Oddworld Soulstorm Thoughts

Oddworld Soulstorm thoughts (spoilers)
There are spoilers here.

I have been waiting so long for this game! It’s been four years. Additionally, Oddworld hasn’t made an original story since 2005. Did it live up to the wait?

In story terms, somewhat. In game terms, no.

I also have a big problem with the game that I'll get to.

I love this franchise so much and I’m glad to see more stuff from the franchise. There were some good things and some bad things. There have been so many promises and so many things have been hyped up; the game does completely not live up to the hype and the promises. I also wonder how experiencing the game would have been like without the four years of trailers and preparation.  My main interest in this game was for the story, so that’s my focus.

I’ll go over the good things first.

• Regarding positives, I appreciate Abe’s characterization. It’s more human, and it does a great job at showing his intended empathy. At the start, he doesn’t want to fight anymore. He just wants it to be over. This is a good storytelling quality and realises the intention for Abe to be a relatable everyman. But then he realises that there are things going on bigger than himself.

• There is that scene where he’s faced with a dying Mudokon. That scene is great. He honestly says “I don’t know how to help you.” His confused sadness is quite compelling. Abe is harshly reminded that he has to do something. In my eyes, that scene is great cinematic Oddworld.

• I’ll always love the style of the original cutscenes. But I really love the new style they have for these games. I love how these designs were translated to a realistic medium; they didn’t lose their uniqueness. I like the grime and detail of characters and places.

• I very much enjoyed the references to Sam and Nolybab; it’s exciting! It’s nice to have new information in the fandom. We know now that Sam is in Nolybab. It also reminded me of this conversation where this person was saying that Sam being released in the third or fourth games would make the most sense; because it’s such a huge event. Also good to have Mudos referenced.

• I love Mullock’s Slig. He was a nice foil. The Slig coup led by Molluck was an intriguing development. It fits with the idea of Oddworld as an epic story; there are all these characters, and all with their different agendas and schemes. And it’s an interesting development. Molluck is almost degrading himself to make them carry out his will. There was an excellent comment stating that Molluck’s relationship to his Sligs mirrors Abe’s relationship to the Mudokons.

• I initially found the bad ending to be disappointing. Abe just makes a mistake because he’s distracted and they all die. I thought that the old endings were more effective because the creatures you’re supposed to save (Mudokons or Fuzzles) directly confront you. I like that direct aspect. As I watched the bad ending again, I partially changed my mind. I saw that visual of Abe desperately reaching for his fire extinguisher, as he burns alive. That imagery is definitely potent. Oddworld bad endings should be absolutely horrific. The aforementioned scene fits that bill.

• I found what the Brewmaster was extremely interesting. There’s the strong implication that Mudokon escapees have happened before. Also, OWI used the classic video start showing five Mudokons getting shot. A nice detail. I find it was effective to show Abe’s shocked reaction in a brief moment.

• Alf made that comment “was she hot?”, in response to Abe telling him about the Keeper. Some in the fandom found this cringy and I understand why. But I found it funny. It was a nice bit of personality. Although I still have questions about the existence of this female Mudokon when Mudokons are a superspecies and we haven’t seen any female Mudokons before.

• I do appreciate that Oddworld Inhabitants has ambitions and that it is trying new things, even if the execution has problems.

• I like the cool bug creature, though it’s not as well-designed as other Oddworld creatures.

• I’m just glad to see more Oddworld and I’m glad to see things get more fleshed out.

• It was nice that the original Soulstorm title sequence still made its way into the game via clips.

• I love that wholesome smile that Abe has after getting the power.

• I really love some of the cinematic shots in this game. There’s the shot of Abe closely looking at the TV, the shot of Molluck’s blimp approaching Soulstorm Brewery, the shot of Abe, Alf, and Toby watching as they leave on the train, among others.

And now regarding the negatives…

With Oddworld, we’re told of these great visions. That what’s coming next is going to be truly transcendent media! But there’s too much set-up at the expense of the present. This video game tries to show more story, but I feel that it still has that problem.

Part of this is on the fans for getting too hyped. That’s fair.

But Lorne didn’t help. He talked about “chi-charms” and new creatures that would make “Paramites look like puppies.” Especially when he repeatedly stated that Soulstorm was the “original vision.” This doesn’t add up, because Abe’s Exoddus was always meant to be a bonus game and Munch’s Oddysee was always meant to be the second installment of the Quintology.

There’s also that I have so many questions. And it’s going to be a long time before any of them get answered, if they ever do. This is frustrating for a fan.

Speaking of the game itself, I wasn’t able to finish the first level because of bugs. There were a lot of bugs for a game that’s been delayed so much. And although these bugs are being worked on, there's still a lot of them.

On other negatives…

• The voice performances for some of the Mudokons were not good. The voices were amateurish. It was distracting and signified a lack of maturity. Also regarding voice-acting, I prefer how Abe sounds in Abe’s Oddysee and Munch’s Oddysee. But this is a smaller gripe.

• While I like the cinematics, it does feel at points like they’re trying too hard to make it a movie; what comes to mind is the lens effect over certain cutscenes. Nonetheless, this is another small detail.

• I liked the previous Magog Cartel symbol better. I like this one, but it’s more obvious. More overtly evil when I prefer it to be more subtle.

• It was unfortunate that we didn’t get to see Meetlebats. And also that there were no Vykkers, Paramites, or Scrabs. I found it disappointing that the Vykkers only showed up in that original title sequence. Feels like misleading marketing. Although, to be fair, they hadn’t been marketed for a while.

