OTXO VIDEO Review - Gamecritics.com

Hotline Miami, The Roguelite

HIGH Modifying the arsenal for the player and enemies simultaneously was fascinating.

LOW Given how long the runs are, more randomization would have helped.

WTF Equipping an entire mansion with shotguns went exactly how I expected.

TRANSCRIPT: OTXO is a combat intensive top down shooter. And yet, there’s nuance buried beneath the body count. The player can’t mindlessly run and gun- since they can only hold one weapon at a time, every weapon has limited ammo… and it’s treated a bit more realistically than you’d expect. Specifically, most weapons work off clips, which means that when reloaded- the rest of the ammo in the clip is discarded. Since each gun only has one spare by default, this can get awkward in a prolonged firefight. Still, it teaches the player to to improvise. Specifically, by throwing spent weapons at enemies, and then scooping up the first weapon they can get ahold of Which is made all the more compelling by OTXO’s hefty library of weapons, and how it influences the world.

See, anytime the player unlocks a new weapon- it’s not just something they’ll encounter. Rather, since they primary source of firearms is from the cold dead hands of the Manses denizens, they’re effectively choosing the loadouts of every enemy they’ll encounter, minus a few specific exceptions. This ability to craft challenge runs, as well as the dynamic arsenals that can be fought against makes for some fascinating fights- especially when the weapons available are less than optimal. (And then there’s me- who swears by shotguns since a fair number are shell loaded.) That said, there are some consistent elements in the protagonists arsenal.

First is the dodge- On the surface it’s a simple source of I-frames, but it also doubles as a solid escape or gap closer, especially since it can be used to vault over larger objects like tables. That said, this pales compared to ‘Focus Mode’/bullet time. While short-lived, the ability to see incoming bullets and weave between the pellets of a shotgun blast is an -incredible- survival tool. But what about the runs themselves?

Well, each playthrough of OTXO tasks you with conquering 8 distinct areas, composed of several smaller rooms, and culminating in a boss fight. Each one starts in the Infinite Foyer- which is a warm up area- but past that, the specific order of things changes (though, harder areas are still reserved for the tail end, and the final stage is always the same). While this sounds simple, the order of things can make a fairly large impact.

For instance, The Untold Bathhouse doesn’t seem like a large departure from the initial area- until the player gets closer to the water, and their vision fogs up. It also introduces lizard enemies, who shred health with their rapid lunge attacks. Then there’s things like The Bottomless Cellar- a late game region steeped in darkness, hindering visibility save for a narrow cone. This is bad enough in itself, but what makes it harrowing is it’s tight maze of corridors…and the introduction of suicide bombers. But, what does the order matter in all of this?

Well, once an area has been traversed, it then adds its distinct enemies to the ones which follow, which can make for a rather nasty problem- such as adding cloaking enemies and turret outposts to the aforementioned cellars. And then further compounded by enemy modifiers. Since each region pas the first -also- empowers any enemy you encounter with such winning combinations as ‘fast’, ‘perceptive’, or ‘armoured’ – so the player can get rushed down from afar by the worst the game can throw at them. Oh, and the order in which regions are tackled is completely arbitrary, so there’s no real strategic component to the route chosen. It’s not easy- to the point that -getting- to the bosses felt less brutal, more often than not. At least, past the first encounter. They -do- have some pretty nasty tricks up their sleeve- especially since their patterns change up once they get low on health. Still each region has a fixed boss, so acclimatizing to their bag of tricks feels inevitable. Also, boss fights grant infinite ammo, so, which allows for a pretty stable battle strategy.

Now, this might all sound good and great- but it’s about this point that I mention where OTXO starts to stumble, and that’s largely with its rogue components. Now, while I certainly enjoy the various stages it provides and the way that you can get some very dynamic enemy arrangements to challenge- it wasn’t long until i found myself encountering a certain problem, over, and over again- and that was largely vested in it’s stage design.

See, OTXO requires the player to clear -all- of its regions during a successful playthrough, so, in the case of a player getting near the climax and dying repeatedly, they’ll see those earlier areas a -lot-. To the point that it won’t be long until they’ll start to pick out the fact that there isn’t as much variety as they might like. This iterative element, especially since it’s hard to avoid, definitely weighs on the gameplay experience in the long run, and yet, I still found that OTXO had enough in its bag of tricks to keep me entertained- partly due to a few other odds and ends. Such as alcoholism.

Okay, so! There’s a bar which crops up every so often- and the player can spend the money they earn by slaughtering mooks to buy drinks/run specific perks. These run the gamut from ‘extra health’ or ‘reduced incoming damage’, to interesting options such as ‘increased damage but enemies can hear the player from further away’, or ‘increased damage, but bullets don’t fly straight’ (which pairs with ‘bullets richochet off walls in a -very- funny way.) If kills are chained together, a considerable amount of money can be made- which makes creating builds during a run pretty viable, especially when the ability to change what’s ‘on tap’/reroll is considered. …But what about long term meta upgrades?

Well, as far as making things *easier* OTXO isn’t really geared towards doing that. Money -can- be spent at the bar to permanently introduce more drinks to the pool, but a fair number of the original perks can take the player to victory. That said- the arsenal would wind up looking a bit sparse, and that’s because of how weapons are unlocked. Because, for some unfathomable reasons, they are stashed away in capsule machines. Every so often, a player can encounter a hidden room, with a capsule machine in a corner. For a low amount of money, it can be turned- potentially providing the player with a random weapon… or a toy. It’s weird, and wacky- and it can take a while, but there’s some really good stuff stashed away in there. I just- wasn’t able to finish it off until I’d finished the game, and unlocked the optional run challenges, such as the one that gave starting money in exchange for nothing dropping. And that wound up being more to finish things off then really using them, since while I’d unlocked a much more punishing ‘Impossible mode’ I wasn’t inclined to run through it.

That said, OTXO kept me roped in for nearly 25 hours- so on the whole? I’d say I had a good time.

Rating: 8 out of 10

— Arlyeon, Crit Hit – support me on Patreon!

This game is developed by Lateralis Heavy Industries and published by Super Rare Originals. It is currently available on PS4/5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC Approximately 26 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, and Use of Alcohol.

Colorblind Modes: It’s primarily black and white – I think it’s colorblind-friendly by default! As such there are no colorblind modes.