Obey Me PS4 Review
Obey Me is an isometric-type action-adventure out now on the PS4, similar to Diablo 3 in appearance, but with a more hands-on arcade approach.
Developed by Error 404 Game Studios and published by Blowfish Studios of Storm Boy fame, is Obey Me any good?
In the smuggest voiceover style:
Let’s find out in the…
…Obey Me PS4 Review
The story in Obey Me is a simple one: Vanessa is an assassin who reaps souls during the battle between Heaven and Hell on Earth, accompanied by her hellhound, Monty.
After a mission that goes sour, her allegiances shift slightly, and the tides of the war turn.
The forces of good and evil is as much a mainstay concept as changing your pants. That is if you live alone.
You could probably get away with changing every time they get a little rigid, or you could go nuts and freeball.
Anyway, Obey Me’s protagonists, Vanessa and Monty, are probably the least badass names used in video gaming, but they sure as hell can walk the walk if needs be.
She appears human but is a lesser demon.
That doesn’t mean that she can’t handle herself against the big guns.
Starting with a small blade, then a sledgehammer, gauntlets and so on, Vanessa is very much a melee-based fighter and likes to get up close and personal with a barrage of hits.
Kick, Punch, Kick Supreme Combo
Obey Me is fundamentally a button-masher as the moves are easy to pull off, but the combos not so much.
Combos are simple enough when it’s X, X, O, etc., but when you have to hold down a button for a few seconds at a time, it’s easy to lose your flow.
I’ll have to admit that I was button mashing more than applying a strategy, but I’m ok with this and to be honest, it was what I was hoping for.
The benefit of a combo is of course to do maximum damage, but the bonus is the rating you get for each encounter.
You’re evaluated on the variety of hits you do, multipliers and the speed in which you do it, and you’ll get ranked in a style similar to the Devil May Cry series – SS, Soul Slayer, being the top dog.
In the early stages, it’s common to get high scores, but the difficulty ramps up – mostly with the environmental hazards in Obey Me, but more on that in a minute.
Vanessa got immediate approval from my eldest daughter – an authority on all things girl-power and cool, so that was a good start.
Anyway, when things get hairy, Vanessa can call on her pooch Monty.
The Mutts Nuts
Monty is a hellhound that talks.
A Doberman in design, he can quickly shapeshift to a fire-breathing hound or even spit acid on enemies.
These are just some of the upgrades available in Obey Me – the ultimate being the fusion between them both to unleash hell, perform by a press on the triangle button when you’ve filled the power gauge.
Monty can do considerable splash damage, and you can press R2 followed by a direction to issue the command.
The bonus is you can play with Monty as a co-op. I did attempt this with my daughter as she wanted to be the ‘cute’ dog, but we didn’t get far.
She’s three.
Both Monty and Vanessa have their own skill tree that can be developed by collecting souls – either by defeating enemies or destroying objects such as crystals.
How does that work?
ElemenTREE My Dear Monty
Each weapon for Vanessa and form for Monty have their tiers and various benefits.
Starting with the dagger, Vanessa can upgrade to be able to do more damage and devastating combos but later can invest in weapons that suit your playstyle.
There are all-rounders, slow, heavy hitters and defence style weapons using a shield, but by far my favourite was a pair of gauntlets that reminded me of the Nemean Cestus from God of War II.
These made combat much easier, but the challenge will depend on the difficulty you play, and I have to say that I ended up playing a few areas on easy.
Not so much because of the enemies, but the obstacles.
Things Are Coming Between Us
By far the hardest part of Obey Me were these hazards; from pinball-like spikey bumpers to spinning turrets of flames, getting past these were the first hurdle, until getting staggered back by enemies into the dangers you just avoided.
Blatant pinball reference here – check out Creature In The Well review. Just sayin’.
There was never a moment of rage quitting or thinking the game was impossible, but these setbacks became a little irritating.
As for the bosses, these weren’t too bad and relatively easy to beat in comparison to the spikey, firey arse hats that were ‘environmental hazards’.
If it were doable, I would have sent in the hound first.
Depending on your expectations, Obey Me is a fun action game. The visuals are good, but some of the levels do feel quite samey, and the lighting is often confusing.
Obey Me is the type of game where I use the brightness on my TV – a feature often defunct.
The characters designs are pretty good, and the voice acting is far better than the usual tripe seen in this sort of game.
While you shouldn’t expect the likes of Olivia Colman or Joaquin Phoenix, the Cartoon Network/Adult Swim style of acting is decent and the dialogue, while corny, delivers – in context.
My only real criticism is the use of profanities for the sake of it.
It’s like when a kid first hears the f-bomb and adds it in every other word: overkill and used for the sake of it when it has no real meaning.
In other mutha flippin’ words, Obey Me is friggin’ good apart from that fool Billy at the beginning, who got on my effin’ nerves with his monologue.
Google doesn’t like the ‘f-word’.
Anyway, good… evil… angel…. fire… assassins… Obey Me is an enjoyable isometric action title that isn’t taxing on the old grey matter but delivers where it needs to.
A review code was obtained by crawling the terrains of Hell and, regretably, self-indulging in Heaven. That is, a code was provided and I thank the powers that be for providing it. No exchange took place when it came to souls (I lack one), so this opinion is entirely mine, thank you very much.
