Neon lights, gunshots, and random eggs are just a few elements of a roguelike that hits hard; face the new gods.
Roguelike video games have become a subgenre of platforms and action with increasingly refined representatives, from the already classic Rogue Legacy, The Binding of Isaac, Nuclear Throne or Enter the Gungeon to the more current Dead Cells or Slay the Spire, each with its own proposal and game mechanics that make each of its games a unique experience. And this is precisely where Neon Abyss points, the new thing from the Chinese studio Veewo Games together with Team17, a whole 2D action and shooting platform in essence that gets on the roguelike bandwagon through a very marked personality and such crazy gameplay. as challenging that does not skimp on moments of authentic lack of control, both for the good and for the bad. Let’s see what Neon Abyss has to offer the most seasoned of cleaning rooms of enemies and looting in a sick way in our review for PC, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Descent into the abyss of neon
Neon Abyss immerses us in a universe in which the new technological gods have taken power, relegating the old gods to the most absolute ostracism. In order to settle scores and regain his position of power, Hades has recruited a series of mercenaries known as the Grim Squad, a diverse group of highly diverse fighters who will accept the challenge of entering the luminous yet fearsome neon abyss, a a place dominated by the new gods that will change with each new incursion of our pixelated warriors. This is how this new roguelike starts, which bets on platforms and classic shots through a typically random development that offers a different experience for each of our games.
This new proposal framed in a one hundred percent roguelike formula encourages us to take part in a battle against the new gods through random challenges spread over different rooms, all of them connected as small mazes that we will discover after cleaning stage after stage. Of course, the Veewo Games title does so through three key aspects such as weapons, objects and eggs. From here on a whole universe of shots, confrontations, looting and enemies opens up before us, each one more elaborate and surprising; and gore, a lot of gore. And the fact is that there are many characteristics to which we must pay attention, resulting in an experience that, although challenging and satisfying, is sometimes excessively random and in which, unfortunately, many aspects are beyond our control.
Of course, Neon Abyss introduces original aspects to the genre; With each new death (we will die a lot, especially at higher difficulty levels), our character will become more powerful through a skill tree in which to enable different powers. Certainly, the unlocking of skills, objects, weapons, animated minigames and all kinds of controllable characters becomes a constant, a necessary objective to reach further and further.
To all this we must add one more particularity that is not exactly trivial: the synergies between weapons, objects and eggs. Yes, because as we advance in our journey through the neon depths, we will obtain eggs that will hatch (or not) in all kinds of aids and effects on our character as sporadic perks, such as attack partners, support or weapon modifiers, among many others. Of course, the possibilities are almost endless, a fact that gives rise to that lack of control and balance to which we alluded a few lines back.
In any case, the variety of weapons and their effects is overwhelming, from automatic rifles, shotguns, ray and plasma pistols, flamethrowers, grenades and much more; and the combination with accessories such as masks, hats and others results in an absolute totally random madness that makes each game a totally unique challenge. Obviously, all this is captured on the screen through an equally unique control and that may not convince all players alike.
And it is that Neon Abyss resorts to a handling based on the twin stick of many other shooters, although in this case in strict 2D side scrolling; the aiming and the shot is carried out through the right stick of the control while for the jumps we must resort to one of the right triggers. A combination that at first can be shocking but to which we will get used to after a reasonable time.
Each room offers a similar combination of shooting, jumping and looting objects, resulting in frantic confrontations with many options available to the player; Of course, the level of challenge can be significantly altered when repeating certain actions, such as cleaning a room from a possible safe corner and letting certain eggs, if the ideal combination occurs, act on their own.
Fortunately, platforms play an essential role in the form of levels with different heights, which will give a lot of play depending on the circumstances. In similar terms we can speak of the final bosses of each raid, new gods who represent new technologies through uninspired designs that also overlap with each other, with too simple and repetitive patterns.
As we say, and given the random nature of the title, both the dungeons and the objects to collect result in an adventure with a strong dynamic component but which, in turn, falls into a notable repetition of patterns and mechanics after a few hours. There will be no shortage of special rooms with higher-level rewards, shops where you can buy weapons and equipment in exchange for coins that we can collect from enemies, and more.
In addition, as we level up and advance in our game, we can see a remarkable evolution in the number of enemies and an increasing difficulty, an essential element in any roguelike worth its salt. All this with a disco as a base in which to select our hero from a good number of unlockables, change the level of difficulty, enter codes generated by the game to load dungeons already completed and more, in addition to moving the skeleton to the DJ beat.
At an audiovisual level, Neon Abyss bets on a decidedly pixel art aesthetic that reminds of video games of yesteryear (mid-90s), not without skimping on all kinds of light and particle effects that are the most striking, especially when using certain weapons or abilities; and it is that this limbo of the neons for some reason has to shine.
The animations of both the different protagonists and the enemies boast a certain charm; that yes, a great variety of elements is not appreciated, with the repetition of certain patterns of scenes that can be somewhat monotonous. The sound effects are forceful and a good variety of them are appreciated; The musical themes, although they do not stand out especially, do show an animated and carefree character, following the personality of the title itself.
CONCLUSION
With a genre quite saturated with roguelike proposals of all kinds and conditions, Neon Abyss manages to stand out both for its suggestive setting and for a gameplay as crazy as it is varied, for good and for bad. And it is that those who like mechanics that invite us to master the formula of a specific game until reaching mastery, will not find what they are looking for in Neon Abyss. And it is that the title of Veewo Games follows another path, that of direct fun and looting and combinations of objects and more overwhelming weapons that we can imagine, all to make each game an almost unique adventure. To all this we must add a peculiar control that does not follow the classic guidelines and can become one more setback; However, if we can accept and overcome these little peculiarities, we will have hours and hours of game ahead in an abyss of neons that seems to have no end.
THE BEST
- Hours and hours of content
- Huge variety of unlockable characters and abilities
- Endless weapons, items and perks …
WORST
- … Conditioned by absolute randomness
- Quite peculiar control
- Certain elements that are too repetitive
Okay
It meets the expectations of what is a good game, it has quality and does not have serious flaws, although it lacks elements that could have taken it to higher levels.
