Xoo Xeno Xafari Review

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Baconlabs
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Xoo Xeno Xafari Review

Post by Baconlabs »

IMPORTANT! This game is not available on Slime Salad, but can be purchased on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1339 ... no_Xafari/
This game was entered into the 2020 Heart of the OHR contest, where it won 8th Place.

Xoo Xeno Xafari is what happens when an entire game is formed around the Safari Zone from Pokemon Red & Blue. With a finite number of steps, spread out as far as you can in search of wildlife and random collectibles. "Random" is very much the name of the game, as each in-game day seeds in potential new things for you to find in every area, and rare things can be found in tucked-away rooms that require a skill check to access. To my knowledge, there [s]is no means of leveling up your skills[/s] are, rarely, books you can find to boost your stats - the ease at which you perform one task or another is [s]entirely[/s] mostly decided by the character you choose at the start of the game.

The core gameplay loop is quick and to the point: fill out your not-Pokedex while collecting Eggs to sell for cash, which you can exchange for maps and items that make new types of creatures appear. Unfortunately, this is also quite a tedious process - money comes in slow, and new stuff costs an arm and a leg. I wasn't able to afford much of anything by the end of my play session. A rebalancing of the in-game economy is needed.

There's quite a large variety of things to discover, each accompanied by a descriptive text box, but I'm honestly shocked that the author didn't go out of their way to provide detailed illustrations for the creatures you see and the items you collect. When I first started, I was even more optimistic, and expected the game cartridges I picked up to unlock mini-games, but sadly that's not the case. This is seriously the biggest flaw in this game for me. These creatures are weird and kooky, I want to see as much detail as I can! I wanna see concept art! I hope this is patched in someday.

Without much driving the game beyond the task of collecting for collection's sake, there's really not a lot to say. It is what it is, and if you're into it, you'll get a lot of mileage out of this game. Elsewise, well, frankly, it's a bit of a snore.

Time Invested: 56 Minutes
Rating: 5/10
Accolade: BUFFET LINE
Attachments
BUFFET LINE: Lots of options, lots of collectibles, lots to explore.
BUFFET LINE: Lots of options, lots of collectibles, lots to explore.
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xoo3.png
xoo3.png (79.63 KiB) Viewed 4849 times
xoo2.png
xoo2.png (76.51 KiB) Viewed 4849 times
xoo1.png
xoo1.png (80.8 KiB) Viewed 4849 times
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