20XX - Review

20XX is a roguelike platformer that has recently launched on Xbox One, the game takes elements from Megaman, but also sets out on its own merit. I will say that I am not a fan of platformers, especially 2d side scrolling ones, never have been and probably never will be. I find them quite a stale genre, nothing new seems to be brought to them other than a change of setting. Even then sometimes with games it can be borderline.

All the worlds within 20XX are procedurally generated, which basically means that you’re not going to get the same run every time, and this isn’t just for the one off, no, every time you play the game the levels are going to be different. There are 4 ‘worlds’ in total that you can play through and these are Ice, Sky, Fire and Jungle. Each of the worlds provides a nice change of scenery and with them being different every time you play will provide a nice element of replayability. Mix this in with the differing puzzles, enemies and more this is definitely a game which is going to provide value for money. I’m not entirely sure how many worlds in total can be generated but it must be a lot!



Even though each world is procedurally generated you can see after a while a bit of repetition in how things are placed. There are 8 bosses for the 4 worlds so this keeps things a little fresher, but these aren’t set in stone and when you finish a level you get three options to choose from based on the different bosses.

There’s a kind of love/not so much love about the game, basically when you do a run through of the levels in other platformers, you get that satisfaction of knowing what’s coming up and remembering each level, sometimes to try and test yourself to do it as fast as you can, so having each run through different does keep you on your toes and you just never know what is suddenly going to be round the corner. But then looking at that from a flip side, you’re playing something different each time, there’s a lot of replayability here and I cannot fault the game for this.



There are upgrades and items which you can get throughout your run through on 20XX, these are also split into 2 different categories, which are permanent and per-run, which as they say on the tin, you either have these as a permanent upgrade or you only have these on a per-run basis. Simples!

There are 2 characters which you can play with, you have Nina who is pretty much a Megaman clone, and then there is Ace who if you like up-close and personal will be ideal for you as his sword wielding is perfect for slashing away enemies. Both characters have their advantages, with Nina’s being a more distance related with her blasters, and Ace having slightly more damage per slash, his strength can also be a weakness with being up-close.



The controls on the game are good and this is one of the most important parts when playing a game for me… Being comfortable playing it, if the controls don’t feel right, then I don’t feel right playing it, but 20XX has the controls nice and comfortable and easy to get to grips with.

I love the fact that this game gives you something different each time you play, yes after a while you will start to see the little annoyances come through from noticing that generated items get slightly repetitive, however take nothing away from the game, the replayability and trying to master the game will have you coming back time and time again, and you will always have something new to play each time. Also, the sheer amount upgrades that you can get will also help freshen things from for each play through. Bonus!

Recommended.