Genome Guardian 2

If you're a chess player stranded on a desert island with unlimited highspeed internet, and can only play online chess , and your choice of one video game for the rest of your natural and unnatural life, you had better choose Genome Guardian 2. Sorry, DariusBurst Chronicle Saviours, but I have plenty of fish to eat every day already. Sorry, Sektori, but you're competing with chess in score chasing :)

I have had a lot of fun with this game so far. I don't have a problem with the dev giving tips on how to build your run like a lot of the other negative reviews, you can just ignore them if you don't need them. The build diversity is good, and it is the type of game that really encourages exploring every achievement and build option, which I love. On top of that, the core gameplay is very enjoyable and keeps you coming back for more. The minor problems: - Some of the build options are literally just bad. Genuinely unusably awful. There are one or two of these options in each of the many stages you have the option to change something about your run. I get that not everything can be the same strength, and some things will only have niche use cases, but this is a bit excessive. - Stat calculations are often unclear, as well as how effects will interract with each other. Some stats will change based on your nanobot's base stats, some will go off of your weapon, some will go off your current stats, and it is unclear what will do what. I also often find myself resetting a run because I put a certain combination of gadgets, parts and mods in a build that literally just don't do anything together with no indication that they wouldn't, and it would be nice if this were made clear before a run. - The text from the antagonist/villain is a bit cringey. I can't tell if it is supposed to be funny or intimidating or unsettling, but it is none of those things. It is just edgy and cringey. I find myself unwilling to engage with any of the lore or story because, at best, it adds nothing. Those problems are minor, though, and it really pains me to give this game a negative review, but one thing made the experience so much worse for me, and is the reason I am writing this review. I really hope to be able to change this review at some point soon because these problems are fixable, and there is such a good game here with some things that hold it back. The worst thing in this game is the Jester guardian. I unlocked it right near the beginning of the game, saw that it replaced my stats with random cringey nonsense, and didn't use it for another 12 hours of gameplay, because it looked weird and unfun. I could not have guessed how unfun it would be. I think it is supposed to be a funny addition to the game? It replaces your music with circus music and some of the visuals gradually start to change as the game goes on, including stat names and random meaningless popups. It then gets so much worse, to the point that you have random pngs of the you've been gnomed image popping up on your screen while lights flash incomprehensibly on your screen. It is completely impossible to tell what is going on, probably intentionally, and you end up not playing a game but holding a button waiting for the run to end so you can do something else. This experience was so boring and unfunny it massively detracted from the overall value of the game, which is a real shame because I really wanted to give this a good review. The jester guardian could have simply been a randomiser for your stats and the enemies, which would have been fun and interesting. I cannot fathom someone possibly finding this enjoyable to play with, and I really hope it gets changed beyond recognition or removed completely. As I said, this review is so nearly a good one. I nearly made it a positive review while writing it, and maybe in the future I will change my mind on it. I really hope I can give this a positive review soon.

Even better than the first one!

Just not very interactive

The first game feels basic compared to this. First off, Music is a banger. Visuals are great and fun. It remembers me on an old game on windows (95, MS Dos?) that was just about shooting fireworks on your screen and watching the cool colour effects. Theres a ton of combo potential here you can experiment with. Several modes too. What is a bit annoying are the dev warnings about you doing "dumb" stuff, which is sometimes cool but also sometimes too invasive on your choices. 2 examples on that. I had a modification choice in the shop that was for a weapon i did not have. I could "Bleach" it, which would make it colourless so i could still apply it, i didnt yet though. I had to unlock a slot for that mod first, so i clicked to unlock it. The game then warned me that i didnt have anything to move into it and that this was dumb and a waste of my currency. But that didnt matter, because the game didnt know i would bleach the mod in the shop. So the dev thought it was ok to pop up 4 messages that BLOCKED me from unlocking the mod slot outright saying "Stop, what you do is dumb." Like, calm it a bit dude. Another example is that its sometimes more important to progress psychologically than factually. Lets say i have enough currency to unlock a slot for a new weapon, but not enough to also buy a weapon right now. I decide to unlock it anyways for the next round. It literally doesnt matter whether i do it now or later. But the game pops up several warnings that this is dumb because i cant buy anything for that slot anyway. I know, but i want to feel some sort of progression. Just skipping the shop without doing anything feels bad and when i decide to unlock a slot i will use next round anyway, so what? It gives me the feeling of actually progressing and doing something, even if its just preparation for later. On the other hand i had moments where a warning would have been better to be centralized. I remember that in the first game when you hover over a Mod it showed clearly that its for a weapon you dont have or for what weapon its for. Now this notification is small and placed on the top left corner on your actual weapon, which i often overlook. So i accidentially purchase the mod although i cant slot it. I could have bleached it, but forgot to do that. In that case i wished bleaching was possible after a purchase and could be done on any stored weapon mod. I dont see why you shouldnt be able to anyways. I found that to work better on the first game. On the other hand there are some tooltips or infos that arent really precise especially when building your loadout. With the "negatives" aside, this is a great stationary defense shooter with rogue-like elements. Wishes for development: - At least one more base weapon type, maybe a melee type? - Super weapon, like being able to slot a 5th weapon to form a super weapon if you meet the requirements (like fully modding it etc). - A way to upgrade your weapons beyond the modding. When i was done and filled all slots, it was just pressing continue each wave. It would be cool to be able to, lets say, purchase a Shotgun and place it on your Shotgun to make it "Shotgun level2 " and upgrade its basestats a bit. - Large Map mode: I like the idea of moving around but the space feels too tiny. Would like a big map mode for that. - A LOT more meta progression. I was done pretty fast with the meta stat boost aspect and even with most of the expensive unlocks from the meta shop. Thats after about 7 hours in, not even 7 hours playtime because some idle stuff etc. I have no ideas right now what the dev could add, but i would have liked to see some more stat boosts. Maybe projectile sizes, vampire or zap lenght. I dont know. Or add more levels for each upgrade.

A serious evolution of the first game. Core mechanic is the same, just a boatload more content, game modes and genuine experimentation and build choices.

Good