Considering that I’m normally the guy espousing the powers of making all of the games roguelike in some fashion, you may think that I dig everything that has that element introduced to it. The thing is, having played so many titles that use its elements well, and help to make a decent base game more exciting, it makes ones where roguelike flair being lazily slapped on all the more noticeable. Much like a failed couple hoping that having a baby will somehow fix their relationship, a base game that already has issues isn’t going to radically improve by throwing in some unpredictability. Unfortunately, I’d say that Atomic Owl feels like it fits that bill, and would have been better served by spending more time refining the fundamentals, rather than trying to weakly introduce some variability.

At its base, this is a hack and slash platformer, set on a colorful neon-lit backdrop. After taking entirely too long to establish a story that simply isn’t that remarkable, you’ll set out with your small repertoire of moves and your trusty core weapons, which are at least a nice touch since they each provide different benefits. In general there’s not a whole lot radically new here, you’ll need to use your core moves to get around, deal with a small variety of enemy types that will pose different challenges based on their positioning, and do your best to survive. If you keep an eye out there are frequently hidden spots that you’ll be able to find, with many of them featuring challenge stages that will further test your controller dexterity and patience.

The problem is, there are some issues here that range from quibbling to somewhat irritating. As much emphasis as there is on story, and how many lines use voice acting, there’s also plenty of dialogue that doesn’t get that treatment, and it just feels inconsistent and odd. On the more serious end of the shortcomings, the controls simply lack the tight and responsive feel I suppose I’ve been spoiled into expecting, having recently played a number of precision platformers that came through in that area with flying colors. Yes, you can muscle through it, but especially when you’re tackling the challenge zones those flaws are far more frequently obvious and it can be quite aggravating when you know exactly what you want to do and the sluggish game mechanics feel like they’re working against you. Once you then get to the roguelike elements that are included, just giving you some minor perk boosts but doing nothing transformative or interesting, it all just falls pretty flat.