PC Critic Reviews

Some stunning pixel art and music compliment a fun action platforming roguelite title. The aesthetics can occasionally mask enemies, but gaining upgrades and knowledge of what’s to come remains rewarding for its brief runtime.

Atomic Owl is a satisfying roguelike with a simple progression that allows you to make headway quickly through the levels. This does come at the expense of the combat, which is a bit too on the easy side, with the platforming much more challenging than any boss fight. Overall though, if you want a short, simple, and good looking roguelike then Atomic Owl is worth a go.

Even with those minor blemishes, Atomic Owl manages to distinguish itself in a genre saturated by competitors. By embracing a pulled back POV, leaning into platforming, and surrounding its core mechanics with polished aesthetics, Monster Theater has delivered a title that’s worth exploring for players craving a bit of divergence. It’s not a reinvention of metroidvania formula, but it’s a sharp reminder that a few creative risks are as welcome as a new spring plumage.

Atomic Owl is an enjoyable little romp that has some good ideas and even goes as far as to trust the player right off the bat with the protagonists full arsenal. The visuals are lovely and the music was probably the highlight of the game. But middling level design, uninteresting boss fights, and a lack of polish do drag down what could otherwise have been a really good game.

A fast-paced action platformer with roguelike elements, Atomic Owl has attractive visuals and enjoyable core gameplay. It soon gets quite repetitive, however, and a myriad of other issues introduce a fair amount of frustration, too.

Atomic Owl is a roguelike title set in a neon-filled world that, while looking nice, was frustrating to play, making it feel unfair.

Based on the impressive visuals and soundtrack, I wish I had a better time with Atomic Owl. I love a good roguelike platformer as much as the next person, but without carefully executed roguelike random elements, Atomic Owl is just a platformer where you start from the beginning after every game over. This tested my patience as I powered through the same levels, again and again, after every failure. Atomic Owl also currently has too many issues with frequent crashes, buggy boss fights, and poor design to merit a recommendation to anyone but the most tolerant of platformer fans.