Okhlos is a weird one by devolver digital. more or less the game is a click and drag beat em up (the game plays great with a dual analog joypad, which is maybe the apex of it's design) the game looks cool and is fun to look at. lots of hustle and bustle of sprites, cool pseudo 3d effects. particles explosions, and more. the game is pure feast for the eyes.

However i think it could be more fun to watch someone play than play yourself. (IT certainly looks more fun to play than it is) playing the game is a bit dry and linear, it's not especially fun. It's monotonous and not a very engaging game. You'd think a big part of the game would be the fighting element, which is a bit like diablo in the sense you hold the attack button down and mouse on over to your victim, but other than sending in your vicious mob to do your dirty work while you, the philosopher-player character run away, or keep distance and just wait for an enemy to die (a game of keep away: mortal vs gods) there isnt much of a 'game'

after five minutes you'd think a big part of it would maybe be in the management of upgrading your army, balancing all the different kinds of troops, etc. From what I experienced, not really. the game isnt exactly balanced and feels slipshoddy and skittish. Your units get recycled as they get killed off anyway so i dont quite grok the upgrade system because what you are working with is pretty much always changing based on what you pick up until those units are lost. there are included several variations of diffferent game modes that were cancelled in development which explore the kind of 'game' this game should be. clearly, it's been trying to find a voice. however, the game is witty as heck and has an interesting background (it sails over my head and is way too witty for me) a lot of attention to detail and nice embellishments, the greek thematic stuff is cool, but a lot of the better bits feel like a real waste of talent because it's just not a very fun game and doesnt really hold one's interest long at all. i played it for about an hour and kinda got the whole experience in the first five minutes or at the very most end of the level where i fought the first boss.

In even the most monotonous of arcade games (such as robotron for example) there is a certain element of skill and diff scale as you get deeper. your progress is a challenge, while this game does get harder, it's not so skill based and seems a bit chaotic and random as far as how far you will get, both due to the randomization of maps (maybe?) and the skittish bump and jump gameplay. Some people will like this, in has a weird binding of isaac or smash tv vibe, and plays like an arcade game.... (if arcade game can include something so loosey goosey) If you play it play it with a dual analog, it's one of the better joypad games i've played since Dark Souls. Probably the weakest title associated with Devolver.

Ultimately this game is not just a dissapointment but a tragedy. because it feels cohesively envisioned, and effort was put into it and there is creative bits in it in different places that exceed plenty of other games that are good, but as a game it's subparthenon. due to lack of play depth and (i'd argue) it feeling a bit squirrely.