OctaFight is a multiplayer action game where 2-8 players can face off in an arena and throw bombs at each other until one is the victor. It has a very minimalist style going for it with its over-pixelated art style and simple controls but manages to still bring the fun by way of customizing the match settings. OctaFight is a callback to couch multiplayer. In these social distancing times, that can be great if you have the people to truly make the game shine.
OctaFight is an indie game made by Pixel Almost Perfect. The art style they developed for the game is very unique. I thoroughly more than anything enjoyed the different stages. Personally the stages with flowing water I liked most because of how the water while pixelated interacted with other scenery and even the players. Stages were not the most important bit but for me, that is the part of the game that stood out the most.
OctaFight has a player capacity of 2-8 players but I was not able to get that many people together with it being local multiplayer only. The matches I did have with a buddy was fun for a good amount of time. Being able to change the match settings provided some variety to keep the fun going for a little bit. Zero gravity mode, giant bombs, bouncy bombs were my favorite settings to play with. With more players, it might be better to set the number of points to win up to ten but for two people three points were enough.
OctaFight is definitely more of a party game. I can see it being super fun with 8 players, drinks, and food around. If Octafight had online multiplayer that would be even better with these current times. Now that is to say it shouldn’t have local multiplayer. It should have both. It is very minimalist as it only has vs. but only vs against another player. If one could add AI opponents, oh the fun that would be. I can’t stress enough that if a game is to offer only local multiplayer and there is only VS. for those players it needs more. By more I mean more modes, more bomb variants, and more stages. I would even add power-ups maybe.
Overall
What Pixel Almost Perfect put together is a fun party game. No doubt in my mind that playing OctaFight with more friends would bring a whole new level of fun. It really needed an online multiplayer option in my opinion. My Friday gaming nights with my friends could’ve added this to the list we play. We are from different corners of the Earth. OctaFight is the start of something that can be more. If you have a family or you are staying in a house with a bunch of people and have enough Switch controllers, this could be a fun game for you. I really do love the art style so I’m looking forward to seeing what else Pixel Almost Perfect can do.
