This one goin viral, I'm calling it, here at under 1k veiws but this hitting at least 500k

If replay-ability wasn’t your top priority for a roguelike, you shouldn’t be making a roguelike.

Maybe the beer item being bad was the devs' way of telling me to stop drinking

This 100% could be a great game if it found its identity. I’m surprised it wasn’t in early access. They need more content stat.

Now if they made the baby axolotls GUNS you could shoot and use...

The Devs getting their #1 Indie Game Prize stolen maybe was foreshadowing

couldve just said no fishing at the beginning and saved me 7 minute

As a Kickstarter backer of this game I 100% agree with everything you've said. Luckily it looks like the devs are really putting in some leg work to address the criticism with there already being a new update to fix some of the problems mentioned (specifically the food system and lasting hitboxes) but something they still haven't fixed that really gets on my nerves is the secret rooms. Whenever you go to enter one the model for the floor clips over your character when you walk in. like did no testers even try this big mechanic in the game??

I think the game would be better if it leaned harder into the customisable axolotl babies idea, like one of The Binding of Isaac's best parts is all the characters and how they vary in gameplay especially with the tainted characters and how extremely gimmicky they are, if you could go that level of crazy with the axolotl customisation then I think that'd really help the game stand out

I remember seeing this game's trailer and i already knew it wasn't gonna be a good game on release. It looked like it lifted literally everything from gungeon or nuclear throne and then added Axolotls and said HEY BUY THIS GAME! ITS LIKE THOSE OTHER COOL GAMES BUT WITH AXOLOTLS! And that was the entire appeal

I've sunk 11+ hours into AK-xolotl and I think all the points made are very valid. The game gets heavily carried by its aesthetic, music, and smooth movement. However some other problems not mentioned is the lack of seeing new stuff. Apparently a mimic chest exists in this game which I would of never known if I didn't look through the achievements as I haven't seen it spawn in my 11+ hours of game time. Some guns and items I've purchased are so extremely rare that I would buy them and never see them ever like EVER. I also find the balancing of most the guns to be atrocious and same for the items (this was in the video but it's like REALLY BAD), the order of best guns goes 1. starting sniper, 2. Ratvolver (epic pistol) and 3. nothing else because why would you use anything else besides the GREEN MOST COMMON GUNS which are better then their rarer counterparts. I found the reasoning for this poor balancing is the fact the rarer guns have a good upside but then have a downside completely negating their usefulness. The same goes for the items but it's not nearly as bad as a lot of the items do good and cool things! However some guns might be good and I wouldn't know as even though I've unlocked most the guns I haven't been able to use them sooooo take that what you will. Another problem not mentioned is just how many glitches there are, for when sl1ppey died to nothing that was because the frogs that land and leave fire and the skunks which leave a trail of acid, all have the visuals of their damaging fire and acid not match to the time the fire and acid's damage actually leave so you will see nothing but unlucky because oops you just walking into invisible fire. Another bug I found which actually helped the runs was that if you buy the left most item in the shop and then reroll, the middle option if it's an item will be free and you can reroll once more to get another free item if you're lucky which you wouldn't be able to if you just bought the middle or right options. Some others are corners break a lot of AI, chests can block doors, last stage enemies just fly into the corners, half the items which work like money equals power and less health equals more power don't scale right and buying an item even if you have 500 and spend 70 will reset your damage. Overall these critics would be unfair if the game was early access and instead could just be called points to improve but unfortunately it's 1.0. I do hope for more to be added to this game as it's got a lot of potential in it's framework and IT'S SO GOD DAMN CUTE AND HORRIFIC. Overall I have to give the game in it's current state a 4 sexy smouldering axolotls out of 10. Great video.

As another huge fan of roguelites and roguelikes, meta progression is what always makes me lean towards the latter. Meta progression can be great when it's unlockables to ease into new gameplay mechanics, but permanent stat buffs like flat damage or health up are almost always a recipe for disaster since it's when you have scaling player skill and scaling strength it's very easy for the game to become stale as it becomes almost impossible to die without trying.

another thing you didnt mention that i felt was noteworthy immediately upon seeing it was the artstyle, it looks way too similar to gungeon, or even nuclear throne to be a coincidence for me edit: chill, i literally stated in replying to the guy who made the video that it isnt a nitpick, just something i thought was worth noting. the artstyle isnt bad by any means, it was just another similarity i noticed

You made such an awesome well put video and actively deterred me from spending my money on a game on a game I hadn't realized wasn't what I had thought ir originally to be. Thank you, I have subbed, and I hope to hear/see more well made videos such as this

Many would probably think you are too hard on the game but like you showed, they called themselves the ULTIMATE roguelike. Kinda asking for a critical review.

this channel has potential and I wana stick around to see what it will become

As an aspiring dev triying to make a rogue-lite, this video was pretty useful and educative, thanks!

