Botworld Odyssey Review

Creature-collecting games have always interested me, all thanks to Pokémon Black and White. Since then, however, I have not encountered a creature-collecting game that has given me the same overwhelming joy since exploring my first Pokémon adventure. It had a magical trance on me that drew me in every time I opened the game, and I always wanted more. Luckily enough, this spark came back alive once I hopped into Botworld Odyssey. Its cute characters and, especially, its quirky personality found throughout the game made me want more as I progressed.

Similar to Pokémon, your character starts by finally hitting the right age to become a Botmaster, and you’ll pick your first Bot between three. However, this time Mum and Dad get to come along for the ride, and you happen to be an anthropomorphic animal. The story is very simple: become the best Botmaster possible as you go on adventures and discover the secrets of Botworld. Thanks to the Mayor, you’ll find yourself completing quirky side quests and main quests, such as collecting Scarabs, fishing, viewing mysterious monuments, and helping trapped civilians to name a few.

In a way, you craft your own story; although you may be following the main path, you decide which side quests you do, how you level up, with which Bots, and how you do it. Although you need to build a boat to travel and upgrade it to explore further, which also allows your parents and other characters along the way to join your adventure, you decide the pace for your journey. There is no pressure on how you enjoy Botworld Odyssey, which allows you to enjoy your playtime without worry.

Curious questions

Botworld Odyssey is an addictive creature-collecting RPG that will draw you in from the moment you customise your character. It features an open world that can be explored in sections that feature diverse biomes, and various bandits and Bots to fight. A jetpack will be your main transportation around the map, which can be used to get to various landing pads in each biome. The open-world elements are easy to manoeuvre through and exciting as you’ll come across tiny bugs and animals, various locations to scout, wild Bots, Alpha Bots, and bandits that will pull you into fights in unique ways, such as throwing a net over you.

When in the ring you’ll experience real-time, jam-packed fighting that goes for moments to minutes long, although you do not control any of your six Bots, you place them in a strategic spot of your choice that will determine who they fight first. Thanks to your Botpack, you’ll have access to abilities while your Bots are fighting the enemy. A helpful meter indicates how much energy is generated to use your selected abilities, and then you can get your own hands dirty as you help out your team. This is one of the best parts about Botworld Odyssey as you are included in the fight; if there was no interaction with the fight, it would not feel as fun or rewarding.

There are many abilities, gadgets, and boosters at your disposal that help you cater to how you want to play. While abilities help you in real-time battles, gadgets can be used in the open world to help you survive longer in battle, such as a damage amplifier being activated before entering the ring. Boosters are passives that enhance your gameplay experience, like Bots having more strength or speed by a certain percentage.

Feel the fire

Each Bot is unique and will be part of a specific category such as Evade, Tank, Chaser, Support, and more, and this also includes elements, such as fire and frost. Each of these unique traits aids your team’s survival and you can create the dynamic team you want as you upgrade your Bot’s level and AI skill tree. Luckily, if you find a Bot more fitting for your team you can swap them while the more powerful leftover Bots out of your squad will go into your recruit’s team and help you survive the open world as they follow you and take on fights you may not want to until they lose their health.

Upgrades are available for your Bots and Boat, which is required to progress the main story. These will have you search scrap piles, find unique items in certain locations, do side quests, or purchase them directly from the shop. Once you have all the materials you need and press upgrade, you have yourself a new and improved Bot or boat. Ultimately, these upgrades help your Bots survive longer as you fight out in the wild and the Arena.

Thankfully, if your team’s health reaches zero in a fight or open world mode, there are no real consequences other than automatically jet-packing away from the fight back to home. You do not lose anything you gathered, which means the second you get back to base you can instantly venture out again with full health and continue your playthrough. This addition in Botworld Odyssey takes away the frustrating nature of losing everything you salvaged in a run and keeps the game fun with no worries.

Level up!

The visuals in Botworld Odyssey are cute and simple and keep to the theme of light-heartedness, even during the fights thanks to its colourfulness. Each location is well made as you can decipher what type of biome you are in, which won’t make you confused when quests ask you to go to certain locations.  The soundtrack is extremely complimentary to the visuals, it’s upbeat and whimsical with a hint of robotics and fits into each location. This combination of uplifting sounds and light-hearted visuals creates a cozy atmosphere for players to enjoy.

Your character and Bots can also be customised with different types of outfits and hats for your character, and skins for your Bots, which also give them buffs and debuffs. This aspect of Botworld Odyssey helps keep you connected to your character and Bots as you progress.

The overall nature of Botworld Odyssey is fast and fun, and thankfully this also translates to the fast-loading times. It was a shocking and refreshing experience to see how fast you load in and out of fights and locations, it made me continue my adventure for hours as I had no hiccups with loading times.

Ice cold fishing

It’s simple to play on a controller, with no quirky mechanics, making it easy for anyone of any age or gaming expertise to master. Unfortunately, a negative aspect of Botworld Odyssey is that players may find it repetitive. However, there are a handful of different modes such as Arena, Squad Cup, Danger Zones, and Raids that help break up the gameplay.

Frustratingly, you cannot name the Bots at all. This is surprising as your character and Bots have a lot of visual customisations, the final touch would be allowing your Bots to have the names you want. Luckily enough this doesn’t hinder the experience much as the names featured in Botworld Odyssey are fun, such as Froggy, Chomp, and Bombee.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Botworld Odyssey is the perfect creature-collecting game for all ages at any level of expertise, thanks to its fun and simple gameplay. Despite its repetitive nature, it has an abundance of Bots, enemies, biomes, quests, and game modes for players to experience for hours on end. Most of all, it has an interesting story that you can uncover at your leisure with no need to rush.

Reviewed on PC // Review code supplied by publisher

Click here for more information on WellPlayed’s review policy and ethics