Hi there, Neillithan, and welcome to the Oddworld Forums. Your love of Oddworld shows clearly, and I agree that Abe’s Oddysee and Abe’s Exoddus are absolutely classic games.
Quite a few people were upset that Elum didn’t return in Abe’s Exoddus. It was really down to technical limitations. Even worse is that Elum hasn’t returned since (although you can see some in Munch’s Oddysee—sort of). I understand what you mean by the Zulags in SoulStorm Brewery making the game seem so clearly divided into levels, but it was OWI’s way of making the game just a little bit more open‐ended, as players can select which order to complete the Zulags in.
Scrabs and Paramites aren’t really part of Exoddus’s story, but they do add greatly to the gameplay, atmosphere, scale, and background of the game. Enjoy it while it lasts. Their appearances in Munch’s Oddysee are mere cameos, and they are generally regarded as being out‐of‐character. Their behaviour is different, and the sounds they make are different. They aren’t in Stranger’s Wrath at all.
It is inevitable that we will see Meeches one day, but most likely this will be in the form of a vision or flashback. Maybe a forgotten population of Meeches is discovered, or maybe they are brought back from extinction through Vykkers science. I don’t think actual time travel will be involved.
Munch’s Oddysee and Stranger’s Wrath are very different games. MO retains some of the charm, mystery and quirkiness of the Abe games, but its style is quite different. It is more cartoony, with annoying sound effects left, right and centre, and the gameplay is very repetitive. Some of the ‘puzzles’ are actually just tests of patience. But there is a lot to like, with some truly beautiful cinematics and expanded understanding of the Oddworld universe.
Stranger’s Wrath is a completely separate story that doesn’t feature Abe, Munch, Glukkons, Mudokons, or most of the past cast. The only returning characters are Fuzzles and one Vykker. Most noticeably the game is a first‐person shooter, with a strong Western style for the first half. The new protagonist, Stranger, is a little hard to sympathize with because he hides his emotions and, unlike Abe and Munch, is a physically strong character who uses muscle and shooting to defeat his enemies. The style is very different to previous games, but the core spirit of Oddworld is very much there, and the gameplay is the best the series has had (unless you dislike FPS games). The new characters… are controversial. Some are radical and were instantly loved by fans. Some are not so cool.
Alright, hopefully some of that will be of help to you.
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but ya that's what I want them to do too. All of a sudden when they started doing stuff in 3D like in MO, it became looking a little cartoonish and too much like the sterotypical platform game.
