Retro platforming action, seamless character switching | Full Review - Exolotl : Zian

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Exolotl : Zian is a platformer game with charming retro pixel art style, unique character designs inspired by the cute animal axolotl, and a seamless character switching gameplay mechanic, the game offers a nostalgic experience with a touch of innovation.

🟩Pros

+Genuinely nostalgic platforming

+Charming character designs based on the axolotl animal

+Seamless character switching

🟥Cons

-Touch control layout is hard to use and uncustomizable

-Limited character depth

Exolotl : Zian that takes players on an exciting retro platformer adventure to save the Exolotl Planet from the clutches of the nefarious King Orion. With its play on words in the title, "Exolotl" the game clearly draws inspiration from the real-life cute animal, the axolotl. The character designs embody the charming features of axolotls, adding a touch of whimsy and friendliness to the game.

Exolotl: Zian presents itself with a charming retro pixel art style, embracing the aesthetics of classic platformers like Super Mario and even modern titles like Terraria. The environments are varied, showcasing beautifully designed pixel art levels, including jungles, beaches, underwater areas, and cyberpunk cities.

The attention to detail in the pixel art is commendable, capturing the essence of the platforming era with its pixelated art design and 8 bit animations, while still delivering a visually pleasing experience. The character designs are distinct, and enemy designs showcase creativity, offering a wide array of alien, mutant, flora, and robotic adversaries to overcome.

The game's core mechanics center around platforming and action-oriented gameplay. Players control Zian, the sword wielding prince, and his friends as they navigate through levels, defeat enemies, and ultimately save the Planet.

Exolotl : Zian's touch control layout is a bit different that what mobile gamers are used to, as it features a traditional cross style on-screen button layout more commonly seen in physical controllers. The traditional button format allows console oriented players to have a more familiar looking layout.

However, the buttons' small size and the joysticks' fixed position can be problematic, making precise inputs challenging and leading to occasional frustration. The absence of customization options to adjust button sizes or reposition them is a missed opportunity to cater to players with varying preferences and playstyles. For having a control scheme that closely resembles physical controllers, it was a bit surprising to find that it does not support actual physical controllers.

Exolotl: Zian features a diverse cast of playable characters. The swordsman prince Zian is accompanied by Bark the destroyer, Fury the witch, Hazel the Mexican comedian, and Quin the hunter. Each character possesses distinct attack patterns and abilities, adding freshness, depth, and strategic options to the gameplay. Bark is a brawler capable of dealing massive damage up close. Fury can cast magic spells to damage enemies from both close and long ranges. Quin wields a literal shotgun, providing shotgun-type damage from a distance, while Hazel hurls various random objects as grenades.

The ability to switch between characters seamlessly during specific levels, without any resource requirement or cooldown, keeps the gameplay fresh and engaging, encouraging players to experiment and discover who’s effective against different enemies and bosses. However, it would have been even more compelling if each character had a wholly unique gameplay mechanic or skill tree, further emphasizing their individuality.

Exolotl: Zian offers a good variety of levels and themes that take players on an adventure through different environments. From lush jungles, underwater realms, cyberpunk cities, each level presents its own set of challenges and opportunities for exploration. In some levels, you'll find yourself navigating flimsy platforms that can break if you stand on them for too long, while in one, you'll be sprinting away from a colossal tsunami, avoiding enemies and obstacles on the way to safety.

The level design is well thought out, with hidden areas to discover, baby exolotls to free, collectibles to find, and platforming sections that test players' reflexes, precision, and patience. The game's twelve levels and eight boss battles provide a decent length, offering a challenging gameplay experience for platforming enthusiasts.

Exolotl: Zian strikes a balance between accessibility and challenge, catering to both casual and more experienced players. Although there are no difficulty levels, the levels are fairly challenging, and the health point system on top of multiple lives and checkpoints provide a forgiving element to the retro game style. The boss battles require skillful timing and learning the boss' attack patterns to overcome. However, overall, they are not at a hardcore difficulty level. My only gripe is that the bosses' hitboxes (and to some extent, even the regular enemies) are hard to gauge sometimes, leading to unnecessary damage.

Conclusion:

Exolotl: Zian delivers a genuinely nostalgic platforming experience with its retro pixel art style, diverse range of levels, and a charming roster of characters all contributing to an average but enjoyable gameplay experience. The touch control scheme isn’t the best I’ve seen, but it’s a minor gripe to an otherwise worth it retro game to try for $3.99. I do hope the developers can improve the controls in the future.