Otherworld Legends Review – Button Mashing Fun

If you’re looking for a fun arcade game with lots of replayability, Otherworld Legends will be right up your alley. Developed by ChillyRoom, it’s an incredibly fast-paced dungeon crawler where your might is tested in wildly varying realms as you work to unravel the mystery behind the so-called “Mirage”.

The story itself is nothing too special, as the gameplay is where it truly shines. For those who care about the lore, however, it basically involves a ragtag group of fighters being sent to a strange dimension as a “trial” of sorts. As to what it’s for, I’ll leave that up to you to find out as you have to beat the final boss at least once to learn more.

FAST AND BRUTAL

At its core, Otherworld Legends’ structure is similar to roguelike games such as Binding of Isaac and Hades, wherein players have to fight through various rooms to reach the boss (or just difficult encounters) at the end of each floor, with shops and other bonuses sprinkled throughout every stage.

It places a heavy emphasis on high-octane combat, which involves spamming basic attacks, timing your dodges, and activating abilities whenever appropriate. While in combat, it doesn’t give you a second to breathe, as you’re often trapped in a cramped room with several enemies that each have their own distinct attack patterns.

You will die a lot as you’re learning the ropes, especially once you start cranking up the difficulty. This, coupled with the need to grind in order to unlock new abilities and characters, means that the game offers a lot of replay value as your characters and the runs themselves can be customized to your liking.

CUSTOMIZABLE AND DIVERSE

Although the game is easy to understand, it can be difficult to master, especially with how no two members of the roster have similar playstyles. From the way they attack to whether or not they even have the ability to dodge, each character has their own distinct move set in addition to their already unique set of skills.

For example, the knight Gerard is one of the slowest characters in the game, but he makes up for it by being able to block with his shield or bash enemies with it rather than dodging. Meanwhile, Hillding the berserker does not have any armor, but his health regenerates constantly and he has a special resource that lets him cast his skills, including a healing ability.

My personal favorite at the moment is the engineer, Oli, as she can construct turrets all around the area at the cost of resources that she can gain through her attacks. Ginzo, who’s a samurai, is also a blast to play as, since his dodges also deal damage.

Each character can be equipped with up to two abilities, with certain “boss skills” becoming available later on as you progress further into the game. In addition to that, each ability has unlockable passives that let you further customize how they work.

For instance, Penhaligon can summon fusiliers as allies. After having two of them active at the same time, using that skill again will have them form a firing line that deals a lot of damage. With one of this skill’s passives, you can bump the maximum number of active fusiliers up to three, but this removes your ability to activate the firing line.

Item and weapon combos also matter. With the right build, you can deal tons of damage while also healing yourself with every critical strike. There have been several instances where I was able to tank bosses in the face, and all it took was a bit of strategizing and luck when it came to shop inventories.

NOT ENTIRELY PERFECT

I’ll admit, Otherworld Legends does devolve into a button mashing romp once you’ve gotten the hang of its mechanics, which can turn off some people who are looking for a much deeper challenge. However, one should have expected this going into the game, as it is marketed as a beat-em-up, and it definitely delivers on that end.

My only real complaint has to be how the ranged characters work. Maybe I’m just missing an option here, but the inability to manually aim makes using them inherently harder. I still find them playable, just not as enjoyable as the rest of the roster.

Speaking of the roster, the game also features a lot of DLC. While unlocking everybody isn’t necessary, and most of the DLCs are purely cosmetic, some of the more interesting characters are locked behind a paywall or a lot of grind, which some individuals will absolutely hate.

CONCLUSION

Overall, Otherworld Legends is an adrenaline-pumping game that you can easily sink tens if not hundreds of hours on. It’s relatively inexpensive on Steam, though you can also play it for free on mobile. Unfortunately, the way it’s monetized may seem a bit predatory at first, but it’s definitely far from being one of the worst models out there, especially since you can grind for the paid content.

It’s also got tons of auxiliary content locked behind game progression and achievements, and the developers are still actively updating the game with new modes and characters. I’ll be playing more of this in my spare time, and I may even try grinding to unlock the ingame shopkeeper (the Peddler) as a playable character!