One of the best negative reviews I've seen in a good while, good video.

Great video, agree 100%. After a few hours with the game, I saw everything it had to offer and it was just Gungeon at Home. Having to run back and forth with the Axolittles every time (with the rooster screeching at you each time) really makes me wonder wtf the devs were thinking. Roadmap looks promising though so hopefully this ends up being good in a year.

Hey! Not a dev for this game BUT I made a rougelite last year called Shoot Trip Die, and a lot of the problems you had with THIS game seemed to also be reflective in my game. Not so much the meta-progression and the price but more so the small pool of items, minimal bosses and non-unique characters (For reference, my game only has 1) I never played this game, I don't like rougelites with meta-progression as I feel it kinda ruins the point of the genre, but it was interesting to see your points of veiw on the genre that I may not have accounted for when making MY game. I'm working on an update for my game and feedback like this, even though not aimed at my project, helps more than you realize Great video! Very high quality!

I ended up refunding the game when I bought it. Lack of variety and the unnecessary weapon restrictions kinda killed it for me.

Welp it wasn’t the best but I’m looking forward to the roadmap they’ve got planned.

i wish the devs the best and genuinely hope they can turn this ship around and make a good game, but the fact they released it like this with that much confidence is just sad.

It'll probably get post launch support at the very least. The general consensus tends to be that the gameplay loop is a bit light on content which is something I tend to feel when playing it too, but there's definitely room to add things. I look forward to more updates dropping for it.

I remember playing the demo, and thinking "Wow, this sure makes me hope the full game will have a LOT more content". Which is kinda the exact opposite of the one that got me into roguelites back then, the original Binding of Isaac flash demo. That one had SO much content already that I needed to get the full game. Well, it is what it is.

It's always a pleasure to see someone talking about Gungeon, i genuinely think it is inside the top three rougelikes of all time, along with Hades and Slay the Spire or Risk of rain 2. And it's my personal favorite.

Excessive metaprogression in a roguelite always hurts them way too much. I always hate when I start a new roguelite and I get barely any items aside from a handful of the same ones until I lose a few runs, it's kinda what killed Dead Cells for me. Then sometimes the opposite issue happens later on, where all of the stuff you've unlocked makes the early game way too easy and it might as well be skipped. Sidenote, try Barony and Nuclear Throne for very low metaprogression games, they're some of my favorite in the genre.

The piano remix of City Escape was fitting since those Axolotl pets reminded me exactly of Chaos, except the charm of the Chaos was you were basically taking a break from the major progression to take care of them because they were cute and it was fun to collect different kinds and just be silly with them in between all of the chaos and action of progressing through Sonic Adventure 2/Battle. You end up artificially creating a progression route with Chaos because you just like interacting with them, they had Tomagotchi vibes.

Simply untrue. I've never fished in Gungeon 😤 I've not played Wooperlite yet but I'm really disappointed to hear that it's been received this poorly. I was really hyped for it. I'll probably wait til a sale and more content to come out before I play it.

VERY thorough, succinct, and well organized video! Well done :) I'm not sure if you plan to carve a niche for yourself after this critiquing roguelikes? But if so, I'd love to send you an early look at 'Schism'! There'd be no obligation to make a video. But hopefully you'd like what you see, and feel inspired to talk about it :)

6:39 Why do people think that tou can't criticize a game if it's in beta? The devs won't know what to improve unless they're told or play it themselves.

i must say i had a similar thing with cult of the lamb, the runs felt too similar with too little items. ITs very frustrateing

I just encountered you for the first time and want to thank you for good time. I even took some notes on progression systems, keep it up!:)

Axolotles are my favorite animals for sure and this game definitely caught my attention when i first saw it. I really hope the devs can bring this game to it's full potential because i would really hate an idea like this be wasted. I think it might have been rushed and if they spend a little more time making quality of life changes then i think this game can be so much better

i was so hyped for akolotl, im disappointed that it doesnt seem that great but thank you for letting people know ill be waiting to buy till they add/change some things

For how goofy the game is you’d expect the guns to be extra crazy or really goofy

Voidigo is waay better and is basically what this game tries to achieve but failed(voidigo was in EA a long time before AK Xolotl was even announced) You should review it (I also saw your steam review of Xolotl lol)

If anyone want's to play this, but an actually good Roguelike, try playing Voidigo. Similar art style, but actually full of content, neat mechanics, and lots of wacky and fun moments. Probably my favorite roguelike of 2023, hands down.

Loved the video! Roguelites are my favorite genre and this video is so well constructed. All your points are valid and make perfect sense. I also appreciate that you didn't just bash on it, but you also gave praise for what the game did well. Subscribed!

"fishing is the main content of these games, lets be real" Ah I see you too have played Silksong!

