플랫포머 게임인 Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams의 스탠드얼론 확장팩으로 원작의 시스템을 그대로 답습하고 있지만, 찬찬히 들여다보면 원작과는 비교를 불허할 정도로 짜임새 있는 완성도를 가진 게임이다.

기본은 캐릭터의 속성을 바꿔가며 스테이지의 기물을 컨트롤 하고 장애물을 피해 목표에 도달하는 원작의 게임 구성을 그대로 따르고 있다. 그러나 원작이 오밀조밀한 미세 컨트롤 위주의 플레이가 요구되었던 데 반해 본 확장팩에서는 좀 더 시원시원하고 스테이지를 넓게 활용하는 액션 위주의 진행이 주를 이룬다. 전반적으로 장애물이나 적 배치와 같은 스테이지 기믹의 난이도가 감소하였으며 체크포인트가 늘어나고 사망을 1회 피할 수 있는 실드 아이템이 자주 출현하는 등, 사소한 조작 미스로도 수없이 푹찍을 경험해야 했던 원작에 비해 게임의 밸런스가 매우 좋아졌다. 덕분에 원작에서는 스트레스의 원인이었던 캐릭터의 사망이 본 확장팩에서는 도전의욕을 불러 일으키는 요인으로 작용한다.

원작에서 난이도 문제로 많은 비판을 받았던 개발진이 드디어 레벨업 해서 최종 형태로 각성했구나 싶을 정도로 훌륭한 게임이다. 유일한 단점은 게임의 전체 볼륨이 작다는 것. 확장팩이라 그런가 총 8개 스테이지와 왠지 존재감이 없는 보스전 하나가 전부이다. 액션에 익숙치 못한 플레이어라도 두시간 이내에 클리어 할 수 있을 정도. 물론 다양하게 구성된 난이도와 타임어택, 보석 모으기 등의 파고들기 요소를 제공하고 있지만 원작의 절반도 되지 않는 볼륨의 확장팩이라면 어째서 스탠드 얼론으로 만들었는가 하는 생각이 든다.

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is without a doubt one of the best things to come out of the great retro platformer deluge, which began somewhere around the release of Super Meat Boy. It was stunning to look at, a joy to play, and managed to feel fresh yet familiar at the same time. As with any good thing fans are bound to want more, and Black Forest Games has now delivered just that with Rise of the Owlverlord; a standalone expansion that in many ways is even better than the game which spawned it!

If you've played Twisted Dreams (and you definitely should have before jumping into Owlverlord), you should know what you're getting into here; a tightly knit platformer with a neat world shifting mechanic, that controls like a charm and features an outstanding soundtrack. Owlverlord doesn't mess with this formula at all, but reworks it into a smaller more focused experience that fixes nearly all of my complaints of the original and then some.

While I enjoyed Twisted Dreams a lot, variety was not its strong suit and I quickly found myself fatigued of it after only a few level, forcing me to space it out of many short sessions to keep it from completely wearing out its welcome. I never felt this with Owlverlord. While there are far fewer levels this time (7, if you include the boss fight at the end), the upside of this is that each is longer and more uniquely designed than those found in the original game, with some of, if not the best level designs the series has seen to date! It took me weeks to finish the original game, but I tore through Owlverlord like a starving dog who just found a box of bacon, and was left eager for more (despite previously thinking I had had more than my fill of the series after the first game).

If you enjoyed Twisted Dreams there is absolutely no reason you should hesitate to pick up Rise of the Owlverlord! It's a shorter game, but a better one in every regard (which is saying something as the original was fantastic as well) that heightens the challenge, fine tunes the gameplay, and somehow manages to deliver and even more ridiculously awesome soundtrack than last time (Machinae Supremacy has completely outdone themselves yet again)! If you have yet to play Twisted Dreams you are missing out on one the best modern platformers we have, a fact Owlverlord only further solidifies. Black Forest Games have continued to impress me more than I would have expected from such humble Kickstarter beginnings, and now have me wishfully hoping a true Giana Sisters 2 is on the horizon.

Don't delay, there's an Owlverlord to topple!

I'd not say it's a must-buy, but Rise of the Owlverlord is definately a good purchase, if you don't mind difficult games. With plenty of replayability and a great soundtrack, I've found this to be a great addition to my library.

Consider this an expansion pack, not a full-fledged title. Gameplay remains exactly the same, so look at my old review if you want a rundown of it.

Otherwise, if you liked the first one I suggest purchasing this as well. There are 10 levels, but they're much longer than before. The music's new, so there's no rehashing there.

There's really not much to say that I didn't already say in my review of the first title. It's a comptetent indie platformer that doesn't do what others do and go for the 'retro' 8-bit look which is getting aggrivating. The music's great; platforming is more original than anything Nintendo has churned out in close to a decade; difficulty isn't some stupid ♥♥♥ 'Super Meat Boy' levels of retardation. Just ♥♥♥♥ing buy it already.

The game is short, but worth $5