Asterogues

STEAM DECK USER Clarify up top: The game is fun and seems to have a solid foundation—the game itself is not the problem. My issue is that the game advertises 1.0, i.e. a content and settings complete package, but that is simply not the case. I would say it is a step before that; it’s close to completion but the 1.0 feels like false advertising to a Steam Deck user (haven’t tried on PC). The game says, “Steam Deck Verified” but it should be the next step down. Using a controller, the mouse cursor is tucked away in the corner of the screen without a way to make it go away. Options are incredibly limited. It doesn’t even bind the d-pad automatically, you have to do that yourself, which should make it clear they haven’t put full thought into it. The screen doesn’t fit properly on Steam Deck—pop-ups and some UI elements are not properly set. All signs that the game hasn’t truly reached 1.0 status. I’m sure it’s fine on PC, but I implore Steam Deck users to wait until there is some final QOL.

I bought this game mainly for the local co-op mode. I had no intentions to play single player, I came for the co-op mode. ... and the co-op mode is a complete mess. Too many bugs. From soft locks to the second player being teleported off-screen, buffs applying only to the first player, dialogs not playing if both players are nearby... Some bugs you learn how to avoid, while others come out of nowhere and ruin the fun. For what I bought the game for - as a local co-op game - it definitely needs more time in the oven.

I'm not sure why this game is Deck Verified, because that's certainly not my experience. Some of the screen is cut off with no apparent way to adjust the resolution, there are issues with a cursor being both on-screen and immobile, and some of the settings (e.g. fullscreen/window swap) are completely inaccessible. Technical issues aside, the game is cute, but I wasn't really wowed by the gameplay. There's an interesting "bullet catching" mechanic where you can return enemy fire to them, but I didn't find it fun enough to be the entire basis of the game's combat. Additionally, because of how this function is bound to the trigger, it creates a really awkward default control scheme, which is kind of annoying to rebind because of bad menu UI. I also have other aesthetic nitpicks, like the use of both pixelated and vector font, which make the game feel non-cohesive to me. Unfortunately, I'm going to refund Asterogues. It's cool to see a small dev launch their game, and there are some neat ideas here and there. But, with nothing that really grabbed me in terms of gameplay, the technical issues and lack of polish turn me off. I would give this game another chance in 6-12 months if it saw continuous improvements, but, for now, it's a thumbs-down from me.

The game is fun, but it's got enough problems functioning that this shouldn't have been launched in 1.0 quite yet. Saying it's got full controller support just isn't right. The menus go 1-100 making it super hard to navigate anything. There's no way to check your items with a controller mid run, if you want to select the middle item good luck as again the left to right is crazy sensitive with inputs and there's no alternatives to check your items once you start with a controller. This also becomes a test in frustration when trying to use the cannon to choose a location to blast back to as well. There's no mid-run saves on standard difficulty so get ready for a sit down if you want to make it all the way through. Also the developer only seems to talk via his discord which isn't a great look for a new game when all the questions are going unanswered in your community hub / current reviews. Honestly in probably a few months this game will be great as the bones to it are fantastic but there's way too much polish that really needs to be done before I'd recommend people putting up with the menu's and UI if you're a controller player atm. Edit: controls have been fixed, there's still some other problems, but the games getting to a better place now

Clumsy mechanics, non-precise input, strange economy, items feel like they are doing nothing.

Fun game with many similarities to Enter the Gungeon but with its own identity. The core mechanic of using enemies bullets against them as your main form of damage was much more fun than I expected. I was able to complete all the achievements in ~10 hours but there’s definitely more game to experience than what there are achievements for. My only real con with the game is that it’s not uncommon to get a combo of items that creates so many bullets during certain boss fights that the game slows to an unplayable point. Had it happen 3-4 times across my playtime. Of those times, only one was so bad I had to restart the game. Others resolved themselves. TLDR: Some polishing needed, but the gameplay is there and fun if you like bullet hells and roguelike similar to ETG or Isaac with crazy synergies

I appreciate the effort, and it's clearly trying to take things in slightly new directions so kudos for that, but I didn't really find it fun. The combat just felt clunky and it just makes everything else irrelevant at that point.

Final verdict: I would not recommend full price as it is not complete (bugs, game breaking combos -- meaning you don't see anything, just hope you survive and dash), but I would still recommend it on sale. Update: After beating the game twice, and not unlocking any of the remaining items (at least 20) and the game not telling me what to do to unlock them. Probably corruption level increase needed, but I mean stop wasting my time. I thought beating the game with each character would mean something, but apparently not, but the real issue is that I am not going to waste my time to maybe unlock new items, just because the UI is a mess. Once they address the issues, it should be called version 1.0, till then it is not even early access. Also I have a lot of currency, and there is nothing I can spend it on, but the game claims there 200+ items on the store page. I have seen maybe 50-100 items, so that is false advertising as well. Also I am changing my review to thumbs down, because once you are in the later areas you won't see anything everything becomes buggy and you won't see anything, it basically crashes, and on top of that many enemies will spawn on you. I mean this should not be in a final product, plus the unlocks. Total chaos. I would love to recommend it to masochists but I cannot. This game should have stayed in the oven longer. Update: the more you play, the better it gets. I really dig the theme and despite the bugs and freezes/hiccups at times when the enemies and projectiles are just too many on the later levels, it could be a fantastic experience if you stick with it. It is clear that a lot of effort was put into it, if more players would play it and if there was a wiki for the items, and some explanations for map locations, it would become more welcoming to casuals. As it stands it is a hard sell. But honestly, I think it is worth the full price. Original: Good game, but feels needlessly difficult at times. Also upgrades are the opposite of what you have in the fun rougelikes: Enter the Gugneon and Isaac. That is to say here everything is low impact and unsatisfying. Even the active items have limited usage, like once per 2 minute or something. Also had high hopes for companions and even Laika has bugs, like it blocks Orion's weapon and its only use is that it gives you free refresh in shops. I mean come on. And on top of that none of the mechanics are explained very well and everything is made to annoy you. So why recommend it then? Well, on sale the experience is worth it if you can get it for 5 or less. I really don't get it why to make it so difficult and unfun, the core is good, but even the fight is slow and the camera settings are too close, really I mean really bad experience, if it wasn't for the theme. The potential is worth a thumps up, even if the game isn't.

太陽に追放されたPLUTOが主人公で 敵の弾を吸収してぐるぐる回してお返しするゲーム プレイヤーキャラによって全くゲーム性がわかるぞ！

Simply put, this is one of the best Action Roguelites. I've played all of the big ones and many of the small ones and Asterogues immediately shot up my list. It's central mechanic of grabbing enemy projectiles and flinging them back is fun right away and continues to be fun hours later. I've read the negative reviews on here and I have to say that my experience doesn't match up with them. I've had almost zero issues with the game. Gosh, seriously I could go on and on about the items and how impactful they are, or the whole planet theming, or how similar it is to my favorite game Enter the Gungeon (yet it seriously differentiates itself) but I think I will have to come back and update this rambling after I put some more time in. I don't often plead in my reviews but, please check this game out! I want more from these developers and would love to see DLC for this game. It has WAY too few reviews on Steam and deserves to be recognized for its fun and novelty.