Yumi's Odd Odyssey Review

[Zera]

Greetings, folks. This is my review of Yumi's Odd Odyssey, a game released on the 3DS eShop in 2014. Known in Japan and Europe as Sayonara Umihara Kawase, this is part of the obscure Umihara Kawase series, which started on the Super Famicom in 1994. Aside from ports and remakes, this is the third entry in the series, the first one to receive a Western release, and the last one.

A retrospective of the series - http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/umihara/umihara.htm

Yumi's Odd Odyssey takes place in a surreal landscape of floating blocks, giant objects like pencils, bottles of sake, rubber duckies, etc, and and aquatic enemies like fish and sharks that walk on two legs. You can play as Yumi, her childhood self, her childhood friend Emiko, or her time-traveling policewoman descendant Noko. You may wonder what kind of bizarre story ties all this together, but unfortunately there is none - not even in the manual.

Yumi can't do much on her own, but she has a secret weapon in her fishing line. You can toss the lure in eight directions and latch it onto any terrain that's not made of ice. Once attached, you can swing left and right or press up and down to expand and contract the line. The twist is that the line is elastic, and timing expansions and contractions lets you generate momentum in almost any direction. There is also a Time Stop button that freezes time for a few seconds and shows your current directional input - very handy in do-or-die situations. Another method for consistent lure tossing is ditching the Standard control scheme and learning the Classic controls that use the L and R buttons for diagonal tosses. There is also a Custom option that lets you map buttons however you like.

Thanks to the Awesome Grapple Physics, you can pull off some cool stunts. You can swing across ceilings, loop around corners, scale vertical walls, and even latch onto the ground to pull yourself forward for a speed-boosted jump. Stages are short, but they are typically open ended and have more than one solution, like going under an entire stage. Your goal is to reach the door at the end, but some stages have a second, trickier door that will lead to a different branch of the world map. Some levels contain one or two backpacks you can collect for an extra challenge. Your best time for each stage is recorded and uploaded to a regional online leaderboard, and you can save replays as well.

If you find the game too difficult, you can play as a different character with a unique ability. Emiko and Child Yumi can use stage checkpoints, but they are single-use, wannabe checkpoints I refused to rely on. Noko turns Time Stop into a slow-motion move. Playing as Child Yumi or using Yumi's "Original" and "Seasonal" outfits also changes the stage music to that of the first two Umihara games, which is pretty neat. However, times not obtained by adult Yumi are not displayed on the leaderboard.

There are Awesome Grapple Physics, 50 highly speedrunnable levels, and a Survival mode with limited lives for the classic hardcore Umihara experience. Sounds great! Unfortunately, your fun will sometimes come to a screeching halt when the game throws a random "kaizo" level at you for no apparent reason other than to brick-wall your progress. We're talking difficulty spikes so tall and sharp that they will pierce your cranium and give you splitting headaches.

Beginning of Stage 35

Ending of Stage 24

Stage 33

Stage 46

(That Giant Enemy Crab may look easy, but it took me 150 tries. Also, the video does not show that the oranges kill you!)

Most of the other stages don't even come close to these stages of masochism. Whoever did the difficulty balancing must've died partway through.

So, if you like games that are extremely hard to the point of trial-and-error, crazy speedrunning, appreciating novel mechanics, or if you've simply been searching your whole life for a game based entirely around Awesome Grapple Physics... well, here you go. Otherwise, you may not find enough reason to drop $20 on this niche title (although it was $30 before a permanent price-cut).

But if you do decide to get this game, you should definitely use Emiko on your first playthrough to make things a bit smoother. I should also mention an updated version of this game called "Sayonara Umihara Kawase +" on PS Vita and Steam. In addition to improved graphics and running at 60 instead of 30 FPS, it has 10 more stages, global leaderboards, and the original Super Famicom game with a new practice mode. So if possible, you should get that version instead.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Zera

[Zera]

PSA: Yumi's Odd Odyssey is currently on sale for $13.99 on the 3DS eShop. This deal lasts until September 1 at 8:59 a.m.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Zera