izigame.me

AK-xolotl might just be one of the best showcases of why Steam needs a sideways thumb button; as even though I'm giving this one a recommendation, I'm only just barely doing so. This title has a lot to love about it; the bullet-hell gameplay is really fun and addictive, the visual style is adorable, and there are tons of different weapons and items to find. plus, our hero is literally an axolotl wielding an AK-47. How is that not freakin' awesome?? Unfortunately, the game has a number of screws loose; most notably being how it's a roguelike that you can beat fairly quickly, and where each run feels more or less the same as the run before it. But let's not worry about that yet! Positivity, baby!!

(*AHEM*) “Once upon a time, a family of axolotls was having a picnic on a hill. After their bellies were full, the axolotls all laid down for a long nap. . . BUT THEN, a bunch of large, scary, and definitely evil beasts came and kidnapped (almost) everyone!! When the very last axolotl woke up, he found that his family was missing! And HIS LEFTOVER SANDWICH WAS STOLEN!! So then he... uhm... he.. he took out his AK-47 and proclaimed 'Let's go shoot some fools until their faces are unrecognizable!!' “ . . . wow, that escalated quickly. anyway, very deep and moving story, right? Now, AK-xolotl's gameplay is rock solid. The stages are all awesome and distinct, the enemy Al is actually pretty good (bad guys tend to group up and surround you in a corner, and they don't exactly go one at a time when shooting you), and -most importantly- the guns are tons of fun. There are eight different weapon types; including machine guns, snipers, and explosives; each having about fifteen or twenty unique kinds of guns. I personally liked the shotguns and melee weapons the best. The melee attacks, ironically enough, felt a lot more satisfying and fluid than the gunplay; in a game where AK is literally right there in the title. Also, axolotls swinging chainsaws. 'nuff said. Gameplay is not the problem here; as what AK-xolotl offers is robust, and loads of fun. The big problem is that the game really should be offering a lot more. To give you the big picture, let's compare this to another roguelike. now, you may have heard of this little indie game, see, it's called THE BINDING OF ISAAC. Anyway, there are dozens upon dozens of different levels in Isaac's story mode, each one having five or six (or more...) different bosses to fight. You know how many AK-xolotl has?? Eight. Eight levels, eight bosses. that's it. Isaac gives you eighteen different characters to play as; many having significantly different abilities and strategies to try; and while AK-xolotl has a lot more characters, guess how many unique abilities there are?? One. that's right: every character has the same special ability, and all it is is stuffing your face!!. Isaac's tragedy has nearly twenty different endings, peeling back layers like an onion and revealing what's actually going on every successful playthrough, all while opening up new levels and secrets every run consistently. And how many endings does AK-xolotl have?? ONE. And once you beat it, that's kinda it. No new zones, bosses, enemies, any of that.... with that said, the gameplay is still fire, y'all.

It's impossible to hate axolotls. that's just facts. On a similar note, I really don't have any complaints with AK-xolotl's production values. Visually, it looks gorgeous. The hand-drawn 32-bit sprites and locations are quirky and ridiculously charming, the character animation is incredibly clean, and the little details and touches just make everything feel alive. To give you some context on all this, let me tell you about my favorite level: Sakura Inferno. It's a slightly over-the-top Japanese themed zone where you fight the Yakuza and Yokai while going through bamboo forests, while cherry tree leaves are blowing everywhere (obviously); and the whole thing ends with an intense battle between a massive albino viper. It's pretty awesome, even though the snake's tail looks kinda phallic during that one attack. Most of the weapons look and feel powerful, like you're some sort of amphibian Rambo. Like every roguelike game, there are a bunch of pop culture references in the most random of places; things like Star Wars (it's a light-swoosher! totally different thing!), Portal, and even a Mr. Beast bar. Even Isaac got invited to the party! great job, buddy! oh, the game is also pretty funny. It's the little things, like how you can get a “hand gun” and it's just you pointing your fingers going “pew pew pew pew!” or how the fountain statues at the hot springs are just axolotls peeing, or how all the cutscenes have David Attenborough-esque narration. Also, the axolotls are just goofy goobers. The music is fun while in game, but it's nothing I'd listen to on its own; but, like, that's the biggest criticism I have about the entire production. Other than that, AK-xolotl is a winner in every category. perfect 10/10.

AK-xolotl is a lot of fun... when it actually works. I'm going through various miscellaneous problems I came across; some game breaking, some nit-picky, but they're there, and they do add up. let's a go... First up, you can easily crash the game with certain power-ups, one of them combining the DPad Shots with the Laser Blaster. Lasers will just keep flooding the screen until the whole thing starts stuttering before your computer explodes (only a mild exaggeration). A lot of the power-up rooms are actually useless. like, why do we need a room dedicated to ammunition? ENEMIES ALREADY DROP AMMO WHEN YOU RUN OUT. More than once, I was scammed out of my money from a shop. Your healing ability will bug out if you get hit while using it, making it so you can't use it for the rest of the run. The game has something of a backwards difficulty level, as in the first three or four levels are much much harder than the later maps. I mean, I had more trouble on World Three's boss (a killer whale about to burst on steroids) than the final boss (a literal god). The game will keep giving you bullets and ranged weapon upgrades even when you're playing the Melee Only mode. Some “upgrades” actually just make the weapon much worse (the “leap after every attack!” ability legit ruined my run). More than once I got hurt from an “invisible” attack (most likely the fire from an already dead enemy). The “Axo-little Pet Simulator”, while undeniably adorable, is far too shallow to be considered a selling point. You can easily kill yourself with your own grenade launcher. And finally, I hate those foxes with crossbows. they're legit among the hardest enemies in the game, and they show up on level one. literally unplayable. 0/10.

AK-xolotl is a very fun action game. With that said, I hesitate to give this a full thumbs up. The reason? well, along with all the other problems I mentioned, the game is too predictable. While the competition has games that are completely different every single playthrough, AK-xolotl tends to feel very samey the further you get. And while the competition has games that can last hundreds of hours, I saw everything AK-xolotl had to offer in less than twenty five. still, it's definitely not a bad game; and it is a lot less dark and violent than other roguelikes. you're still going up and shooting cute critters in the face with a shotgun, though. you're all cool with that?