• I initially found that the scenes with the Glukkons were one-note. It was just hammering the same point over and over; that the Glukkons are prideful and can’t fathom the existence of Abe. And that this arrogance will be their downfall. Which for these Glukkons, takes the form of the Slig coup. It’s a very intriguing plot element, but I just wasn’t completely on board with how it was presented. After thinking about it more, I think I like it a bit more though. I love the idea of these scenes; we see how the world reacts to Abe. We feel Abe’s impact as it touches other characters. I love the newspaper scenes for this reason. And these scenes are also an effective set-up for that Slig coup. Nonetheless, I do feel that the scenes with the Glukkons could have been presented better.

• I found that scene where Abe was running from a Slig in the Communications Outpost to be one of the most egregious cases of plot armour I’ve seen in recent memory. How does this Slig manage to miss so many shots? Abe is right there!

• I’m still extremely curious and skeptical about how Munch and Squeek now fit into the story. I am still curious why such important components of the Quintology have been seemingly disregarded. Straying from the original Quintology signifies a lack of confidence in what was said to be a very important narrative. I’m skeptical, especially since McKenna said that the story of Squeek was the story she was originally told, hinting that the character is extremely important. Furthermore, Squeek is still a big secret, to my consternation, and that implies that they’ll still play a role. The original idea of the Quintology having five heroes is a difficult pitch to pull off. But I also love what it means in regards to the story expanding; how we see more protagonists and species as the story unveils and escalates. It seems that Oddworld thinks that an additional protagonist was the problem with Munch; the problem with Munch was behind-the-scenes circumstances and being overly ambitious. With Munch and Squeek, I was hoping for possibly a reference to either of the characters. However, I’d rather have a fleshed out and contained story rather than a forced reference.

• The idea of Abe cutting his stitches almost felt like a thing just for a trailer, given that he didn’t end up cutting them, and then it wasn’t mentioned for the rest of the story. I hope later installments bring this element up.

• I found it interesting that, despite the focus on the potential to spare Sligs, Abe still kills quite a few Sligs when he crashes the train.

• I didn’t think of this, but someone raised the question; how would the press have reacted to Mudokon Pops, given that Mudokons are used by a lot of factories and that this press state that Mudokons lives are supposedly important? I believe one could just say that the Magog Cartel function on cognitive dissonance. They change truth to fit the narrative. If they’re trying to make Molluck look bad, they’ll pay attention to the Mudokons that have been killed. But if they need to kill Mudokons, they’d make a narrative that it is right to do so. Nonetheless, it’s a plot aspect that I’d like more detail on.

• In terms of gameplay, the lack of a Quiksave wasn’t a good decision. Someone also made a post on the Oddworld Reddit that a quicker way to heal Mudokons and loot lockers would be quite beneficial and would prevent wasted time.

• The gameplay references Royal Jelly, but there was no storyline significance to this. It was just slightly disheartening after the speculation about Royal Jelly, given its relation to bee queens. I also was wondering if they would elaborate on the bee-like structure that’s apparently under Necrum. It did frustrate me that the female Shaman and the structure just show up and leave without any explanation. And we also don’t get any explanation regarding that bug. Is there a greater point to all this insect imagery? Oddworld has had many Mudokon sacred spaces. However, this structure seemed especially elaborate.

• In this more realistic style, somehow the Glukkons feel more ridiculous in their movements than they did before.

• A big problem was the specific Playstation 5 controls, with no ability to change the input buttons. Incredibly frustrating.

• I was wondering why Oddworld Inhabitants don’t branch out into other media like comics or television. I believe that the idea is that video games are the definitive medium for the experience. But I think other media would be a good idea.

• I remember when I heard Lorne Lanning say that you would be able to command your many followers as you take them along; you don’t just get rid of them instantly. I haven’t finished the whole game, but it does seem like only a small part of that is still in the game. In true Oddworld fashion, this feature must have been scrapped because it was ambitious without any serviceable way to realise the ambition.

• I don’t like the Sleeches. They’re underwhelming. They don’t really seem to have any resemblance to Fleeches. They also just don’t seem to fit the general Oddworld mold of excellently designed escapist creatures.

• I found that the theme of addiction was better delivered in the original Abe’s Exoddus. In that one, we see firsthand Mudokons selling themselves into service to feed their addiction. The audience is shown that these Mudokons will do anything to relieve their addiction. In Soulstorm, the Mudokon’s dependency on the brew is purely physical as opposed to physical and psychological.

• I found the eyes to be too cartoony at points. This is most evident in the scene with Alf and Toby on the train.

• The plot point of Abe managing to manufacture a cure seemed contrived. However, this is acceptable; it doesn’t take me out of the game personally.

• A note on Oddworld in general; I think it’s pretentious how Lorne talks about Oddworld, as if it’s a media revolution within gaming. I really love the franchise. But get some perspective, it’s just a game. It also seems that he demeans other content (Halo, Tomb Raider) to present Oddworld as good in comparison. The world of gaming already has storytelling. There are already indie developers making amazing games.

• Abe’s Exoddus is definitely the better game. Lorne’s antipathy for the first two Abe games alienate some fans. He seems to believe that these games were lesser, an embarrassment because they seem outdated. But the original Abe games were escapist. Though they seemed outdated, they were sophisticated in their design. Soulstorm seems to not grasp that less is more. It buries itself in effects, but this is, as always, only a superficial coat.

• My big problem is the following; I hadn’t heard about this, but Soulstorm removed Joseph Eiden Alexander, a game designer, from the credits. They also didn’t have Matt Glanville in the credits. (UPDATE: Oddworld Inhabitants added their names to the game in an update patch. Nonetheless, they should have been in the credits in the initial release). Reminiscent of how Oddworld Inhabitants didn’t credit William Anderson for his work on Abe’s Oddysee. And they didn’t credit Sammi McEwan, the artist who made their new map of Oddworld. I can handle any shortcomings. But Oddworld Inhabitants need to take fucking care of their workers. That’s what will make me stop supporting the series.