Baldo: The Guardian Owls
Developer(s)NAPS team
Publisher(s)NAPS team
Designer(s)Fabio Capone
Composer(s)Gianluca Cucchiara
Platform(s)PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, iOS, macOS
ReleaseAugust 27, 2021
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Baldo: The Guardian Owls is an action-adventure video game developed and published by NAPS team. It was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, as well as iOS and macOS through Apple Arcade.[1][2] The Switch version of the game was scheduled to be released first in summer 2020 as a timed console exclusive, but the game was indefinitely delayed in September of that year.[3] The game was released on August 27, 2021.[4]

Inspired by The Legend of Zelda and Studio Ghibli's films, it is an action adventure RPG, with puzzles, exploration and combat, set in a crafted hand-drawn open world.[5][6]

Plot

Baldo takes place in the fictional land of Rodia. In undergrounds of this world owls sealed a powerful creature without a heart. According to the prophecy, this creature will free itself when a "pure child" is born. This prophecy has begun to come true and the player's task is to overcome its consequences.[1]

Production

Baldo is a production of the Italian studio NAPS team. The studio's artist Fabio Capone stated that: "The idea started a long time ago, as a game called The Dark Knight ... That project ended once the GameBoy Advance era came to an end. It was a shame. A few years ago, once technology that allowed better cartoon shading came around, we thought it was a good time to get our hands on the project once again."[5][1]

The game is inspired by The Legend of Zelda: "It isn't focused on combat mainly, although that's a big part of it, but it will share a lot of elements from the Zelda series ... At its core Baldo is a puzzle and dungeon game, although there are plenty of other secrets inside".[5][6]

The game features a hand-drawn art style inspired by Japanese anime, including movies by Studio Ghibli and works by Hayao Miyazaki, with decrepit ruins, mystical libraries and quaint forest towns filling the screen, each with their own distinctive colours and picturesque backgrounds.[5] Capone stated: "I've always loved Japanese anime and that style since I was a kid. I always dreamed about a game that could bring people into that kind of magical world. No one's done that yet, so I decided to do it myself."[5]

The game was released on August 27, 2021.[4]

Reception

Baldo received "mixed or negative" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Nintendo Life called it "excruciatingly difficult, repetitive and clunky", but praised the artstyle. IGN said that "it's almost like Baldo is passive-aggressively daring you to stop playing it altogether".

In August 2021, the game ranked thirteenth among the most downloaded games from the Nintendo eShop in Europe.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Baldo". gamepressure.com.
  2. ↑ Nadine Dornieden (2021-07-27). "New games are coming to Apple Arcade, including Baldo and Asphalt 8: Airborne". iMore. Retrieved 2023-12-10.
  3. ↑ "Baldo's Release Date Has Changed From This Summer To 'TBD'". Nintendo Life. 6 September 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Baldo: The Guardian Owls launches August 27 for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, and Apple Arcade". Gematsu. July 27, 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Naps Team tell us about creating Baldo's breathtaking visuals". RedBull.
  6. 1 2 "Zelda-Inspired Action Adventure Game "Baldo" Receives New Gameplay Trailer". Zelda Dungeon. 22 May 2019.
  7. ↑ "Nintendo Reveals The Top 15 Most-Downloaded Switch Games In August 2021 (Europe)". Nintendo Life. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Baldo: The Guardian Owls for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Red Ventures. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  9. ↑ Moss, Gabriel (11 September 2021). "Baldo: The Guardian Owls Review". IGN. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  10. ↑ "Baldo: The Guardian Owls Review (Switch eShop) | Aces high". Nintendo Life. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "Baldo: The Guardian Owls Review (Pc) | Aces high". The Game Machine. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
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