All you need is a harpoon and a hat.
Olija is a 2D action-adventure platformer with a heavily pixelated Retraux style, developed by Skeleton Crew Studio. It was released on Jan 28, 2021 on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
The story revolves around a penniless lord named Faraday, who finds himself shipwrecked in a weird land named Terraphage. Once he becomes the wielder of a magical harpoon, he travels from island to island, rescuing other shipwreck survivors while battling tar-like creatures.
The game provides examples of:
- Automatic Crossbows: The Rottenwood Repeater is one of the weapons you can acquire.
- Blob Monster: The islands are chock-full with icky tar-like blobs with teeth.
- Blow That Horn: You can summon the boatman by blowing on the giant horn, but repeatedly blasting it while he’s already there will enrage him and he’ll throw rocks at you.
- Goomba Stomp: You can kill enemies by falling on top of them, often accidentally as you jump off to a new screen.
- Hat of Power: The hatmaker merchant can craft you hats with special properties such as acid resistance or weapon attack modifications.Hatmaker: A man’s hat can do many things.
- Indy Escape: After picking up the compass, you have to outrun a massive ball composed of many blob monsters.
- Javelin Thrower: The legendary harpoon is thrown like a javelin and allows you to teleport to it or summon it back to your hand.
- News Travels Fast: Right after bringing the rescued Lady Olija to your town, a ship approaches in the mist with the lady’s attendants, ready to serve her again, and then she just goes with them.
- Noob Cave: You start shipwrecked and unarmed, traversing an odd cave with small tar-like beings. Soon enough, you’ll find a weapon and stronger enemies to wield it against.
- Psychometry: Upon discovering the compass, you get visions of the location of the magical harpoon.
- Renovating the Player Headquarters: The more people you rescue and areas you clear, the better Oaktide will look when you return to it. More merchants will offer their wares, more buildings will be erected and more people greet you as Lord Faraday when you approach them, grateful that you are turning a ramshackle refuge into a thriving settlement.
- Robinsonade: After a whale chases your ship and wrecks it, you wind up in Terraphage, a set of islands inhabited by monsters resembling dark blobs with teeth.
- Secondary Character Title: Olija refers to Lady Olija, the princess you rescue. The main character’s name is Faraday.
- Spikes of Doom: Oh yeah, it has floor spikes on several levels.
- Summon to Hand: The legendary harpoon can be summoned to you.
- The Ferryman: The boatman will help you travel between the islands, give you counsel and even sometimes rescue you after a bad fall. Just don’t annoy him or he will throw stuff at you.
- Travel to Projectile: After throwing the harpoon, you can teleport to wherever it strikes.
- Wandering Minstrel: There’s a mysterious musician that pops up at different times in the game, giving out poetic lamentations or observations.
