The developer is an artist I've been following for a while, and I was pretty intrigued when he announced he started developing his own game.
I've got to say that... well, for being his first game, he did a nice job.
[h1]Controls[/h1]
The amount of possible actions are kept to a minimum.
[list]
[*][b]D-Pad[/b] or [b]Right Analog Stick[/b] - Move
[*][b]A button (Xbox)[/b] or [b]Cross button (PS4)[/b] - Slide/dodge
[*][b]B button (Xbox)[/b] or [b]Circle button (PS4)[/b] - Grenade
[*][b]X button (Xbox)[/b] or [b]Square button (PS4)[/b] - Fire
[*][b]Y button (Xbox)[/b] or [b]Triangle button (PS4)[/b] - Ability
[/list]
The menu commands are uncommon for Western audiences: the [b]X button (Xbox)[/b] or [b]Square button (PS4)[/b] are used to confirm options, while the [b]A button (Xbox)[/b] or [b]Cross button (PS4)[/b] are used to go back or cancel.
Other than that, the game controls well and is responsive.
The key bindings are customizable... partially: the Fire and Confirm button are bound together, therefore they can't be changed without also changing the other.
You can shoot only straight ahead, like MegaMan, but you cannot shoot while you're moving. Well, somewhat: your gun has a rather strong recoil, and you'll move backwards slowly whenever you shoot.
A couple of small annoyances, maybe, are...
[olist]
[*] You can't slide right after shooting, but there's a small delay between the two actions. For me, however, it's not a big problem;
[*] You can't turn left or right while shooting, but you have to stop shooting, turn the other way and then shoot again. The developer said that's a difficult issue to solve for him, but seems he's trying what he can.
[/olist]
[h1]Gameplay[/h1]
First of all, don't expect particularly complicated mechanics. This game is developed by one person and it shows, due to having a rather simple and linear structure. The goal is only one: get to the end, [i]alive[/i].
The entire game is pretty much a boss rush, like Cuphead, with some enemies supporting them. They're divided in monsters and Hunters (characters like yours). The main difference between them is that the monsters can require you emptying their HP up to four times... sometimes. Later in the game you will meet monster bosses with a rather large pool of health that require to be defeated only once, which doesn't exactly explain why you need to deplete the health of the previous ones multiple times.
You have 4 lives and, each time your HPs reach 0, one of them is immediately consumed to fully restore your health. Die after losing all your lives and you'll go back to the beginning.
The game is challenging, but overall fair. A session can last up to 30 minutes maximum, depending on how good you are.
Whenever an attack is launched, you're being told exactly how big the range it is, allowing you to escape or raise your defenses by using your special abilities or throwing a grenade (both actions give you a shield for a short period of time). Also, normal enemies almost always drop health and, when you finally defeat a boss, your HP are fully restored.
One minor annoyance can be that enemies are capable of shooting at you even when they are off-screen once they appear, but that also means you can shoot back at them.
The enemies, most of the time, have simple actions: some of them try to deal damage from up close but can overwhelm you, while others shoot at you and, of course, they deal more damage the more you progress. However, when the difficulty increases, normal enemies begin to pull out special attacks that truly increase the challenge, especially when against bosses.
The more you advance in the stages, the more aggressive the enemies will be. You'll take much less damage if you focused on your defense and health. At the same time, you'll also deal more damage if you focused on your attack. Needless to say, however, these stats mean nothing if you don't practice.
Advancing into the game won't give you new weapons... sort of.
The game doesn't give special powers for your weapon and/or synergies. You can only level up your stats by collecting items, resulting in raising your attack, your defense, your maximum HP, your luck (= you'll find better items) and even your health automatic regeneration.
When your attack increases, your weapon evolves too, resulting in more powerful shots and getting effects like spreading.
[u]Hint[/u]: the closer you are to the enemy, the more damage your shots deal.
Other than that, the game also tells you how well your ATK and DEF are leveled for the current stage, allowing you to decide better which stat should get the priority.
[h1]Graphics[/h1]
The game is locked at 30 FPS and can run at very high resolutions.
The animations are very limited: the NPCs barely move, while the enemies and your character only have the essential. The monster bosses aren't actually animated and most of the time they look like still images changing from time to time. To compensate, the developer bet everything on the appearance and, personally, I think it worked.
I really like the art style: the characters have cute designs, the backgrounds are essential and well designed, the colors stand out particularly, while the monsters have a detailed appearance. The game has a big contrast between black and bright colors, other than having a rather big focus on the "neon effect".
[h1]Sound[/h1]
For now, I didn't analyze with enough accuracy the sounds. The music has very electronic vibes and... it didn't particularly stand out for me, but I liked the tune for the Tutorial Stage.
In the Options menu, there are two sliders for the audio: one simply labeled "Audio" and the other "Music". The strange thing is that, while the "Music" slider ajusts the music (duh), the "Audio" slider adjusts... not the effects, but the master audio (both music and sounds).
[h1]Other[/h1]
The developer, as I said, is alone, but greatly relies on feedback. From what I found out, the game changed deeply since the release, and what I played so far is completely different from the one at launch. Doesn't seem bad, however: the game feels more streamlined and immediate.
In the entire game there's only one loading time: when you start the game up. I don't know about the others, but for me it was quite a lengthy one, to the point that, at the first start, I thought the game froze.
[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
So, how's the game overall? Well, it can get repetitive, but the colorful aesthetics, the fast paced and chaotic gameplay can give some players a good quick challenge.
The game is also very cheap and the developer did his best to deliver something... not exceptional, but still good.
Give it a try, at worst you can ask for a refund (careful with the game time, in that case).
