(Credit: Kepler Interactive)
At this year‘s Summer Game Fest, I got my hands on 10 upcoming Switch 2 titles. I wrote about my favorites, including Rayman Legends Retold and Turok: Origins, but I wasn’t able to share my impressions about one of the most exciting Switch 2 exclusives I played—until now. Orbitals ($39.99 digital, $49.99 physical) is an upcoming cooperative adventure reminiscent of the critically acclaimed It Takes Two, but with an eye-catching, 1980s-style anime aesthetic. After my short Orbitals demo, I walked away convinced that the game has the potential to be the year’s best cooperative action game.
A Co-Op Adventure With Cool, Anime-Style Graphics
For those out of the know, Orbitals debuted at last year’s Game Awards. The flashy, anime-inspired cooperative game is developed by Shapefarm and the same publisher behind last year’s breakout hit, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. There are many video game releases that attempt to mimic the visual flair of Japanese animation, but few look this good.
Working with Studio Massket, the Japanese animation studio known for its work on Attack on Titan and Lycoris Recoil, Shapefarm mimics retro sci-fi anime. In an interview with Polygon, Shapefarm creative director Marcos Ramos says, “the team wants its debut game to evoke classic anime such as Dragon Ball and Neon Genesis Evangelion.” However, I was immediately reminded of Mobile Suit Gundam and Ranma ½. Big, poofy hair, exaggerated proportions, and a healthy wash of film grain make every cutscene look like it’s being beamed through a period-accurate CRT TV.
Story, Exploration, and Puzzles
The game focuses on Maki and Omura, young explorers living on a space colony. They’re close friends, but with wildly different personalities. Maki is spunky and more tomboy-ish, while Omura is the more straightlaced and serious of the two. Both were saved from a destroyed space colony at a young age and became inseparable as they grew older. Now they’re responsible for keeping their space colony afloat and taking care of what looks like an aging populace. With a cosmic storm brewing, the pair must venture into the unknown to find a way to save their home.
Immediately, the gameplay will remind you of some of Hazelight Studios’ greatest hits. That’s because Orbital’s game director, Jakob Lundgren, worked on A Way Out, It Takes Two, and Split Fiction. My demo partner and I explored the colony at our own pace, interacting with the cooperative puzzles and mini-games.
I liked how natural it felt to explore the space, without being tethered to the other player. The screen naturally splits in half and comes together when it makes sense, so I always had a sense of my partner’s whereabouts. This let me explore on my own and discover Orbital’s many fun details and references. In one instance, I found a notebook that looked suspiciously like a Death Note (though, of course, it was called a Life Note).
(Credit: Kepler Interactive)
But once you tackle the puzzles, you’ll find that Orbitals makes a small but important tweak to its gameplay that elevates it above similar titles. For example, in It Takes Two and Split Fiction, the character you play as determines the gameplay mechanic you’re responsible for handling. So if you’re not adept at platforming or shooting, the only way to switch out of that role is to switch characters. With Orbitals, you have the option to switch roles without switching characters. It’s a small change, but one that will benefit players, especially those in skill-gap partnerships.
In the demo, many puzzles were simple challenges that required my teammate and me to work together to solve them. One was a simple Simon Says-style puzzle, while another required us to put out fires around the ship. Near the end of the demo, one of us piloted a ship while the other used a turret to shoot enemies and space debris. These were the moments when Orbitals shone brightest, when we were interacting with each other, encouraging and goading one another to figure out solutions together.
(Credit: Kepler Interactive)
On that note, Orbitals is made with that type of communication in mind. It must be played in co-op, either in local split-screen or via GameShare, which lets you use one copy to stream to another Nintendo Switch 2, or even a Switch or Switch Lite. There’s also an Orbitals Global Friend’s Pass that lets youinvite another player to join your online game for free, even if they don’t own it. However, the game leverages the full controller layout, so each player must have their own Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller or a pair of Joy-Con if you’re playing locally. You can’t just hand the player the second Joy-Con like you can for Super Mario Wonder and other cooperative multiplayer titles.
Final Demo Impressions and Release Date
My short demo only gave me a small sampling of what to expect from Orbitals, but I loved what I played. The visuals and music were excellent, and the gameplay is sure to be a hit with both experienced and new players alike. Although there are questions surrounding Orbitals’ length and gameplay variety, I’m excited to recruit my friends for some couch co-op when the game drops on Sept. 3, exclusively for the Switch 2
