Only Upwards: With Friends

Only Upwards: With Friends is one of those games that was popular with a few streamers for a while, well until they moved onto the “next big thing” of course. I played this with a couple of friends and as a multiplayer game, this can be so much fun. For a few weeks, we had this as part of our Thursday night gaming sessions and we always had a lot of laughs as the game has a bit of jankyness about it that is actually part of the fun.

Being The Best Parkour Guy Around

There is no big story or engaging plot here with Only Upwards: With Friends. The basics are that there is this new parkour style league where all of the best athletes can come and test their skills to see who is the best. The twist here is that the races will be taking place on all kinds of dangerous courses that just keep on going up and up. Honestly, it is a fun premise and more than enough to at the very least set the tone for why all these people are competing against each other.

Making Your Way To The Top

The premise of Only Upwards: With Friends is so simple. You take your little parkour guy and you need to run, jump, and climb all the way to the top of the course. There are things you can bounce off, things you can grip onto, and about a million things that you can, of course, fall off. The thing with this game is that if you fall, you do not just respawn where you fell or a few feet back. Nope, it is all the way back to the start! This game punishes you big time for making a mistake, but that is all part of the thrill. Being neck and neck with someone close to the end and giving them a little push so they fall is so exciting. However, when it happens to you it is super frustrating and that is where the “fun” here lies.

Fun With Friends

I think that when you play Only Upwards: With Friends with your friends, you are able to tolerate the jankyness of the game so much more. From your guy not grabbing onto things properly to even getting stuck in a jump loop. There is a bit of “unpolish” about this game that can be annoying, but at the same time, it is part of what makes this so fun. I think if you come into this and want to take it seriously and try to be the best and get the best times, you will find it a very frustrating experience. I also think if you play this on its own, it loses much of its charm. You have to be playing with people you know so you can trash talk each other and laugh when you and they have misfortunes.

Going For The Best Time!

Only Upwards: With Friends has a real risk and reward thing with the gameplay. There are of course all kinds of tricky jumps that you have to make, but there are also many obstacles that move that you will need to navigate. It is the kind of thing where you have to get into a real flow of running and jumping and also hope that you hit some of the moving obstacles at the right time. I am sure that there is an element of skill in this game and there are some who will practice like crazy. For me, the fun was had by just going for it, pushing anyone that got in my way, and just hoping that the obstacles would line up as I hit them.

Pros:

• This was a lot of fun to play with my friends
• It is janky, but that actually adds to the charm and fun
• When you get into a groove and your run is going great, it is awesome
• Some of the streams where people get frustrated playing this are funny to watch

Cons:

• For a solo player, this is not going to be all that much fun
• It is the kind of game that is great for a while, but you will eventually have your fill of it