Abyss Veil

An ambitiously esoteric genre-bending shooter. Games like Abyss Veil are why I play indie games in the first place. It is by all metrics a hot mess. Much of the art looks like it was hand-drawn in Microsoft Paint; the dialogue is angst-laden, edgy and full of contemporary slang that will age like milk; the story, presentation and themes are all very directly inspired by Neon Genesis Evangelion and Metal Gear Solid. There is no dilution, it is the result of one very passionate vision. If you were just to take it by its component parts and judge it, you might think harshly on it. The dialogue is edgy and leans on slang and there's a lot of mistakes in there too, but it's completely unfiltered and that results in some really poignant moments. The art looks primitive but the lack of fidelity creates this surreal feeling, a lot of older games from the 90s or early 2000s (yes, I'm unc) had a similar vibe. Your brain starts to fill in the blanks the way a hyper-realistic or highly detailed game usually overrides. The story was largely incomprehensible, weaving in inter-planetary wars, total annihilation, organised crime, multiple perspectives, etc. but it always coiled back to focus on the characters and was compelling in its own way. Underneath it all is a largely competent shooter as well. It's no Half Life, but it played well with hardly any bugs, there's multiple unqiue weapons, good enemy variety and it felt well balanced throughout too. Didn't skew too hard or too easy. The levels were sometimes hard to navigate because the geometry could look too similar, and the final "boss" fight switches to third person, survival-horror but feels way clunkier. The game is in early access however with ongoing improvements as well as a second chapter on the way. I am constantly astonished when I remember that we live in a time where a single person can use freely available tools to bring their ideas to life like this. It's not perfect and it's not the best game I've ever played (even if I am glazing it right now). It's just a raw, unfiltered passion project that ♥♥♥♥♥♥ rocks. I hope the developer never stops making things. There's clearly a huge heart and an ever bigger imagination behind this, and your skills are only going to get better and better. Looking forward to seeing what you do next.