DYSTORIA

[h1]Dystoria by Tri-Coastal Games is a retro shooter that’ll put your six-axis skills to the test. The puzzles are mind-bending, topsy-turvy affairs where you shoot, dodge, and skim across every surface of the level from the windows to the walls.[/h1] [i]NOTE: If you are prone to motion sickness or are sensitive to bright lights, this might not be the game for you.[/i] [h1]Gameplay[/h1] After being abducted from behind a Video Hut in 1984, you’re placed in a room with a console and a computer. The computer allows you to read messages from the being that abducted you. It becomes clear quite quickly that you're to expected to fight for these beings. The console lets you choose your ship, purchase new ships, allocate Nucleons (in-game currency), buy weapons for your ships skill slots as well as outfit your ship in the Loadout. Salvage is the leftover body parts of your enemies. Pick up enough of it and you can unlock new ships on your console. Hidden in each stage is also a piece of a secret ship. Collect all the pieces to unlock the ship later in the game. Gameplay is simple. At first. You have a ship that sticks to the surface of the level. There’s no jumping or barrel rolls around here. This is where the game gets interesting. Because you’re sticking to the surface of the level, the entire level becomes your playing field. This is also where one can get dizzy. I found myself getting a little dizzy from having to swerve all over the place, the level rotating around me. Six-axis is very well done here and the handling of each ship is dictated by its individual stats listed on the console. The levels look as though Tetris pieces were thrown into a blender and then spit out; each level is a labyrinth of walls, ceilings, bridges, and lots of enemies in the mix. Don’t be fooled. Dystoria is definitely going to make rethink your strategy. Because you’re stuck to the surface, there’s no falling off anything. So dodging enemies that can follow you all over the level as well becomes a challenge. As you go through the level, you collect Nucleons as well as a specific number of Portal Orbs before the portal to leave the world can be opened. Nucleons can be found on every corner of the level, but so can enemies. You can avoid killing enemies if you like, but the salvage gained from killing enough of them could net you a fancy new ship. There are various power ups and items scattered about that give you an advantage as well as help unlock specific portions of the level. For example, bombs blow up glass, opening up new areas to explore. [h1]Controls[/h1] Keyboard and mouse can be used and so can an XBox 360 controller. I used the controller, which is super responsive and traversing the level couldn’t feel smoother. You fire with the right trigger, place down items with B, fire your secondary weapon with X, view the map of the entire world with right shoulder, and change the camera with Y. Utilizing the map is crucial if you’re a completionist and want to collect all the Nucleons and find the secret ship piece hidden somewhere in the level. [h1]Music/Graphics[/h1] The music is straight out of the 80s and fits perfectly with the chaotic gameplay. The colors are bright and vibrant in a neon style that’s reminiscent of Tron. [h1]Overall[/h1] Dystoria is a wild, six-axis, technicolored ride. If you enjoy shooters with a twist and a turn, you’ll enjoy this puzzle shooter. Retro to the core, you’ll shoot your way through neon bugs and robots while trying to collect enough of their body parts and Nucleons so you can upgrade. Aside from the off chance you’ll get dizzy (like I did), Dystoria is not one to pass up. [code]If you found this review helpful, please give it a thumbs-up. For more reviews like this one follow the [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/gamingwithNtK/curation]NeedtoKnow Gaming Curator[/url] page <3[/code]

♥𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒 ❣ 𝐴 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑘 ♪ ✌ ➺𝑃𝑙𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠✔(◕‿-)

Shooters is not what I normally play these days. I remember playing them when I was younger, but it's not normally what I spend my money on today. So why playing this one? First thing is: It is a retro one - not in it's graphics (after intro) which quite often is what makes a game being called retro, but in the feel of playing it. The graphics are modern and smooth to the eye, and at the same time not too demanding on the graphic card. I can play this game on my laptop (not a gaming one), and it will not overheet it in seconds like other games of the kind do. The second very nice thing is that the game can be controlled by controller or keyboard - and keyboard control works just fine. I've heard that controller makes the game even nicer to play, but for me the time for playing a game like this is when I'm travelling, and I don't carry a controller on these occasions. So having a shooter responding well to keyboard control is a nice thing. The game is quite demanding and I guess you need some skill to master it (I am far from that at this point). But at the same time it is not only muscle memory and being quick on the controls, but you have to think your way through it. Someone called it a puzzle shooter - that's quite what it is and what makes it an interesting and relaxing game to play.

