OVIVO Demo

Video games have proven many times that simple ideas do not necessarily end up being disappointing after too much play time, especially if they allow you to get better scores or choose a higher difficulty level. On the other hand, it’s important for the games to feature some kind of new ideas, otherwise they get boring and repetitive in a rush.

OVIVO is a 2D puzzle-platformer in which you play as a weird character that’s able to switch between two dimensions at will. Naturally, you have to make use of this ability in order to explore the levels and overcome a variety of obstacles and traps. To complicate things even further, optical illusions play a crucial role in the grand scheme of things as well, which is great if you enjoy a challenge.   In short, the goal is to help OVO - the main character - explore a weird world and switch between the two black and white dimensions in order to move further and further. It gets easier to familiarize yourself with the mechanics after a bit of practice, especially since it only takes the press of a button to inverse gravity and cleverly avoid gaps, spikes, or various other traps.

Metaphors are an important part of the experience as well, given the fact that many levels feature some kind of analogy or a design that should mean something if you pay enough attention. As mentioned before, optical illusions can give you a few headaches too, especially when they force you to think outside the box and also react fairly quickly in order to stay alive.   Lastly, the graphics are not particularly impressive, but it’s interesting to see what the developers have managed to achieve with just two colors, namely black and white. The world around you evolves with every step you take, and everything gets more complex later on in the game. The soundtrack is worth a mention as well, because it really goes great with the overall atmosphere.

Even if it may not feature the classic elements you would expect from a platformer, OVIVO is a nice deviation from the norm, especially when the market is filled to the brim with copycats and clones. Hence, this one really deserves a try if you want something a bit different for a change.