Recent reviews by Jru247

Octodad is a wonderful premise; an octopus disguised as a human trying to live a normal life, yet failing to do the most basic of things due to the fact that, well, he's an octopus. It sounds like the premise of a great Saturday Morning Cartoon. The result the game delivers however feels a bit more like the 2-hour series finale to an Octodad cartoon, rather than a pilot to kickstart a great new IP.

The mechanic of flailing around, switching between controlling Octodad's arm and his legs works well enough, making the puzzles difficult but not impossible (although some of the arcade games are a real pain to finish). Some of the puzzles toward the end can feel really, for lack of a better word, gamey. Climbing difficult platforms and even a boss fight. The big selling point for the gameplay was that the difficulty came from doing things normal people can suceed without a lot of difficulty but are substantially harder without proper control of your body. This game is like Surgeon Simulator 2013 in the sense that the main mechanic is frustration and like said game it works to the game's benefit.

The added co-op feature also adds a bit to the replayability, having one player with the keyboard and mouse control one part of octodad while another player with a controller controls another part. The included "roulette mode" randomly switches which parts are controlled by which player after completing every objective. Both result in a frustratingly fun experience for two players.

The game's main suffering point is its length; a non-completionist playthrough averaging in around 2 hours. Which is a shame, because the plot is interesting enough to carry you through it and the characters (particularly the titular dad himself) are all very endearing and well written (this is some of the most realistic child dialogue I can think of in a game). The game's humor, besides from the main mechanic, works well throughout the game from start to finish. From various references to generally funny dialogue between characters. It is also nice to see a family friendly game around. I can easily see a child laughing at Octodad's goofy antics and blubbing, or perhaps playing co-op with a sibling or parent.

Octodad could have easily been done in an episodic format; a new episode, some new mundane situation made more challenging by being an octopus (jury duty, career day at school, chaperoning a field trip, etc.). The announcement of free levels being added later this summer does give me hope for Octodad. I could easilly see myself paying money for a big pack of levels in this style.

In the end, Octodad is a short but sweet title. Enjoyable for children and adults, a good sense of humor, memorable characters, and gameplay unlike any other. Hopefully upcoming updates from Young Horses and content from the Steam Workshop will help make Octodad: Dadliest Catch a classic.