Before I began explaining all the reasons I didn't enjoy Oh... Sir! The Insult Simulator, I want to say that I'm seriously surprised at the positive rating that the steam version has! Even knowing this game is from an old version created during a Game Jam, the competition that challenges developers to make a game within 48 hours, it is crazy to see how many people are saying that it's amazing...
While I find it impressive that a team is able to put a game together within such a short time and enjoy checking out the games that are made, they are not all winners - and that's how I feel about Oh... Sir! The Jargon Simulator.
And before you say that this is the reason a lot of aspects should slide, this PS4 console edition is the result of the developers reconstructing the game. They could of spent a little extra time adding more aspects that would of made the game better before putting it on the market.
Story
What story? Why would an insult game need a story mode when you can just do repetitive battles against bots or friends? I would of likely enjoyed a story of someone going through a rough town to do some errands and everywhere he went he for into another argument. Or anything at all! It took me seconds to give a plot that would include all of the stages and characters which could of provided some more reason to why they are all so quick to start an argument.
Not having some comical story to this attempt-to-be-funny game is nothing short of a mistake.
Gameplay
Showing off with a layout that would be typically used in a fighter game, like Tekken or Injustice, by sporting health bars that lowers according to how rude your insult, an announcer that starts you off with "settle it," and little fists that punch each other when you state the insult that you just built.
The way the insulting works is that there is a list of word sets in the middle of the screen that both players stand in opposite sides of. You and your opponent share these words to choose from in order to create your insult statement. You also have two insults on the bottom that are only for you to access and you can drink tea once to get a new set is terms. Once complete, add the "!" and then both players state their insults to do damage.
The problem with this is that the terms available are very limited, often repeated after just a few bouts, and almost never actually make any sense. It's a big resemblance to Mad Libs, but even an actual game is Mad Libs would let the players choose the words they want used and can make it funnier for the individual or group!
Giving no option to add something myself and have a short list of sentences to form made the game boring very quickly and the humor that the first round had (which wasn't more than a single chuckle) was wiped away immediately. How many times is "Your sense of style is you!" and "Your mother looks like an ordinary pigsty" possible be funny? The answer is one time. Jokes aren't meant to be repeated over and over, they get old real quick that way.
Graphics
With a total of four maps and roughly eight characters, the graphics are obviously where the least amount of effort went in to. The characters had large polygons that put their shape together just enough to represent a person. The maps were single screens with not much going on.
But, the animations and graphic style was fitting for the type of game that they made. It was a very minor aspect that really didn't need any improvement. Knowing this game is the product of a Game Jam does give a big pass, so there's not much else to say.
Sound
Adding a small extra noise when a hard insult hits a player and music that is far from modern yet very suiting for the olden times look portrayed gave matches a light hearted melody to it. It was a great choice for those who would end up taking this game seriously to be able to hear how not serious the game really is. Good way to counter the aggravation that some would get while listening to a series of insults.
Replayability
For me, there is none. Repetitive terms to use to form sentences of insults you have already heard isn't funny and quickly annoying. Although you can play with friends, why would you want to if it isn't comical anymore?
Here is their launch trailer:
What Could Of Been Better
A lot of things could of been better! This game would of been great with more options when it came to forming insults against players, some form of campaign mode or at least a story to go with the tournament mode option, more maps and more intros for each of the maps, an option to let players create their own insults in some way (like the classic Mad Libs rule where you give the type of word needed, such as adjective or noun, to have the sentence built up properly to form an insult), and some form of random word generator, which would increase the variety of insults and jokes available in the game.
Anything that would of helped prevent this game from being repetitive in general would of helped.
Conclusion
A very boring and repetitive game that offers a small selection of jokes to be repeated until you just can't stand it anymore. Slow gameplay and insults that rarely made sense didn't help make this game any more fun. Not a game worth more than a couple rounds before it's ready for permanent retirement in your game collection.
