Dex

I can't help but feel that the name Dex doesn't do this game justice since it is such a mundane name. It's like a chef spending hours preparing a decent meal then calling it "dish". The little more than half a day I spent with this game revealed a flawed yet heartfelt labor of love. [h3] Characters & the World [/h3] The most notable part is the voice acting. It is not partial, not low effort, but full blown, good voice acting. It's something that deserves more appreciation for an indie project like this. And while not inventing new tropes, characters do feel distinct personality wise and dialogues feel natural, which are further elevated by the voice acting. Streetslangs in this game are also integrated into the broader worldbuilding context. [h3] Combat & Progression [/h3] Combat is a mixed bag. Don't expect some fluid actions like Nine Sols or Hollow Knight, but it is still serviceable. Confronting an enemy head on was frustrating at the beginning especially when the game didn't do a great job with tutorials. But once you get the hang of it it almost becomes too easy. Enemies don't have much variety in their attack patterns, once you can fight one, you can basically fight all. Minus some bulky or heavily armored enemies, most can be takedown instantly from behind. This would have made stealth interesting, but then the game gives you an ability to stun enemies by playing a quick minigame, which allows you to initiate "takedown" on them even you are detected, and it has infinite free use. Speaking of stealth, since this is a 2D side-scrolling rpg, we have one less degree of freedom to work with. On top of that, some enemies' placement just straight up won't allow full stealth. You either need a cloaking cyberware that expend limited consumables or get an infinite one late game. My ideal design for a stealth system would be one that is fully doable without any upgrades (like Dishonored) and upgrades only serve to make things easier and unlock alternative options. Perks are directly tied with attributes, leveling up an attribute will gradually unlock its associated perks. This is more streamlined than rpgs that have separate attribute points, skill points and perk points, and tightly fit into the pacing of the game. [h3] Exploration & Movement [/h3] The first area was probably the best in terms of exploration but still not that impressive, which speaks volumes to the rest of the game's map. Too many times I entered an empty room with neither loot nor stories, and just served no purpose afaik. There are cyberwares you can install that aid exploration like high-jump, but I didn't feel there were enough opportunities, and the few I had, the rewards weren't adequate to justify the effort to overcome the somewhat janky platforming. Movement was fine until you enter a vent or climb a ladder. It is reasonable for a character to be slower when performing the two aforementioned actions, but it was tuned to an almost intolerable degree. Lucikly you have infinite stamina and can dodge roll, so that solves the vent issue. For ladders, you can use high-jump to skip a portion of the ladder when climbing and take a freefall and lose some health when descending, but I would much prefer if my character doesn't move at snail speed while on ladders. [h3] Conclusion [/h3] Although the game has 1500+ reviews and a "very positive" rating at the time of writing, I still think this is somewhat a hidden gem. In some ways this game is similar to Replaced, another cyberpunk side scroller released this year. Dex arrived 11 years earlier without the most eye-catching art style and cinematic lightning, but it's nonetheless a classic cyberpunk story.

On va faire simple: 8/10 sur mon échelle, fait toutes les fins (spas dur hein), acheté à nouveau sur Switch 2 et refait toutes les fins. Vala vala ... 2D plateformer avec un peu de possibilités RPG, choix entre baston à mains nues ou flingues, du hacking (bizarre), des sous quêtes, du cyberpunk, une grosse histoire, une bonne bande son et, chose assez rare pour être soulignée, un doublage tchèque (qui sonne très bien en prime). Pitit jeu tout sympa, j'aime et je recommende. ♥

After initially struggling to get into the game and understand the hacking, I ended up having a great experience. The art style is amazing, the gameplay is fun, and all of the characters are well written.

You like Ghost in the Shell? You like Blade Runner? You like Cyberpunk? Then THIS is your Game! 10/10

Very nice little cyperpunk RPG. I remember having some trouble when it was first released but returning to it after a couple of years later, I enjoyed it very much. Combat is not the best and hacking can get stale at times, but it is a good indie RPG with an engaging story.

Für mich das perfekte Spiel!! Fantastische, dichte Atmosphäre, toller Soundtrack, sehr gute Sprecher (Englisch) und eine klasse Handlung... die auch brav innerhalb der Genregrenze des Cyberpunk bleibt. Noch ein paar kleine Rätsel zwischendrin und das Ganze liebevoll verpackt in einen dystopischen Grafikstil im Retrolook der SNES-Zeit. Einfach herrlich! Schwierigkeitsgrad war für mich genau richtig, gerade einige Kämpfe und Passagen im Cyberspace sind schon knackig. Besonders die Cyberspace und AR Mechanik mit den angreifenden Viren im Stil der alten Sidescroller Shooter... tolle Idee! Ich hatte das Game nach 15h durch, find ich okay für ein Spiel dieser Art. Nach etwa 10h denkt man, dass gleich das Ende um die Ecke schaut... aber dann kommen doch noch zwei große Handlungsbögen. Nice! Volle Punktzahl. Wer auf den dystopischen Pixel-Look steht, sollte sich ggf. mal Gemini Rue anschauen... wobei das Game hier wesentlich mehr Action hat.

The fighting and hacking are better than the other reviews complain about, but not great. Otherwise a fun 2D Deus Ex-like with the funniest crouch-walk-cycle every put into a videogame.