Bite-sized Review:
Oblivion Override

By Chris Picone, 24 June 2023

Oblivion Override's a nice new 3d action platformer with a good range of enemies, some challenging boss fights, and roguelike elements to keep you coming back for more.

Aesthetics

This is definitely one of the nicer looking 3d platformers out there -  I find that most, while having flashy graphics and lots of detail, tend to suffer from a weird issue where the sprites and the backgrounds and the parallax just don't seem to quite mesh together.  Oblivion Override doesn't have that issue; the controls are smooth, the special effects match, making for a visually pleasing experience.

Gameplay

Combat's fairly simple in the sense that it revolves around jumping, dashing, a base attack, and a special attack, but what makes it interesting is the combination of enemies and traps encountered, particularly in the battle rooms.  So the big sluggers can be defeated by dashing past and attacking from behind but that's likely to put you in the path of another enemy. Movement's surprisingly fluid too, like a Metroidvania but with everything already unlocked, so you can immediately double jump, wall climb, dash jump, everything you need to get around.  Oblivion does suffer a little from the typical roguelike issue where the first level must be repeated ad nauseum to reach the other levels but the devs have alleviated the issue somewhat by adding portals at the end of that first level that allow you to happily jump to different worlds after beating their respective bosses.  And of course it's roguelike so you also get to unlock new weapons as you progress and power up all your abilities so you can make it a little further each run (the levels are fairly easy but the bosses are quite tough!).

Verdict

One of the better 3d fighters out there, with a very nice level-up tree.  Follows the "rule of cool" in many regards, not holding back in giving you access to movements and attacks, and a constant stream of new weapons and upgrades ensuring smooth progression.  Nicely polished and the boss fights will keep you coming back.

Links: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1952370/Oblivion_Override/