, I would have very few complaints. While it started out as a great experience, sadly, much like the floppy tentacles of Octodad, Dadliest Catch couldn't hold itself up and began to flail wildly all over the place. The hilarity and novelty wear thin quickly and there was too often that my tentacles became glitched inside of random objects or the environment itself. Octodad is worth experiencing just for how different it is from most other games out there, not to mention the trying multi-limb mode that is the co-op, but don't expect to be enthralled by it for longer than it takes to watch a couple of ocean life documentaries.
The brilliant design used throughout Octodad: Dadliest Catch brings out the absolute best from a bizarre concept that simply needs to be played to be believed.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch is a quirky mix of physics and mini-games wrapped up into a story about an Octopus that pretends to be a man and simply wants to live a normal life with his family.
Octodad is a clever game that is fun in the same sense something like Goat Simulator is. It is hilarity, physics-based mayhem that is entirely random. The difference here is that the developers tried to streamline it with actual objectives and level progression, which can lead to frustration.
Its brevity and reliance on contrived challenges work against Octodad: Deadliest Catch, but when it's at its best, it's a damn hilarious game that'll charm the pants off most players.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch is a game that embraces its craziness. The title's zany controls lead to some even stranger onscreen occurrences, and that culminates in a lot of unexpected entertainment. The release does start to grate in long sessions, and perhaps doesn't have enough gameplay variety to carry its core idea, but with PlayStation Move support and a ridiculous co-op component, the package will spread a smile across even the sternest countenance.
It's a great joke of a game where the punchline can be felt by both players and spectators, and that's why I think Octodad is so special.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch may be a one-joke game, but the team at Young Horses has taken that joke and squeezed as much hilarity out of it as possible. Don't ask questions about the man in the suit — just buy the game.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch knows exactly what type of experience it wants to deliver and, for the most part, it succeeds in doing so. The mechanics work well and the concept is charming and enjoyable. But a few rough patches will likely keep players from seeing the game as anything more than a pleasant distraction or a fun sandbox to mess around in. Luckily, Octodad is a relatively short experience, and even when it starts to get a little dull or frustrating, there's always something different for Octodad to struggle to do.
The game accidentally became a perfect metaphor for itself. It's often charming and it really does mean well, but it has a bad habit of tripping over its own four feet when it really counts. I want to love my Octodad. I really do. But I don't think he really understands me, and – worse – I don't think he really understands himself.
Octodad is a great example of a game that conveys a message through gameplay. In conjunction with its story, characters, and setting, the controls offer an empathetic look into the life of an extreme outsider trying to fit in and trying to do right by his family.
A rewarding, idiosyncratic romp imbued with nonsense, humour, and pathos.
Octodad: Dadliest Catch is a rare beast, then, because it made me laugh out loud the first moment that I ambled down the aisle to meet my doting bride-to-be. Whilst the joke didn't have me splitting my sides with laughter for the entire duration, the shift to a more endearing tale of one sea-dwelling creature's pursuit of a normal life was a welcome one. Octodad: Dadliest Catch is a lovely game, despite its issues.
And that's where Octodad really shines. It keeps you laughing with the sheer absurdity of its lead character, the not-so-subtle references, and fumbling physical comedy that's made all the more potent through your participation. Like a plate of sushi, it might seem a bit pricey for what you get, but it's worth paying a small premium for a fresh catch.
In the end, I would not be surprised to hear that the Octodad community is thriving years down the road. It exudes a certain weirdness and charm that makes it stand out from a lot of other titles out there, and there are tools in place for it to live on past the point when the credits start to roll. Though it has some issues with framerate drops and its approach to control is definitely not for everybody, Dadliest Catch kept a smile on my face for most of its duration.
An often hilarious bit of video-game slapstick that makes up for its shonky second half with delightful gags and a lovably clumsy protagonist.
Some late-game issues not withstanding, Dadliest Catch is a charming, bizarre, genuinely likable little game.