Orbibot review for PS4/PS5, Xbox One/Series X, Switch

Platform: PS5
Also on: PS4, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Publisher: Ratalaika Games
Developer: Oskar St?lberg
Medium: Digital
Players: 1
Online: No
ESRB: E

While I wouldn?t say that Orbibot holds the honour of being Ratalaika?s easiest Platinum Trophy — that?s still The Language of Love by a significant margin — I would say that it may be the one where the Platinum Trophy does it the greatest disservice. The game features 15 levels; the Platinum pops moments into the fourth level. Even by Ratalaika?s usual standards of making Platinums pop way too soon, a Platinum you can get before you?ve even finished 25% of the game is insane.

What?s worse, Orbibot is a decent-enough ball-rolling platformer that giving players a reason to quit so early means that lots of people will miss out on a game that isn?t half-bad.

It?s by no means original, of course. It follows in the footsteps of every game that ever emulated Marble Madness: you roll a ball around a course, solving puzzles here and there on your way to the end point.

But even if it?s just like countless other games, it?s still enjoyable enough for what it is. The levels are lengthy, the puzzles are just challenging enough to make you work a little (though not always for the right reasons — more on that in a second), and the game as a whole looks pretty nice. Orbibot won?t change the way you look at these marble-rolling games, but I?ve certainly played worse.

Mind you, I?ve also played better, and that?s because Orbibot?s controls — in fact, its whole system of physics — aren?t the greatest. The marble you?re controlling is almost weightless, and you can never totally tell which way it?s going to roll, or how quickly, or whether you?ll get a sudden burst of speed for no apparent reason. Likewise, you have to fight with the camera constantly to get a good angle, which means you?ll spend a lot of time rolling right off the edge of a platform into nothingness and starting from the last checkpoint.

But even with these flaws and this lack of originality, Orbibot is an okay game. It?s not going to blow you away, but it?s certainly decent enough that you should keep playing after the Platinum Trophy pops

Ratalaika Games provided us with an Orbibot PS4/PS5 code for review purposes.

Grade: B-