"It's been incredibly difficult to balance this game," agrees Saito, explaining why the title has been so long in development. "Even from the planning stages it's been an interesting game, but to make it so has required a lot of tuning on our part."
It's encouraging that Vivarium is taking the time to refine Odama and, if nothing else, the level design currently shows plenty of variety and ingenuity within its tight parameters. But initial impressions are of a game that's as capricious as it is charmingly surreal, and that's very difficult to wrest meaningful control of. And that could make the difference between Odama being hailed as a cult classic or just another oddball.
An incredible XCOM-like strategy game is finally getting a sequel after 9 years - the latest in a criminally slept-on series that's never seen a bad game
The latest unexpected Steam hit is a $3 must-play and it may still hit greater heights after nearly 7,000 glowing reviews as the dev looks to add multiplayer