My favorite animal is the axolotl and i love rogelites/rogelikes and i got so hyped about this game, it felt as the kind of thing that my game collection needed but, well, here we are.

I think this is one of those games that can and probably will be good in the future. It has a lot of potential, and what it does have is a lot of style. It'll probably be great in the next year or so, but my problem is that it should be good enough on release. I know it's an indie title, but why do we have to wait for it to be better then just okay after its release?

Small creators like this are the backbone of youtube. I hope your channel gets big and strong one day, so eat your greens

It was on my wishlist but after watching this video, I might wait some time until things are polished and/or the price drops. Thanks for the video and the heads-up!

4:48 "Let's you carry 2 secondary weapons"

This is pretty much exactly how I feel. I've completed every ounce of Enter the Gungeon and Nuclear Throne and after just a few runs I could tell that this game just was not for me.

Ive had this in my wishlist forever, cause it looked really cute and i adore roguelites.. disappointing that it doesnt have a lot of replayability....the 1 thing a roguelite really needs. Thanks for the informative video :)

Very rare to see UKposts recommend me a good channel! Very nice review, I'd love to see more like these in the future on other roguelites too, like Nuclear Throne or Vampire Survivors.

I’d love to see a review of nuclear throne, an absolutely incredible rougelite. Another thing is that the community has some great mods too. It’s a small game, but it’s really fun.

Horaay my unpopular opinion is no longer unpopular i can exit the cave

Fish can roll.

Something I like about _Star of Providence_ (aka Monolith) is that most meta options don't make you stronger; they're just additions to the game. You still have to put in the effort and thought into gittin' gud, whether you just broke all four seals, or unlocked everything long ago (like I did).

3:15 sounds like they turned gatling gull into a common enemy then

not gonna lie this video made me want to actually play the game, I think a lot of roguelikes can be really overwhelming and one with a more digestible amount of content sounds nice for a more casual experience even if it leaves more hardcore roguelite fans wanting more

I was against this game from day one. It honestly made me frustrated that nobody was pointing out how similar to Gungeon it looked. "Oh, but the game has cute animals, and that's what is important!" Get the hell out of here. 💀

There being no alternative bosses is the main thing that kept me from coming back to the game after a few hours of play throughout three days. The lack of gun variety was a close second.

I really want this to become good, the industry is really lacking in Axolotl based games and I think that's a shame

It seems like a good game that needs to be fleshed out. A lot.

I love this review very Helpful for both devs and players

It's overwhelmingly similar to Gungeon & Nuclear Throne whilst ultimately having very little new to offer

5:05 pls I need an adult -- great video, though! I hope they make some adjustments bc this aesthetic is super cute, and it has a lot of potential!

I was so excited for this game, I played for 6 hours and I enjoyed my time but I’m already so bored with it. It has sooooo much potential. The road map looks cool and I’m excited for future content. I have high hopes it will become a great game, but for now it’s just not ready and shouldn’t have been released yet.

I love roguelites too, so when I saw the word "bad" in a thumbnail with Isaac and Gungeon, I was angry, but curious. I'll admit it, you got me. Good video.

Wow man this popped up in my recommended and i assumed you were a pretty large sized channel based on the video quality. Keep up the good work

Honestly it's a shame to hear this. I've been looking forward to trying this game. But thank you for the honest review! I think I might put it towards Hades or Cult of the Lamb instead.

Nice video. As a fan of rouge likes it’s pity to hear this one didn’t stick the landing, but alas, not every game can be a winner I guess.

Indie devs that pull the "we will update the game later" is not something i want to see.

Really nice construct criticism with a tangent on what the game does right. Hope the devs can use you're, and the rest of the game playerbase opinions, to improve upon their game to make it something special, cause i really think they were onto some good ideas and the game clearly has lots of care and passion put into it

I thought I was insane for having the exact same opinion as you when all the steam reviews claimed this was the "ultimate roguelike". Thank you for reassuring me im not crazy

Two things: 1st. This is a really well made video, I'm gonna sub because you're a surprisingly enjoyable reviewer. 2nd. I think they basically ripped TBOI's Brimstone and they rely a little too much on item references...

