Alto’s Odyssey Shows What It Takes To Make A Great Sequel
Sequels aren’t easy as has been seen numerous times in film and video games. It seems a sequel either changes too much, or is a near exact replica for an easy cash grab. Alto’s Odyssey is looking to break the sequel mold continuing what made Alto’s Adventure great, and subtly build upon it. To begin, let’s define what made Alto’s Adventure so good. First off, the game is effortless to not only understand, but excel at. Everything is one tap away, and then you can get into the relaxing downhill flow mixed with the mellow soundtrack. There’s also a solid connection of rolling achievements to aim for as well as mixed challenges of pulling off tricks, and responding to the changing environment of rocks, grind ropes, and more.
Alto’s Odyssey continues every aspect listed above to let you get lost in the world, and yet still be focused on every shifting slope of the downhill. The basis is then set to build upon it by transporting Alto from the snowy mountains to the shifting dunes for a new sandboarding challenge. The new locale introduces three distinct biomes to travel through with a desert, canyon, and temple. Each area has their own differentiator including the wall ride in the canyon and water flow in the temple that are variations from the previous installment as well. The best part is that on long runs, you can travel between multiple biomes and even if you don’t you can appreciate the procedurally generated intricacies for variations within a biome between runs.
Lost in a New World
For any endless game, the biggest question is replay factor. Alto’s Odyssey doesn’t reinvent the wheel, so there’s some hesitancy from the get go. Instead, the game focuses on more compelling missions and unlockables. Each biome is unlockable from the get go for initial replay intrigue, especially since future missions are based on specific biomes. For example, you may need to wall ride into a backflip into a grind, or ride a water flow into a coin pot. These missions always seem within reach at the outset, and most emphasize picking them up in one run. When you start up Alto’s Odyssey, you can focus on missions, unlockables, or simply taking a break from a busy day to zone out of your world, and at the same zone in on Alto’s world. The missions are more compelling, the biomes are more intriguing, and the overarching structure emphasizes a greater flow as you feel like you’re traveling somewhere even within an endless concept.
Alto’s Adventure seems to scratch the surface in giving a sense of progression to an endless game, and Alto’s Odyssey embraces it fully. The day/night and weather cycle is there in Adventure, but Odyssey amps it up for more variety and a seemingly quicker clock. In Odyssey, you can travel all day and night through sandstorms and windstorms while riding in canyons and on to temples. Even the lighting seems to be more deluxe as shadows appear as the sun passes behind the hot air balloons and canyon walls. Through all of the changes, the one consistent factor is that each one is a minor improvement or enhancement. There isn’t a long feature list of what’s new, and instead just a bunch of small improvements to enjoy.
Alto’s Odyssey is a great sequel by making Alto’s Adventure the baseline, and simply improving on it, rather than adding to it, or doing nothing at all.