An arcade style game involving some shooting but the main goal is to navigate the 6-axis 3D structures to discover all the hidden pickups and then find the exit point, while trying not to be killed by the aliens. I picked this up after a quick glance at the video on the store page and was expecting a racing/shooting type game with not much in the way of brainwork. I was delighted to discover something completely different. The game starts off with a charming cutscene where your character finds an old arcade machine around the back of a building, then a UFO abducts you and you find yourself in an office. The computer terminal tells you that you're being tested and the future of the human race is at stake based on your performance. No pressure then! It's a series of 30 or so levels comprising 3D structures floating in space. The surfaces of these structures have centralised gravity, so there are no 'walls' as such. When your ship goes up against a wall it becomes the floor, so you're travelling around this structure like an insect, stuck to the surface regardless of whether it's up, down or sideways. It's wonderfully disorienting. With that said, it is possible to 'fall' off the surface if you rush over an edge too quickly. It's called 'decoupling', and if you don't make it back to the surface within 10 seconds you fail the level. The structures have moving parts and teleporters to make it all the more challenging, and there are items to collect everywhere: Nucleons which are the currency you can use to purchase ship and weapon upgrades from the computer in the office, orbs - always three of them, collect them all to max the level, hidden ship parts - these are very difficult to find but are optional, and bombs. Bombs can blast away glass surfaces to allow you inside hollow areas and tunnels to collect hidden items, and all the while you're being shot at by aliens. There are various ways to dispatch these creatures. You can do it the traditional way by remaining on the same surface and strafing them from midrange using cover; you can snipe them from afar; you can snipe them from strange angles by sitting on a different plane and hitting them as they walk into your line of fire, unaware of your presence. This last method can be a little awkward and time consuming though. I've found a good tactic is to give them a quick volley and then dive off the edge of the surface, then pop up and give them another blast. You have to watch out for their buddies sneaking up behind you though. Once you complete a level it's back to the office where you can spend your Nucleons on different ships and weapon upgrades. You can repeat the same levels again to pick up more currency and improve your firepower if you start having trouble with the later levels, which is nice. There's also another computer terminal that stores all your messages which gradually build the storyline as you progress. [h1]Sound & Vision[/h1] This deserves a special mention. The developers have said that they wanted to capture the original feel of an arcade game within a modern gameplay style and if you ask me they've absolutely nailed it. I'm old enough to have experienced actual arcade machines and this is exactly what it was like - smooth, solid controls, neon graphics in primary colours and lively electro background music. Back then you would usually only have the frameworks but here it has been upgraded with modern lighting and effects to make it look even nicer than the originals. A perfect blend of enhanced retro design. My Xbox One controller kind of worked but I think some of the functions weren't working properly. This didn't matter to me because the game is perfect for my Steam controller, which I always choose for games that use the right-stick for camera control - the touchpad feels fantastic for flicking the camera around and aiming with pinpoint accuracy, and all the buttons worked perfectly having selected the recommended option in Steam Big Picture mode. I've also tried keyboard/mouse and that also works great, you can mostly just use W to move forward and steer with the mouse. Pressing RB zooms you out for a 3D overview of the level structure, in case you feel completely lost - which is not uncommon! You can turn it around and view it from all angles to see where your ship and all the (visible) pickups and enemies are located. It gives you a general idea which direction you need to go, but when you revert back to 'ground' view it's still not obvious where you're heading, you have to move on a bit then 'pop your head up' to overview to see where you are. Sometimes I go to overview just for the fun of turning the structure around like a 3D model, it looks great. [h1]Difficulty[/h1] There are several difficulty settings. I can't remember how many exactly because you only get to choose at the start of the game, there doesn't seem to be any way to change the difficulty level mid-game. I'm a lightweight so I went straight for Easy, but even on this setting I was already struggling with the monsters before the halfway point, so I imagine it can get pretty hardcore if you want to play in Iron Man mode. There is no crosshair for aiming, which I found slightly odd. I don't know if it was omitted intentionally (for the retro feel?) but I would suggest perhaps having it on easy mode and removing it on harder modes. Just a thought, it's not a major issue. [h1]Steam[/h1] All the main things. 12 achievements, all basically tied to milestones and the amount of time spent in the game, there's nothing quirky or unusual that you have to specifically strive for. 7 Trading Cards. Steam Cloud, which would be useful for me if the game was cross-platform, which it should be considering it's made with Unity. The only thing that slightly spoils the experience for me is having to boot into Windows to play it. Linux please! [h1]Value[/h1] In retrospect, having played the game, I would certainly pay full price for it. The thing is though, people will probably look at the store page, see an arcade game (just like I did) and decide it's too pricey. I think this could be the main reason why it seems to have such low sales, and it's a real shame because this is a gem that people are missing out on. [h1]Verdict[/h1] This is a hugely satisfying arcade game with elements of puzzle, shooting and discovery, along with a unique gameplay mechanic not to be found in any other game that I'm aware of. Controls are tight and it feels fabulous with a Steam controller. Dystoria is a game about finding hidden gems. Entirely appropriate, as the game itself is one. [quote]More reviews at SaveOrQuit.com[/quote]

