Abrasive. Enigmatic. Ferocious. Intriguing.

These are all words I would use to describe OTXO. This is a game that wears its inspiration (and history) on its sleeve - it is directly inspired by the (in)famous Hotline Miami, and has at least some lineage that dates back to the scrapped fangame Midnight Animal. You can tell in the way its mechanics blend together, the way it presents its levels, the way its soundtrack pulses and your weapon crackles, the way its visual style and character design places you directly into the mindset of a nameless neo-noir protagonist capable of immense carnage, despite themselves.

Unsympathetic. Mysterious. Vicious. Captivating.

These are all words I would use to describe OTXO. The game, arguably, plays better than both its inspiration and its predecessor - the controls feel better, the enemies seem sharper, the environments feel smoother, the art feels cleaner. The game also retains all the same cruelty and violence of its inspiration and predecessor. Shots will no longer instantly kill you, but it no longer matters. You will die all the same. Over. And over. And over again. Your bloodshed will prove to be in vain, and you will be forced to start again.

Sadistic. Perplexing. Turbulent. Addicting.

These are all words I would use to describe OTXO. You will find yourself starting again more times than you can recall the desire to. The Mansion will continue to linger in your head as you finally close the game in frustration and leave to resume your life. Inviting you. Or is it taunting you? Calling you back to continue your futile crusade to its core. Questioning you - do you know why you so desperately want to overcome the Mansion's hardships? What posessses you to shed all this blood in the name of reaching its innermost depths? What prize do you expect? What reward to you hope to gain? Why is it that you do this? Do you even know why you're here?

Inhuman. Unknowable. Bloodthirsty. Frenzying.

The cycle repeats.

----------Alcoholism is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awesome----->
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OTXO <-----------------☺ "Wow! Battling with depression is truly unforgiving and frustrating!"

OTXO gets compared to Hotline Miami a lot, but the similarities start and end with the art style. OTXO is closer to Ruiner as a whole, with its RPG elements, focus on gunplay over melee combat, and use of enemies with varying amounts of health. However, OTXO isn't as good as either game. It gets some things right and flounders in other areas, resulting in a mess of frustrating mechanics clashing with each other. It's like someone enjoyed the door breaching section of MW2 and made an entire game off that idea, complete with slow-mo mechanics and an arsenal of mostly modern guns.

OTXO's protagonist wakes up on a beach after putting on a strange helmet in a subway car. His beloved is trapped inside a nearby mansion, and he can't escape until he reaches the heart of the mansion and destroys it. With plenty of guns and time-slowing powers on his side, he fights his way through hundreds of enemies to unravel the mystery behind the new world he's trapped in. Interactions with the non-hostile inhabitants of the mansion and scattered documents expand on aspects of the story as you make progress. The central mystery is pretty good, and it could be enough to make you dive back in after you die.

Gameplay-wise, OTXO is a twin-stick shooter similar to Ruiner. You clear out floors from a top-down perspective, armed with whatever guns you scavenge from pickups and fallen enemies. Each gun gets 1-2 extra magazines, and rare pickups like grenades and kunais can be used to clear enemies out easier. Doors and windows block off areas of the map, but you can kick them open or kick your enemies for extreme damage. You and your enemies have health meters, meaning that you won't be one-shotting enemies outside of high-caliber guns like the sniper rifle. Your health is reset between floors, giving you some leeway for risky playstyles as long as you survive to the next level. You can roll-dodge under bullets, vault over furniture, and slow down time for a limited time to gain the edge on your enemies - and you'll need all the advantages you can get.

Enemies are extremely aggressive and use every dirty trick they can to take you down. They almost always use firearms and rarely go beyond cover to shoot you. They blindfire around corners to ensure you have bullets flying your way as soon as they get into range. They'll literally run circles around you while pelting you with LMG bullets to quickly wear down your health. The game expects you to slow down time in almost every encounter to level the playing field, putting the player in a weird spot for the pacing. The soundtrack and scoring system demand a fast-and-furious playstyle, but survival often hinges on you having enough Focus to slow down time when breaching doors. Without the right buffs, you'll have to stop and wait for your meter to refill enough to improve your chances of survival.

OTXO's gameplay loop is all about roguelite elements. Killing enemies grants you money that you can spend on drinks (buffs that last throughout your run), weapons, collectibles, and imported spirits (rarer drinks that get added to the bar list). When you die, you start your run of the mansion from the bottom. The floors you fight through are randomized, though there are some common points like boss fights. Weapons, imported spirits, and collectibles you unlock are carried between runs. You're expected to lose until you figure out the right build, weapons, and strategies for overcoming foes.

As I noted earlier, a lot of OTXO's mechanics clash with each other. Enemies are frustratingly spongey when it comes to damage, absorbing 2-3 rounds of M1 Garand ammo or multiple M249 SAW shots before going down. Without the right buffs, you bullets don't fly faster than enemy bullets, forcing you to practically ram your enemies while shooting them in slow-mo. On that note, there's no way to differentiate enemy and player bullets, making slow-mo gunfights a mess of figuring out which shots are going where. The drinks have abilities that range from useless (bullets are 20% bigger) to "should be default features" (making enemy healthbars visible, making your bullets fly faster in slow-mo).

I can't recommend OTXO. It has nice ideas behind it, but its gameplay loop just isn't fun. The sprites look nice, but the black-and-white color scheme becomes tiresome and can make it difficult to maneuver during intense firefights. The roguelite elements have their appeal, but they're buried beneath brutally difficult enemy AI and an overemphasis on the slowdown mechanics. The soundtrack is exciting, but it doesn't save the game from its major issues. OTXO might have one of the worst M1 Garands I've seen in a while, with its slow reload, weak damage, and sluggish bullet speeds - which wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't a common gun.

I wouldn't get OTXO even on sale. If you want a twin-stick shooter with RPG elements, buy Ruiner. If you want a fast-paced and ruthless top-down action game, play the Hotline Miami series. OTXO doesn't live up to either game or create a strong enough identity for itself. It's a shame, since there are some creative ideas behind OTXO, but they aren't enough to save the game.