ReVeN: XBridge

I haven't played this game much yet, and it's still early access. This is less of an in depth review and more of a preview. This is Mario Maker as a bullet hell shooter. I like that you have 360 degree shooting instead of just straight forward, but basically this game is a bullet hell shooter where all the levels are made by other people who own the game. How good the game is going to largely rely on the content made by the community. However, the mechanics felt good and the tools are solid. I like the customization for designing levels, and I'm really interested in seeing where the game goes from here. I wish more things were unlocked straight from the beginning, but I wouldn't be surprised to see stuff like that changed. I also like the art in game, but the portrait art is not my favorite.

I dreamed a game like this for ages. Now it's real. It's the perfect mix for both casual and hardcore players: fast matches for casual, much depth/longevity for pro players. There is a hall with a global chat, a friend list, your faction, your upgradable stats, your inventory (which contains materials and upgradable weapons), and a couple of panels to start Custom player scenarios, or the editor, to build (test and share) your levels. Here you can spend the points earned by playing, to unlock new drones, modules, parts, bosses, weapons, etc... these ones are used to make your custom levels more challenging. Every drone unit has a different ability (example: Mandible units are able to drop black holes, which attract you), so the gameplay is extremely fun because of the unit combinations. The editor is very easy, everyone can build something through endless possibilities. Also, they are going to add many other game modes. As 2D shooter game, starting a match is fast and not stressful, but in the meanwhile, there is a RPG part if you want to farm, or a leaderboard dedicated to every single scenario, if you want to improve your scores and beat the other players like a pro! In other words, this is A GAME FOR ALL.

This game has potential. The combat is fast paced and is a flawless bullet-hell style game. The level creator is easy to use, bosses are fun to build and experiment with, and it's easy to share / play shared levels. The reason I wouldn't recommend this game is because there's not nearly enough content to warrent a 15$ price tag. At the time of writing this review, with the game having been out for nearly 2 months, there was only a tutorial and less than 20 shared levels. Until the development picks up and adds a campaign, or the community grows and more levels are shared, I wouldn't pay more than 5$ for this game. The developers also ignore small mistakes that shouldn't have been missed. Menu items that won't highlight but can still be clicked. Screens you can go into but there's no easy way to get out of. The leaderboard will update with your name and score but won't update your profile image. Small problems, but unacceptable considering the size of their team. When a developer overlooks small issues so that they can rush to release a game in early access it destroys any hope that this game will be anything more than a cash grab. This game shouldn't have been released yet. I'll continue to have some faith that the game will be fixed and become worthy of it's price tag, but until it does, I can't in good faith recommend this game.

ReVeN XBridge is a game for people who are sick of mindless shooters currently flooding the market. With RPG elements and a social network along with limitless amounts of user created content, this game has something everyone. Also, an impressive amount of content is on the rise as this game gets frequent updates with content and gamemodes to keep things interesting. You really get waaaaay more than you pay for with XBridge. Highly Recommended. Btw if you do get this game, Play my level "HyperSpace". Can you beat my score? :D

Not a Happy Camper guys...I ordered this on Steam as I enjoy games like this. Problem is, no matter what I do, I can't log in ! I got in once a couple of days ago, but after that, no luck. I've tried logging in from my PC shortcut AND from within Steam. it just....don't. I do not have this problem with other Steam games. Seems ya'll still have a bug or two on the loose. I Want to like this game...but so far no joy.

The game is dead. Don't buy. Varia games promised a metroidvania game at the time of the kickstarter. Released this as a filler. It was a fun distraction, but ultimately, Varia games did not deliver promised game to us backers. If ever Varia games has a conscience, I ask not for a refund, but delivery of the promised game, ReVen.

Too much stuff up front and in game. Just let me get in play the game..... some nice ideas but a lot of bad noobish gameplay choices. I mean I have a joypad in my hand but I have to constantly keep pressing space to skip text why cant I hit A ffs also movement of the ship is not precice or responsive enough to allow bullet dodging the movement is laggy and travels a set distance minimum which is really annoying. check the japanese bullet hell shooters to see how to do it properly. i.e either use the analoge input so we can control speed or use a fast slow system like used in most japanese bullet hell games. any way as I said nice idea but you need to get the basic mechanics right before you start building a massive game around them. ill look out for 2.0

Here is a gameplay video I did of Conquest Mode. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIpn3oK4gFY I actually enjoyed this game very much. I didn't play around in the creator mode too much(my husband did though) but the actual gameplay was very engaging. The style of the visuals were incredibly vibrant and stood out immediately when I booted it up. The level creator is very Mario Maker-ish like the other reviews here have mentioned, but it also comes with the tools to modify and create your own End Bosses. Straight down to their design and coloring. Plus with the grid system it offers it gives you freedom to place waves in certain positions to influence their flight paths. The controls were fluid for both the keyboard and mouse AND the twin stick gamepad so it is easy to pick up out of the gates, which is a MAJOR bonus to people who aren't that good at twin stick shooters. If you're a novice or expert at the game you can pick it up and play it without any problems. (Unless you're me lol) Even though it may be in early access, it'll just continue to improve over time. I'm actually looking forward to the updates that'll come for the game so I can try and get better at it.... since I am actually horrible at shooters like this... or shooters in general really.

It's sooooo dead.

Summary: A great idea in theory: combining interesting storyline with the frenetic action of shoot-em-up, and adding simple-to-use support for player-created levels. But the game is deeply diminished by a wide variety of bugs and some questionable UI and input design decisions. Pros: + Includes level editor that makes for pretty robust shoot 'em up level creation + Better story-telling than most SHMUPS + Customize your character + Some controller support Cons: - Controller support is immensely patchy: many oft-repeated actions still require a keyboard (such as progressing through the extensive dialog sections), and sometimes the controller buttons suddenly won't work the same way (like using items) - Steam screenshot go-to button "F12" always seems to just trigger the console in my browser (etc) - Steam overlay doesn't seem to work at all - Frustrating controls and overlapping UI decisions mean you may do a lot of what you didn't intend (example, it tells you to chat which probably requires you press the space bar, and yet the space bar is also how you progress through the tutorial, so I missed a ton of guidance while trying to explore something they asked me to do) - Settings menu sometimes won't detect buttons or keys, or will tell you a button is already in use when it isn't - A lot of grammar mistakes: not a HUGE deal, but enough to be obvious - A wide array of bugs (one easily repeated example was just trying to close the game, it wouldn't respond, I needed to alt=tab and close the window from the task bar) - Likely more: I stopped playing after the first hour and am unlikely to return