Could be a fun game but unfortunately it's poorly optimised. The game crashes almost all the times when switching graphical settings. Or if lucky it will freeze for 1 minute, alt tabbing also freeze or crash the game... It automatically default itself back to 60 fps after every level... Being a unity game i tried to fix the framerate lock bug by forcing exclusive fullscreen mode with the -window-mode exclusive launch option, sadly it only worked for one level... As i don't want to be a console peasant playing at 60fps, this game gets a not recommanded review until the devs fix the crashes and framerate problems. The game plays great at unlimited framerate, so it should be pretty easy for them to fix it.

[quote][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/6142328/][b]Like this Review? Follow The Cpt Froggy Club Curator Page for plenty more![/b][/url][/quote] Aliens stole my husband! Forced to fight Insectoids on neon zero-G space labyrinths to a background of funky 80's music. After a short intro, you are abducted by an organisation called Omniam, and taken to a distant galaxy, where you wake up in a room and are consequently informed as to why you’ve been taken. Here you’ll find a computer which will store the various messages that you gain as you go through the game. A holographic display shows the parts of a powerful hovership as you find them; there are eighteen parts hidden around the various levels, and once you collect them all, the new hovership will be yours. Next is the console for the hover ships you own, and its weaponry. You start off with a basic ship (Sceptre) and a plasma gun. There are eight more ships which you can unlock by collecting scraps after you’ve defeated an enemy; these will float around until you gather them. Collecting a thousand scraps will give you the option to unlock one of three hoverships; after that they go up in price. Each ship has its own stats, such as Speed, Handling, Acceleration and Shield; the better the ship, the more durable it is. You pilot around the space labyrinths hovering just above the surface, which allows you to move with ease in any direction - up walls, ceilings inside and out. You’re looking for three orbs; once you have all three then the Exit Portal will open, allowing you to leave for the next level. You can become confused and disoriented as you go over the edge and onto another surface of the labyrinth. Checking your map will help you find those extra Nucleons or see whether there’s an enemy on the next surface. Sometimes you can get decoupled from a surface; if this happens you’ll have a few seconds to get back to a surface, otherwise it’s game over. The ships come with Primary One, Primary Two and Secondary weapons. You start with a Primary One weapon - a Plasma Blast - which isn’t too bad, but obviously you’ll need more firepower as you progress. To be able to get better weapons you’ll have to collect little yellow diamond-shaped Nucleons; each one you collect is worth 10 credits. Collect enough Nucleons and start upgrading your ship to give you maximum firepower. Primary One weapons consist of Plasma Blast, Laser Cannon and Electron Beam. Primary Two has Orbital Laser, Orbital Electron Beam, and Missiles. Secondary weapons consist of Homing Missiles, Proximity Blast and Speed Burst. Whichever weapons you choose, they with be available on any subsequent spaceships. With each new sector, there’ll be three objectives: collect all the Nucleons, kill all the enemies, and do it within a certain amount of time. To be able to get to the next level you’ll have to collect three orbs, which, once attained, will open a portal that ends the current level. This will then bring up the end of level stats, score, Nucleons collected, and whether or not you completed the three objectives etc. The game has all the typical settings, such as Audio, Video and Controller settings. In the audio you’ll find volume sliders for Music, Sound Effects and Voice. In the video settings there are three graphical pre-sets to choose