very Functionally Fun although lacking in the basic polish or mechanical depth* that gives the best action roguelikes longevity. you play as some kind of cyberpunk-y... contract agent? shadowrunner? who gets sent into this big underground labyrinth managed by Titans, all of whom represent figures from greek mythology translated into the internet-era. i think this is all supposed to be a riff on the sort of 'gods' of our modern day lives, so theres like a God of Tiktok or a God of Playing Racing Games that you have to fight against at various points... the theming comes off as goofy and shallow as it probably sounds here. i swear to god theres like, a youtube lets play god named Pewdiepie or something that i kept encountering

the actual gameplay elements are about as shallow as the set dressing - the game has a lot of different little loops and mechanics that i can only assume were meant to spice things up & add another layer of complexity to an otherwise pretty simple game (its a platformer + you shoot stuff), but you pretty quickly realize that most of them aren't particularly interesting and offer few benefits so you learn to pass them over. the few mechanics which are worth engaging in (maybe the wave-based arena rooms? or the little crystals you activate on each floor?) are goooood for your run but not really that cool or engaging otherwise, ive probably retained like 0.2% of what this games presented me.

i hope the above two paragraphs werent so negative as to entirely turn you off of the game because it is actually pretty fun!! turns out its very hard to fuck up the simple run & gun formula. my brain still feels very satisfied with picking up little coins and killing enemies and shooting bullets on a primal level, its hard for some dumb theming & superfluous mechanics to spoil that. i will go ahead and add a caveat which is that sometimes (probably pretty rarely but still!!!) i will get hit by some absolute nonsense attack that appears out of nowhere and is virtually impossible to dodge which feels like a pretty damning fuck-up for a game like this, but for the most part i was able to put up with it. i ended up putting like, 15-20 hours into this game over the past few weeks and i'll probably continue with it for a little longer. sometimes you just need a simple imperfect game that clicks on a basic level but doesn't offer much more

I've unlocked the cursed bosses and I think I'm done, at least for now, through a combination of satisfaction with this milestone and fatigue starting to set in.

A twin stick shooter roguelike that feels like if Metal Slug was strapped to Binding of Isaac, but without the wildly creative gameplay of the former or the captivating aesthetic of the latter. That should be an insult, but those are the heights of run 'n gun and rogue-likes, and to have aimed for those and missed (the point) is no bad thing.

After some time away I may come back and check out the cursed bosses and the dlc, but for now Neon Abyss gets three stars, a vague thumbs up, and off of my steam deck.

Playtime: 9 Hours
Score: 7/10

Fun little indie shooter! While I'm not a huge fan of the of some genres like soulslikes because I'm not really into challenging games, the roguelite genre has always been something that has enticed me. Something about dying in a run and then being like "One more run?" is what keeps me going and want to play more. Games like Neon Chrome, Slay the Spire and Loop Hero are really what got me into it and I'm always on the look out for a good roguelite. I got this game for free on the Epic Games store one week and it sat in my library for a while until I finally decided to give it a go. So what did I think?

The shooting is really fun in this game, as you go from room to room in 2D side scroller fashion. It does use a twin stick shooter system, that I generally detest playing with controllers, but I have found its much better on keyboard and mouse. The game overall controled really well and I found it easy to zip around and take out enemies. The guns you pick up in this game are a lot of fun to use to. The game does feature difficulty settings which I'm not used to in these types of games and it felt nice to be able to play on something like easy. A far cry from games like Slay the Spire where you can only get an "easy" mode through modding.

I also loved the exploration of the dungeons, as you go from room to room, as the map slowly starts to build out, highlighting key items and locations. As a QoF feature, it even highlights things you left over, like if you were at full health and didn't need pick ups but can easily travel back when you do need them. You also find plenty of fast travel points every few rooms to make getting around the dungeon a bit easier which in turn makes exploration more rewarding. You can also find special rooms like catherdrals that will often have cool relics, upgrades or equipment to pick up that gives you cool bonuses. You can also stack on multiple helmets, masks and hoods which can look ridiculous after a while but it just adds to the fun. As you kill bosses you pick up faith gems, which is the currency you take back with you at the end of your runs. These can be used to unlock new playable characters, as well as new types of rooms or game rules that can appear during your runs. This adds a fun building mechanic of sorts and you can toggle things you've unlocked on or off, which I found to be a nice touch.

As for story, there is one in the game, but its very simplistic. Its very meta about game development and they keep referencing Hades the game which I thought was cool. A lot of the items you pickup as well are references to other games and franchises which I liked too. Overall the story is mostly just in the background and isn't that groundbreaking, but the gameplay is fun which I think makes up for it.

Some of things I didn't like are small, but they really dragged down the score for me. The first is not having a save and exit option mid runs which is a major drawback. There is an exit option which takes you back to the hub area, but doing this will make you lose progress in the dungeon but you do at least get to keep any gems you've picked up. Games like Slay the Spire let you save and exit mid run, and its very convenient since runs can get so long, especially in this game. As you defeat bosses, the dungeons just get longer and longer which doesn't help with their being no way to leave without losing progress. The dungeons are proceedurly generated which does help keep the layouts fresh, but the background art just looks so dull and samey after a while.

The major issue for me though is the lack of item descriptions before you pick something up. Once you do pick up something you do get clear descriptions but only once its picked up. This would usually be fine, but the game is constantly making you have to choose between 2 items whether it be in treasure rooms or at the merchants shop. I guess the intent is for you to experiment and familirize yourself with items just by looking at them, but I'm just not into that. Every time I encountered items I was not about to waste gold on something or pick up something at the cost of another, just on pure luck of the draw. I ended up just googling the items to find out what they did, and it got tedious after a while. You can unlock a character later that can see item descriptions before picking them up, but he has a major downside that makes him harder to play with. I shouldn't be punished or forced to play as one specific character just to see item descriptions. I know some roguelites do that, but there are plenty of ones like Slay the Spire that don't and I prefer the latter.

Overall though, Neon Abyss is a fun indie shooter which felt more accessible with its difficulty options and its easy to pick up and play. I recommend it to anyone who likes Roguelite games and doesn't mind the issues I mentioned.

All Games I have Played and Reviewed Ranked - https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/all-games-i-have-played-and-reviewed-ranked/