Outbuddies DX

Outbuddies DX was reviewed on a PS4

Bigger is better, an adage that Outbuddies DX took quite to heart. The game spawns a sprawling map filled with tons of rooms to get lost in. Unfortunately, exploring the underwater mazes and labyrinths of Bahlam in Outbuddies is irritating and infuriating. Simply finding your way in this game is a strenuous affair.

What is entertaining about the game though is its abundance of abilities to unlock, the creatively designed boss battles and the stellar audio-visual presentation, despite it being visually bland in some areas.

What is Outbuddies DX?

Outbuddies DX is a Metroidvania inspired indie game with vibrant retro graphics. It tells the story of an engineer who wakes up in the underwater lost city of Bahlam. Your job is to find your way back to the surface, but that won’t be an easy task to accomplish.

Your journey back is riddled with countless backtracking, reading the overly confusing map and constantly trying to figure out what to do next. Accompanied by your buddy the drone, you’ll be able to scan every corner of the room you’re in instead of just wandering on aimlessly.

Do You Have a Map?

There’s quite a few reasons why I hated the map in Outbuddies DX. First, there’s no way to add a custom marker. This makes things more difficult than they need to be since sometimes you’ll encounter a wall that’s too high to climb without the jetpack or the double jump, and the map doesn’t indicate that. I’ve gone back countless of times to the same locations that I was stuck in previously, without having the necessary upgrade for it. The fact that some of the rooms are too generic and repetitive can also make navigation a chore.

Another lacking feature of the map is that it doesn’t indicate whether you saved the wozan in a certain area. It tells you their location, but it’s the same icon whether they were rescued or not. The same goes for the abilities powerups, they’re indicated on the map, but it also doesn’t indicate whether you collected them already.

Meet The Wozan

The Wozan are humanoid looking creatures that inhabit a small area of Bahlam, and you have the option of rescuing quite a few of them. They foretell of a prophecy where a messianic man from the surface will come and rescue them, and they believe that you’re their awaited savior.

The game’s creatures and enemy bosses are heavily inspired by Lovecraftian horror, as their character designs are both creepy and imaginative. The boss fights are a ton of fun, and they make full use of your abilities.

Buddies For Life

Your drone buddy is the most important tool at your disposal. The game doesn’t guide you on how to use its full potential. It shows you early on that you’re able to scan the rooms you’re in, but it never urges you to use it so it’s up to you to understand that it’s vital to scan each room.

If only the game presented a simple hint telling me to use the drone, it would’ve saved me many frustrations in the early hours. You also have the option of playing in local coop with the other player exclusively controlling the drone.

In the sound department, Outbuddies does an excellent job. The 80s inspired synth soundtrack is a treat to listen to, especially with the satisfying and well-designed sound effects.

Outbuddies DX though seem to forget that what makes a Metroidvania so fun is its controls and responsiveness. Your character walks and runs too slow, his jump is too floaty, you’ll often miss platforms while jumping, and shooting underwater is very annoying.

There’s plenty of upgrades and abilities to unlock during your 12 hours playthrough of Outbuddies DX. There’s a lot of ground to cover though between each upgrade and you’ll die a lot. Thankfully, dying respawns you at the beginning of the room you are in, so you’re never at a big risk of losing progress.

Overall,

Outbuddies DX is the definition of a slow burn. While it does have a few good ideas here and there, they’re mostly held back by the confusing navigation, the constant backtracking, the lack of guidance and the annoying controls.

I’ll be completely honest with you; the first 2 hours of the game were excruciatingly frustrating and boring. I spent them just going back and forth, exploring the same rooms countless of times. I was only able to progress because of a comment that the developer wrote on the game’s steam forums to someone who was also stuck in the game’s early hours.

If I had to judge the game based on those first few hours alone, I’d never recommend it to anyone. However, by pushing through and unlocking more abilities, you’ll come to realize that Outbuddies DX is an innovative Metroidvania that delivers a great retro time if you’re hardcore enough for it. Outbuddies is definitely a game that appeals to a certain niche audience, so I’d advise you to do quite a research before pulling the trigger on this one.

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Special thanks go to Headup Games for providing us with a review code.

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You should play Outbuddies DX if you

• Enjoy Metroidvania Games
• Don’t mind the lack of guidance
• Enjoy a good challenge
• Don’t mind the navigational issues
• Enjoy creative boss fights
• Don’t mind the repetitive graphics

Outbuddies DX’s Score

6.5/10