from: Decent (Medium), Radical (High) and Awesome (Best). Along with these you can also change Shadows, Textures, Antialiasing and Vysnc. I chose the Awesome setting and it runs very smoothly on my 760GTX and looks really nice. Under Controller settings you’ll find Invert Axis, Look Sensitivity, Camera Distance and Camera Tightness. You can either set Inverted Axis for all or select them as and how you please. You can also Assign, Calibrate and Remove any controllers you wish to use. I did try playing with an Xbox Pad, but for some reason it just didn’t save properly, so I’d have to use a gamepad at the start of each level, which is a bit of a pain. That said, after having this problem, I tried the keyboard and mouse option, and to be honest I think it plays and feels a lot better than using a gamepad. Positives + Nice Graphics, Good Music + Achievements + Cards Negatives - Gamepad and keyboard re-mapping keys not saving Fun game, where you’ll start to wonder which way really is up, all while destroying insectoids on mind bending space labyrinth’s 7/10 Key provided by developer/publisher for review purposes via THE CPT FROGGY CLUB! Any opinions expressed are entirely my own! For more reviews, great game giveaways and much more. Come join us @ www.Zeepond.Com and [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/thecptfroggyclub] The Cpt Froggy Club[/url] Steam Group

A simple shooter/puzzler where you stick to any wall/floor to navigate all around the levels. Around 30 levels to do. Overall well-sounded, polished(Intro cinematic, Walkable Menu Interface), fun and not too hard(but adjustable)...

When I first saw this game I admit I was initially a little cynical given the over-abundance of Outrun/retro style of gaming. Don't get me wrong, I love a great synth soundtrack pulsating over eye-popping retro visuals as much as the next guy, but it is starting to go the way of zombies. That's why I was so pleased to find that the game itself is not only fun, but fairly innovative utilizing an otherwise under-explored genre. Set in the eighties (when else?) you're an arcade fanatic beamed up to fight for aliens thanks to your joystick prowess. So far, so 'The Last Starfighter'. But yeah, let's be honest and state outright none of that really matters. Once you're in the game itself you're hit with a six-axis Tron style grid based environment to navigate your ship around, shooting bad guys, collecting power-ups and orbs, and moving on to the next stage. Throughout the game you can also upgrade and buy new ships, which you manage through collecting neutrons and ship parts. Basically it's all pretty straightforward and easy to get in to. Dealing with the negatives, I'll say that, whilst I did enjoy it, the background graphics could be a little more inspired. It might seem nitpicky, but when the grids themselves have a really striking Tron style design it's somewhat disappointing to have bland, static stars and planets tacked on in the background. If you were going to update anything, maybe something that's a little more intuitive to the gameplay itself wouldn't go amiss? Another point is that it could vary the gameplay itself from the outset, as it does take a little while to get into the faster-paced action, which understandably could put some people off. Once you do get there though, it really is quite fun. I'll state this again, but there really isn't enough done in this much underrated genre. With smooth mechanics zipping you about the six-axis grid, you really do lose all sense of direction. This doesn't matter though, as flipping upside down and instantly hurtling towards a gun turret gives the feel of a six-dimensional Star Wars space battle. The synthwave soundtrack also works well with the gameplay, which means I wasn't immediately darting for the mute option to switch on a podcast instead or something (although it does make a good 'podcast game' as well). In summation, yes; I'd definitely recommend this. Especially now it's hit a fiver, which seems more than a fair price.

