Owlboy Story and Premise: Who Otus Is and What Happens
The setup of Owlboy's story: a mute owl named Otus, sky pirates, and the journey through the clouds.
What is Owlboy's story about?
Owlboy is a story-driven action adventure about Otus, a mute owl who struggles living up to the expectations of owl-hood, according to the game's Steam store page. Things go from bad to worse for him when sky pirates suddenly appear, and what follows is a journey through monster-infested ruins, unexpected encounters and well-kept secrets.
Who is Otus?
Otus is the main playable character of Owlboy, and he was born mute. He studies under his strict owl mentor Asio, who hand picked Otus as his student for reasons that are not explained. Asio and Otus are considered to be modeled after the long-eared owl, since both names refer to its scientific name, Asio otus.
His standing among his own people is poor. He is poorly regarded in the village of Vellie and is not considered, by some, a worthy successor to the Owl's heritage. According to D-Pad Studio's Tumblr, Otus is about 12 or 13 years old. His best friend is Geddy, who usually fends off the bullies Fib and Bonacci when they pick on Otus because of his disability. Otus frequently goes patrolling with Geddy, carrying him on his shoulders. When Geddy leaves mid-game, Otus gets very upset when camping without him.
Who are the sky pirates?
The pirates are led by Molstrom, who during the Battle of Advent took The Pirates aboard his Dreadnought in search of the second Owl Relic. The Advent Guard attempted to hold the city against the pirates during that battle, and Otus, Geddy and Alphonse went on an unapproved covert mission of their own.
There is more to Otus's fate than the pirate attack, though. Noctae's maths predicted that a young owl named Otus dies in a great battle above a floating city. What the game does with that prediction is part of the story rather than something to spoil here.
How does the story play out?
Otus's only abilities are flight and a spinning attack that is only capable of stunning enemies, so he recruits his friends as gunners to fight for him, each with unique abilities and stories.
Key story beats involve the relics. The Golden Disks lead Otus to the Eternal Sanctuary. Later, Solus gives the Relics to Otus before Molstrom can take them, and Otus completes the Anti-Hex and successfully brings the islands back down. In the ending scene, Solus says he regards Otus as his one true friend, having trusted him only to an extent before that.
Is the story well received?
Reception leans positive. On Metacritic, Owlboy holds a Metascore of 88 based on 47 critic reviews, described there as generally favorable, alongside a user score of 7.5 from 349 ratings. Among the quoted reviews on that page, IGN's full review calls the game's cast of unlikely heroes and their bittersweet journey among the best it had experienced in recent years. Those are third-party assessments, not statements from the developer.
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