AK-xolotl: How NOT to Make a Roguelite

AK-xolotl was a game I was highly anticipating... and it's pretty disappointing. It's a game with a solid foundation and... that's about it. It's an Early Access title marketed as a 1.0 release, and while I look forward to seeing with the developer adds to it, for now it's kinda... meh.

Music (in order):
AK-xolotl Main Menu Theme

0:00-1:22 Intro
1:23-3:02 Weapons & Items
3:03-3:52 Enemies & Repetition
3:53-5:49 Metaprogression
5:50 Conclusion

#akxolotl #roguelite #gaming #sl1ppey

JJJreact

[irondragon]

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

[nullius]

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

[MrSaviorHD]

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.

[slppey]

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

[chaoticcar]

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

[ICallSnax]

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

[SalusFuturistics]

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

[tickleberrypie]

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??

[nathanblackburn]

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

[DylBro]

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

[TheMilitiaGamer]

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

[maxibon]

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 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.

[meatballmustard]

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

[jbrenneman]

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.

[Fan-dhhw]

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

[ShizzyHollywood]

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.

[addison_v_ertisement]

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.

[Levi___Ramirez]

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!

[Quantumact]

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

[chuckles]

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