It's... Okay.
I don't think I ever got to realize how rough the experience is because I must have gotten lucky, or the core that lets you double, then triple jump just trivializes and neutralizes the way the game basically cheap shots you.
There is a lot to like... but that's only when the game feels like giving it to you. Shooting multiple rounds at once, piercing through enemies, bouncing around, multipliers for when that happens, etc. Unfortunately a lot of the damage falls off if you're not getting guns like this, there are other guns that you can utilize last bullet mechanics with, one of them is absolutely amazing, some are good. You can pay credits to manipulate the outcome of getting certain weapons, but not skills for them.
Cores basically change the way you can play. The first class is a very technical class that gets around by reflecting hits. I like it the least. In a game when you're essentially a sitting duck when you stand still, hoping what's coming at you is considered a projectile while other classes or skills allow you to briefly be invincible just seems like a waste, especially when most of the things that'll catch you unaware, aren't considered projectiles, but missiles and floor traps. There is also a melee, air and trapping class. They're all good in their own way and don't bank on you waiting for things to hit you. Furthermore, because the game banks basically everything on mobility, the air core is the best even if you don't actually use anything else it has. Floor zapping, floor lasers, dodging slow homing falling projectiles, jumping clear over incoming damage walls waves or tornadoes, kamikaze minions etc. And ironically, those are the things that have hurt or killed me the most.
There's a guardian mode that is supposed to make the game easier... Seeing as the easiest difficulty seems like the hardest for me, I'd say it works, but I guess it scales up as difficulty progresses. It took 17 runs for me to win once, and 28 to get the last ending. So I do feel like something is working.
To me, the weapon spread feels miserable or just not good enough for what's going on. if you have no skill for firing multiple rounds at once or an incredibly good damage bonus, the amount of work you have to do or skills you need to hope for is just improbable. The amount of work you have to do drastically changes from stand in the corner and fill the room with electric bombs, to, being overrun with enemies while you can only hit one at a time. Getting more opportunities to get weapons is unreliable, and the game seems to favor giving you abilities and cores over weapons at times. So much so that grinding credits and reroll tokens to refresh weapons at the shop is a lot more valid than it ought to be. When buying beats earning... what's the point of playing? A separate type of credit can make certain weapons more or less likely to drop, it does work, but if you haven't had almost complete successful luck in your last run, the amount it costs can make you broke in no time, and you'll be back scoring handguns like a bad borderlands 2 play through.
The framework of the game is sharp, guns work like they're supposed to, a few are very unique and there are one or two where if you use them right they're unstoppable, and then you have the corrupted lightning gun, where your charge shot hits nothing on the last boss even with multishot 3, and your run is done. But I feel like I'm gambling for skills and guns, or just hindering myself when playing with certain classes. The game even offers a machine where you can buy reroll tokens for the run. So it's basically a subconscious admission that potentially you're going to be caught with your pants down a lot.
Games like this might just not be for me. I've never been a fan of banging the machine until something good comes out. At that point I'd break it open, take what I want and leave. And that's the emotion that this game gives me. I'm going to go bang on it a few more times and call it done.