[h1]What a great value![/h1] This is a fun, topsy-turvy, atmospheric shooter with exploration and great music for only six bucks! Okay, full-disclosure: The game is marked $5.99 but with that remaining penny you can clench it between your butt cheeks and walk around the grocery store and see how long you can hold the penny in place. It's like a bonus mini-game. Amazing! Anyway.. Let's break this down: [b]Graphics:[/b] Simple but stylish. I wouldn't say it is TRON-like, but it is in the ballpark. [b]Music:[/b] Really good. One of the tracks would sound at home on the [b]TRON LEGACY[/b] soundtrack. [b]Gameplay:[/b] The game is played from the third-person perspective. It seems to revolve around a singular technology that it does really, really well. You control a craft like a 90's shooter (Wolfenstein 3D) where you can only shoot things straight ahead of you. No aiming up or down. But instead of a flat maze, the game map is constructed of 3D blocks and angular joints and your craft hovers over [b]EVERY[/b] surface of the map. That means when you move off of an edge, your craft wraps around the corner. This must have been a nightmare to code because you can effortlessly glide over corners from any angle. Either pushing forward. back or strafing. My hat is off to the developer because the resulting movement is unique. It flows so naturally that it makes look like it was easy to make. Truly the mark of a skilled programmer. Occasionally you will somehow get decoupled from the map and you will need get back to the surface or your craft will explode after a few seconds. There is no jumping. There are launch blocks that propel you to another part of the map. This makes navigating the map and finding all there is to find sort of maze/puzzle-like in later levels. The game also has an exploration element. Some blocks on the map are weak glass or have a flickering texture that can be detonated with a bomb. These usually reveal more things to pick up like health, money or craft parts. One thing I do not like is the inability to aim up or down. I know the developers chose this intentionally but I don't like how you have to wait for flying enemies to swoop down to your level before you can hit them. Meanwhile they can shoot at you from above. Nope.. Don't like it. You can sometimes cheat this by shooting while pushing over a corner. Your craft will adjust it's pitch to the new surface angle and if you are shooting while this is going on you may strike a lucky hit. This maneuver can also be used to shoot hard to reach target switches that will alter the map layout. Aside from all of that, the game is pretty simplistic. No deep RPG system here. It's just a fun shooter with a great soundtrack, a unique way of traversing the map that rewards exploration. Very much worth it for the asking price. Also tell me your best times with the penny game.

This is a hard frustrating game, where I had to replay each level several times. I finally got through the first system (7 levels). As I exited the last level, the game crashed. After verifying integrity of game cache, I opened the game to find out I had lost not 1 but 2 levels. Since I played 6 hours, according to steam, and I played 5 levels, (according to the game) you can figure out how frustrating it was to lose 2 levels. I replayed the 2 levels, upgraded my ship, and got ready for the next system, only to have the game crash on me again. Now I am back on level 5 in the first system. Oh wait, no I'm not, because I uninstalled the game and it will take me a while, if ever to try it again. I did like the game, a lot, frustrating as it was to get through each level. However, the reason I kept playing was in the hope of moving on in the game and just maybe finishing it. (I'm sure all other gamers feel the same way). There is no replay value to 5 levels that I know the secrets and techniques to, and if I cant go on in the game past there, no reason to play it.