Developer: Titutitech
Publisher: Square Enix Collective
Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
Tested on: Switch
Oh my Godheads: Party Edition – Review
How do you review a party game without any friends? Party games are always most enjoyed with a group of people to play with. Sure, games like our subject today, Oh my Godheads: Party Edition, has AI enemies, but it’s not really the same. But as with most party games, it’ll be the most fun to play a game with players that are not on a fixed loop of how they play, which gives the game its fun factor.
Story
As we discussed in our review of the game as released on PC here, Oh my Godheads is not a game with a story in and of itself, though it isn’t entirely without it. The game still has the same ten heads of famous gods such as Bastet, Zeus, Gaia, and the flag from other versions of the game. How these Godheads got together for a tournament of capture the flag is up to the player to imagine. As well as the Godheads and the stages that they can exist in, players have a variety of different characters to play as, but as with the Godheads, it’ll be up to the player to give them backstories, as they are not given one either.
Graphics
The game looks best in handheld mode on the Switch, as the flat, geometrical look the game sports will start looking blocky if blown up on a screen larger than the console’s own. The game still has its distinct features it has in its earlier iterations, as well as keeping the other features from the other console’s versions of the games. The Switch is more than capable of handling the game’s graphics, though we did notice it struggle in its heat management, with the fan occasionally going at full speed even in the menus and loading screens.
Sound
Still featuring a theme song per stage, the game has not changed a lot in the sound department. The same songs still accompany the same levels, which are based on cultural music from the location those stages are based upon. The death sounds have not changed either, and the announcer occasionally makes some funny grunts, countdowns, etc. As there is no real story element to the game there is no character reading any dialogue or having conversations, but each of the characters do sound different when attacked, jumping, or celebrating.
Gameplay
Still a multiplayer action game, Oh my Godheads is set up as a party game, with some common elements between other games meant to be played by more than one person. The game features four game modes, ‘King of the Head’ which is of course a king of the hill game mode, ‘Capture the Head’ obviously a capture the flag type, ‘Headhunters’ and ‘Last man standing’ clearly being the deathmatch, and survival game modes you’ll find in games from the Tony Hawk series, to Call of Duty. Gameplay is simple, you pick your game mode, the objectives listed above give you the objective, and you rush to the head and/or the enemy. Surviving for example, can of course be done with your character’s sword, the jump and ground pound, or explosive pie (yeah… really) and you can avoid enemies by running or dashing away from them.
The game has one change up its sleeve from its other versions on PC and consoles; an expansion to the Trials system. As you could read in our other review, the game used to have only 10 trials, but for the switch version Square Enix has pulled out all the stops and expanded it to 60 trials. These trials range from killing as many enemies as you can, or dodging as many of the game’s explosive pies as the player can to achieve high scores or low times. Finishing each of these trials, the player is awarded with a bronze, silver, or gold rank, with the goal being to get all the stages to gold to prove your domination over the game. One gripe we’ve had with the game is the ‘learn to play’ banner that never left the menu, regardless of how many silver or gold medals the player acquires.
Conclusion
Oh my Godheads is not a bad game per-sé, the graphics are appealing, and the soundtrack adds nicely to the experience without being overpowering the sound when you’re screaming at your friend that just killed you right before you score a point, but it is also quite boring to play on your own. You really need the friends to drunkenly play this with you to justify purchasing this title, otherwise it is entirely safe to skip the game completely. Lots of games have game modes that are similar or flat out the same, and while Oh my Godheads consolidates it in a convenient package, it may not be worth the money for everyone who is looking for a party game.
Oh my Godheads: Party Edition - Review,
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