Orbitals Review
To be 100% real with you, I was a little hesitant about going into Orbitals. The art style and premise looked charming, but I worried it might lean too hard on nostalgia without much else to offer.
And BOY, was I wrong.
Orbitals is easily my surprise top pick of 2026 so far. From the moment the music hit on the loading screen, I was completely pulled into Shapefarm/Kepler Interactive’s colourful, nostalgic space adventure. The art, soundtrack, references, level mechanics, mini-games, and even the smaller character moments all came together into something genuinely joyful. I could not stop smiling while playing it.
Orbitals is a two-player co-op puzzle-platformer following Maki and Omura, two explorers who travel beyond the dangerous Storm Wall to save their home. Think It Takes Two or Split Fiction in structure: it is an experience built around working with another person, communicating clearly, and constantly figuring out how your abilities fit together.
I played through the full campaign with fellow AGN co-founder Marcel, and we had a fantastic time. Our run took around 6.5 hours, though it wasn't a completionist playthrough. Depending on how quickly you solve puzzles, and whether you take time to find secrets, interact with the world, or chase mini-game scores, you could finish a little faster or spend a bit longer with it.
Co-op Experience
As someone who is very much not a platformer person, I think Orbitals is user-friendly in a way that makes it easy to recommend to a wider audience. There are platforming sections, of course, but it never felt like the game was trying to punish me for not being hyper-precise with every jump.
Instead, its best moments come from collaboration.
Orbitals uses an asymmetric co-op design, meaning Maki and Omura have different tools and different responsibilities. One player might need to activate something while the other creates a way forward, or you may need to coordinate your movement through a hazardous area while solving a puzzle at the same time. You are rarely doing exactly the same thing, which makes both players feel essential to the adventure.
The tool system is particularly clever. Throughout the game, you will use everything from lasers to water guns, with each tool creating new possibilities for puzzles and exploration. What really impressed me was how well the game teaches you what these tools do without holding your hand too much. Orbitals gives you the information you need, then lets you and your co-op partner connect the dots.
There were multiple moments in the game where Marcel and I would be staring at a puzzle, trying different approaches, before one of us suddenly realized how we could change the environment, or that we were overthinking it entirely. Those little “ohhh, of course DUMBY” breakthroughs are where Orbitals truly shines.
Every Chapter Is A New Adventure
Orbitals has around 11 chapters (More to come in the future maybe?!), and each one has a characteristic aesthetic, tone, and set of mechanics. The game is very good at avoiding repetition. Outside of the general space-travel sections, it does not feel like you are repeatedly solving the same puzzle with a different background.
Instead, every chapter presents a new challenge. One area might focus on environment interaction, another could introduce a new tool, and another might throw in an unexpected mini-game or challenge. There are also arcade-style diversions hidden throughout the world, later added to your ship, giving you and your friend opportunities to compete for high scores and take a break from the main story.
That consistent sense of discovery made the campaign feel fresh from beginning to end.
A Love Letter to Retro Anime
Orbitals’ visual presentation is incredible. The game is clearly inspired by classic anime of the 1980s and 1990s, and it fully commits to that aesthetic through expressive character designs, bold colours, dramatic space settings, and hand-crafted animated cutscenes from Studio Massket. The story is also shown in the same FPS as those anime (slowing it down to roughly 25 FPS), to make the art style feel very intentional as well.
If you are a fan of Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion, or Dragon Ball, you will probably love the energy of this game. Orbitals is filled with references and familiar genre touches, but it never feels like it is simply copying its influences. It captures the warmth, weirdness, and sincerity of that era while still creating a world that feels distinctly its own.
The soundtrack is also awesome. It immediately sets the tone, even from the loading menu, and consistently makes exploration, puzzles, and dramatic moments feel more exciting. It is one of those soundtracks that makes you want to leave the game sitting on the title screen for a few extra minutes.
A Familiar Story, Told Well
Where Orbitals does not completely outdo itself is in its story. It is enjoyable, but it is also fairly basic. Like many of the anime and cartoons it draws inspiration from, the plot leans into recognizable tropes, and Marcel and I were able to predict who the big evil threat would be somewhat easily.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. The straightforward story fits the retro anime atmosphere, and the emotional drama in the game are always clear. Still, the world is interesting enough that I wanted more depth from its plot and characters. A few more unanticipated turns or more complex character development could have elevated the entire experience even further.
Even so, the story never got in the way of the fun. We were constantly surprised by the gameplay dynamics of each new chapter, and that carried us through any predictable story beats.
Performance
The game performed excellently on Nintendo Switch 2 during our playthrough. We experienced basically no noticeable lag, stuttering, visual bugs, or frustrating online connection issues. For a game that relies so much on getting along with your gamer duo and matching your timing, that smooth performance matters a lot, and it delivered.
The friend system was also incredibly straightforward. Like other co-op games, one player can own the full game while the second downloads the free friend version to join online. It was simple to invite and get started, which is exactly what you want from a game designed around playing with someone else. Orbitals supports local co-op and online play through Nintendo Switch 2.
The TLDR
Orbitals took me completely by surprise. It is charming, creative, visually gorgeous, and constantly fun to play with another person. While its story is a little too familiar at times, nearly everything else, from the music and animation to its clever puzzle tools and varied levels, comes together beautifully.
If you want a co-op game that captures the feeling of watching a beloved retro anime with a friend while still delivering fresh, satisfying gameplay, Orbitals should absolutely be on your radar.
