Impressions de jeu : « Orbitals », c'est comme plonger dans une aventure d'anime des années 80 avec un pote

"Like Split Fiction, but in an anime."

Well, that could very well be the elevator pitch for Orbitals. But after spending its first full hour with our colleague Javier Escribano during a couch co-op session hosted by publisher Kepler at Nintendo, we've come to understand how this Switch exclusive will distinguish itself from Hazelight's recent masterpiece, beyond its graphics, upon its release on September 3rd.

That said, the graphics are what immediately grab your attention. And not just a little. In the attached gameplay video, you can see both the game's intro, handcrafted by Studio Massket, and the initial stages of the adventure, and you can appreciate how fluid the transition is between cinematics and gameplay. It's not just about the graphic style, as the publisher confirmed that, although the game runs at a constant locked 30 frames per second, the animation sequences were created at 24, or even 12 frames per second, to accentuate their retro feel. But see for yourself:

Missed it? Here's the gist. Our protagonists, Maki and Omura (she with a ponytail and he with horns and glasses), are still just kids when everything goes haywire on their space station. The station is on fire, they're scared, but a young boy named Togen comes to their rescue, acts fast, and gets them into a sort of escape pod. Kinakoko, who looks like a grandmother, disagrees: "They're too young to get in there." Chaos erupts everywhere as the adults debate whether to activate the One Mind Machine. But wait, it wasn't a classic escape pod like in Star Wars: it looked more like a chamber, and it's now producing copies (?) of our little heroes. "Let's hope these I.M.s hold up," says Togen, referring to the clones, but it's too late: a massive explosion devastates the entire station, turning it into space debris in seconds.

Fast forward 15 years, and the adventure begins. Our duo, now in their late teens, are cheerfully living their lives on the still-crumbling station, and they seem on their way to becoming engineers. The dynamic and rivalry between the two remind me of those between Ranma and Akane in the cult manga and anime, even if it's a bit more subdued. Surprisingly, Togen and Kina-chan (or their clones?) are also still alive. Maki and Omura are building their own spaceship to explore and exploit the station's surroundings, and to learn more about the "supernatural cosmic storm" that has trapped them there; from then on, the screen splits in two, allowing players to take control.

Returning for a moment to the comparison with Split Fiction. Orbitals' Settlement, located within the space station, serves as a fully explorable central hub, with its own activities that players can undertake alone or in co-op. This marks a significant difference from the sci-fi/fantasy adventure and its successive level-based approach, and it allowed Javi and me to relax on a couch, punch a punching bag, and much more. From our first steps in the game, we noticed the elaborate, anime-style movements and transitions, whether jumping and running naturally, or in more scripted sequences.

Since the duo's spaceship isn't quite ready at the start (it's even rather faulty and catches fire), the game offers another way to move around freely once in flight: gliding and accelerating using a suit equipped with reactors. This is important to note, as it will be useful later, when players can enter and exit the co-op ship at will during missions. The interior of the small, burning spaceship also serves as a tutorial for ground movement mechanics, with repairs requiring our heroes to use tools like the Scrap Hook or the Liquid Launcher.

On several occasions during our session, we had to decide who would take which tool, and it's possible to swap them if the combination doesn't suit you. Maki would lift lids while Omu put out fires, and we quickly realized that, as in any good co-op experience, fluid communication will be essential in Orbitals. By the way, with just one copy of the game, you can invite a second player for free, both locally and online thanks to GameShare, and you can always use the L button to send emojis if voice chat isn't available.

From this point on, the puzzles become more complex, and platforming phases become increasingly important in the experience. You can perform an "aerial dodge" to get over hazards, and my first "death" while practicing this allowed me to notice that the animation that respawned my character in action was similar to how he was cloned as an I.M., hinting at a in-universe explanation for these near-infinite lives.

To avoid confusion or players getting stuck from time to time, the game emphasizes graphical indicators and visual cues. Your next target is usually highlighted, and for the hook and water mechanics, there were clear signs like a "yellow handle" and a "water droplet" to make things more obvious. Perhaps too obvious at first, but something tells me these clues will be much appreciated later in the game.

The Beam Cannon was the third tool introduced, and as you can imagine, it's used to power circuits with electricity. This multiplied the possible combinations, as more and more mechanical puzzles were presented to us at a well-paced rhythm. Recalibrating a boiler while controlling temperature, re-wiring circuits while your partner moves panels to open new passages, or chaining button sequences on a terminal once you've put down your tools. Orbitals keeps you constantly engaged and busy, but it feels much less frantic, almost relaxing with the accompanying music, when compared to other co-op games.

Once the ship is repaired and its engine restarted, the duo is finally ready to set off on an expedition, which also means the roles of Pilot and Gunner become available. Again, you can choose who does what (another difference from characters with fixed abilities), and with this role distribution, the flight sequences resemble those in the Star Wars movies or the latest Star Fox in co-op, but much slower.

Now that all the mechanics and movement options are fully in place, it's time for Maki and Omura to go exploring beyond the storm wall through its mysterious rift. The environment becomes less and less stable and predictable, and thanks to reinforced shields, the Colony might just survive and continue to progress. "This is the first time. We've dreamed of it for 15 years."

And what lies beyond the wall? I don't want to give too much away from here, but let's just say that's where things get more exciting and... magical. The exterior also hides new threats in the form of creatures or defensive mechanical turrets and droids that, for one reason or another, remain operational. These are easy targets for co-op flight phases, while the duo can exit their ship to, for example, infiltrate an abandoned vessel.

Puzzles seem to evolve beyond the "I hold this, you do that" principle, with timed sections, more moving objects requiring better synchronization, or physics-based solutions like creating platforms on lava (that one reminded me a lot of Zelda). Coordination quickly becomes demanding to keep it interesting, as our ship, further improved, reaches the asteroid field and our friends attempt to access a gigantic complex of purple caves.

Finally, exploring off the beaten path can allow you to unearth bonus collectibles. One of them was the "Laser Jump Rope," a recreational module that we downloaded to play on board the ship. In the vein of Mario Party, it was so addictive that two journalists spent the rest of the session trying to get the best score.

So far, while nothing has felt truly groundbreaking or breathtaking, Orbitals has managed to hold our attention through its ingenious puzzles and activities, but most importantly by truly conveying its retro anime universe, with superb animations for both characters and mechanisms, incredibly cute characters like Hiroto the cat, and of course the drama and exaggerated reactions you'd expect from this genre. But as we've learned in the past, charm has its limits, and aside from a few odd choices in controls and visual cues, it will all come down to the cooperative mechanics' ability to remain captivating in the long run. We'll know in less than two months if Shapefarm has struck gold with this undeniably original proposition.