It needs more bosses or paths It also needs some of the power ups to be fix like the ability to get rid of the bullets on screen, it's not worth it

I saw this game recommended on my steam page and was excited to pick it up when it went on sale. Sad to hear it’s not as good as other options

5:05 The joke is porn addiction 😂😂😂😹😹😹

What are your thoughts on Nuclear Throne. A lot of these criticisms also apply to that game. (Lack of Weapon and enemy variety, you can only carry two weapons, same boss every floor, upgrades that sometimes don’t feel impactful)

Me: *Dies in most peacefull way* Some kid on my funeral: Bro, Soul Knight can be installed to PC now. Archievement made: Cheating dead

I see potential in your channel. Keep going

Isaac has become such a staple in rpgs, that isaac in thumbnails is just "oh this is roguelike"

Ak-xolotl reminds me a lot of Nuclear Throne in a lot of ways, the devs clearly really wanted to put a lot of love and effort into the game but by the end kinda just... didnt do so at least Ak-xolotl managed to avoid copying NT's horrendous mechanic of making weapons always drop in the same order making every run the exact same

I actually enjoy this and I have a way you detect secret rooms if you see a bump on the wall that looks out of place then that’s a secret room

Glad i got your video recommended, mate. I agree that when i tried the demo it felt it wasn´t that much content that the finished game but wanna see it improve eventually. Would love to see you cover more overlooked rougelike titles!

this is a bit of a shame cause i love a good pixel art style game 😭 hopefully they can turn it around

Having a small item pool in a Roguelike isn't inherently bad. Star of Providence (formally Monolith) has a small pool of Weapons and other items. But they all feel different. In fact, the Weapons come with modifiers that change their properties and they're random.

I was about to type some longwinded criticism essay about how you clearly haven't played Nuclear Throne but I happened to see the community tab where you just did that exact thing and now I have no criticisms for this video because everything you missed was only because you hadn't done that yet (especially when you mentioned only being able to hold two guns, my immediate response was "But Nuclear Throne???"). Having put decent hours into NT it's obvious this game really looks like it has heavy NT inspiration, and manages to get some of it right, but it doesn't manage to capture that essence of simplicity and mostly comes off as unfinished/repetitive, at least not in its current form. With that out of the way, great video! Glad you're enjoying Nuclear Throne as well!

I want to take a minute to shout out OTXO, a fast, hyperviolent, top-down-shooter roguelike released a few months back. It has some of the best weapon design in the industry, both from a gameplay and audiovisual standpoint, as well as some of the most creative and synergistic items I’ve seen in a roguelike. It also has multiple post-game challenges, the best soundtrack out of anything I’ve played this year, and it’s also cheaper than AK-Xolotl. Just play it instead.

I love the ideas about raising axolotls that you eventually play as with differing stats based off of how you raise them, I think there's something there that has potential.

Despite the flaws,i do see some shine in it and i feel like it may improve over time but yes this should have been a early access. Would love to hear your thoughts on other similar titles like Gunfire reborn and Nightmare Reaper,both i really enjoy and now unfortunately in the whole unity situation.

I love the idea and I love the baby axolotl stuff, idk if this game can be fixed but if it can I sure hope it does get fixed

not only do you start with more guns in gungeion but you'll proberbly trip over and unlock one or two by accedent in your first few runs

I got this game and played several hours of it and it was so fun that I suddenly decided to go back to enter the gungeon and forget the game existed. I am not hating but honestly I have been chasing the feeling that etg gives me and no twin stick has really compared

If you want a fun twinstick shooter theres Synthetik, really intense roguelite shooter

youtube recommended this one randomly, great video and very surprised to see you didn't already have at least 100k subscribers - good stuff (and yes I've seen content creation SUCKS ;)

youtube shoved your channel into my feed and I enjoyed this a lot; subbed!

I'm sorry but 120 hours is pathetically low

Cult of the Lamb was great, but it set a bad trend of "roguelike + other genre". Games that do that leave the roguelike park half-baked at best, which ruins the whole game for me. Meta progression also sucks, but to a lesser extent. I feel like nowadays roguelikes are made by people who say "I wanna make a roguelike game" rather than "I wanna make a fun new game." Most devs fall back on copying Enter the Gungeon, and don't leave room for new or unique ideas (besides the stuff I just complaned about not liking). It's not just this game, but all newer action roguelikes.

…oh, my god, this isn’t early access. I was somehow laboring under the thought that it was, and that the game had ‘potential’, but…no, that’s it, that’s the entirety of the content. I am glad I held off, and I’m glad I found a new creator to subscribe to.

I like the thumbnail of this video and the title, it brought me in, you also have a decent voice and audio quality.

Honestly I sont really pay attention to early access anymore. So so many games release in "early access" and I szill have to pay full prize and then either the game is in a slightly better than beta state or the game is practically finished. I mean hell Satisfactory has been in early access for several years now and recieved multiple massive updates already. "Early access" doesnt mean anything anymore. Its just a shield to hide behind when it turns out the game is unplayable but had to be released anyways to meet income quotas

This really feels like a "So quirky and different" tumblr audience game. Great video though! Earned a subscriber. EDIT: There is no huge backlog of videos on this channel to binge, my disappointment is immeasurable

Saw the trailer, added it to the wishlist and COMPLETELY agree with this video.

Hey, just found this channel! This some high quality shit! I hope to see more!