Neon Abyss....

Neon Abyss; Another new game I've access to via Xbox Ultimate which covers titles for PC. From the trailer it's got everything I think I like about a platforming shooter. Specifically it sparked my attention due to it's 8-bit graphics as well as it's more vertical platforming Enter the Gungeon style.

Team17

I've said before I'm not really a fan of platformer games but there are some games that are technically platformers that I like.... Even if I don't consider them as platformers(Deadcells, My Friend Pedro, etc. etc).... Technicalities!

So with games of Neon Abyss's ilk I tend to like them a whole lot more than they like me. Fun. Fun till it becomes frustration. I've long ago given up hardcore striving for perfection in games like it. 

Enter the Gungeon was a game I bought on a sale but had never really clicked with me. It ticked all the gameplay wants and needs but in playing it, it just faded away. So it colours my view of Neon Abyss with all the similarities they share never mind other games. I'm biased with what to expect. Still there's enjoyment till the scale tips into frustration.

However playing Neon Abyss the big deciding factor was that its 'free'(via Xbox Ultimate). I can say hand on heart that I'd not even wish-listed it anywhere never mind think about buying it. That's me and this type of game right now, not a dis towards the game, it's mechanics or players who are all in on it. It looked good, peeked my interest. It peeked my interest for sure. It's fun and free is free so why not give it a go(like it's Steam demo).

And a go I gave it. Cat's for guns! Who wouldn't!

Broadly speaking this game is everything I like and hate in one. I played it(but not as much as Enter the Gungeon by far), I enjoyed it(again not as much as other games).

I've had fun in it. But....

It's a game that has a slightly different control system, remapping was needed but still felt unsatisfactory. That was annoying. Basic intuitive pick up and play controls are a 'basic' given in most games like this. The other annoying thing control wise was that when looking/aiming with the right stick is that it also auto fires as you aim. That felt 'off'; I like a separate fire button. A "platformer" better with a mouse and keyboard..... Who'd have thunk it!

After a few hours or gameplay I was left with a feeling that I knew would happen. Fun till the fun became frustration. It was and I did. That did indeed happen and then the aversion to going back to it. Again that's a me thing.

There's a lot of chance and randomness to the game, sometimes both.

Sometimes enough is enough.

The randomness of levels can be good but when your doing your best and have to keep restarting, well that gets old fast. That randomness acts against my return as it's not like I can learn to take a level a certain way. That's a reactionary gameplay cliff not a learning curve.
There's accomplishment in doing a level but when the level keeps changing and 'doing' it then becomes more about luck or chance.... That's really off-putting to me. In this game anyway.

I do like how 'fun' the game is, it's just not enough for me to overcome what I consider as off-putting gamplay mechanics. Each to their own. Even for me it was well worth a try.

So yea this game for me is fun. A lot of fun. But frustrations take away from that fun. I'm glad it's free with Ultimate. Glad I played it. Glad to have known it was what I expected(any other way would have been a good surprise). This game isn't 'bad', it does a lot well; It's just really not for me.