Baldo:
The Guardian Owls

Baldo: The Guardian Owls (2021) is an adventure into a magical world. You explore intricately puzzling dungeons, discover new towns, fight ferocious foes and locate hidden temples. It's a game that wants you to discover things for yourself rather than hold your hand, which mean it isn't for everyone. However, for those of an inquisitive mind and the resilience to put in the effort to navigate and decipher its world there is a rewarding story with a beautiful ending.

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In a Zelda-style story, you play a pure-heart child who must battle the no-heart rising again from the underworld. You do this by investigating the world and its inhabitants. You collect money to purchase clothes and weapons that help you on your way.

It's a mix of cartoon visuals and classic adventure questing. You pick up quests from the different characters you meet between diving into the dungeons where the real challenge is found. But as well as the seriously puzzling dungeons there is plenty of humour -- inspired by Monkey Island (with even a guest appearance of someone you might recognise from that game).

The result is a game that some may find too frustrating to finish. There are a lot of different paths forward but you need to test and push at the world to see where advancement is possible and where you don't have enough skill or equipment yet. When it clicks for those with the resilience to persevere, it offers a lovely story with an ending worth playing for.

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Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Baldo: The Guardian Owls 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 15 months ago.