As a newcomer to the rogue-lite genre of action platforming games, I wasn’t sure what my reaction was going to be with Neon Abyss. Getting used to the mechanics that make the genre unique was a lesson, to say the least. I found myself raging, spouting profanity, and shutting off my console on multiple playthroughs. On the flip side, I couldn't help myself from picking up the controller and trying again and again until I had finally found my groove with what the game had to offer.
Story
It all starts off as you meet Hades at his table in a club called, Neon Abyss. He offers you the chance to join Grim Squad and defeat the gods who’ve taken over hell. You oblige and step into the bizarre neon-lighted world filled with gods and their freaky little minions.
The game doesn’t focus too much on the story, and that’s alright. Although more story would’ve been a plus, it wasn’t a deal-breaker for this game. The developers' main focus was to make you compelled to continue on your journey, by offering bombastic gameplay and a stunning atmospheric world.
Gameplay
As it’s a rogue-lite game, you’ll dungeon crawl through a procedurally generated underworld filled with guns, pickups, and baddies. You’ll have to gun your way through the rooms, facing all kinds of vicious minions to get to the levels’ boss and eventually face the dungeons’ boss. The game doesn’t take it too easy on you, because it wants you to die to become stronger. Through trial and error, you’ll be able to have a better chance of building up the best loadout you can, to make you feel like a god as you tear through enemies.
Controls for the game are simple but well mapped, allowing for an easing flow of movement through the levels. You can jump, shoot, toss grenades, and use an action button, but that’s about it. There isn’t much needed here and all buttons are easy to get used to, to make you feel acrobatic during fights. Reaction time is important, so a streamlined control scheme is a tremendous help.
Your base weapons in the game are a pistol and knife, but that can change as quickly as the first level. Because of the way that luck works in the game, sometimes it’s easier to find great weapons immediately and others feel like they have to be earned. When you finally do get to another weapon it can be an amazing experience, to say the least. The gargantuan size of weapon possibilities is astounding and is the coolest part of the game.
The arsenal of guns isn't your everyday military shooter kind. There’s a guitar gun that encircles you in music notes and a laser cannon that charges up to unleash a blast, but these are just a couple of the crazy weapons that you get to man on your neon strewn tirade. Due to the game’s synergy pickups, guns are able to take on new abilities which are infinitely stackable and make the game feel like a cakewalk at times.
Synergies don’t end at weapons, as they can add buffs to your health, aim, and abilities to make you an even bigger problem for your enemies. Most power-ups and weapons are either found in the game’s chests or by killing enemies. If you’re lucky, you might even find one that grants you the power of flight, which amps up the gameplay to an insane level. You’re able to pick up eggs along the way that will eventually hatch. Once hatched, the eggs will either contain nothing or a trusty pet to have by your side, with its own special abilities.
The game world itself is set up nicely, with a hub world where you can trade in crystals obtained by slaying bosses for in-game rewards. These rewards include things such as minigames, playable characters, and other types of unlockables. You can type in-game seeds on a computer to return to a specific dungeon, but doing so comes with its own set of consequences.
Levels have an assortment of things that you will have to traverse while engaging in combat. There are bouncy platforms, disappearing platforms, spike pits, and more that will try to end your killstreak. Each level has different doors which lead to rooms that offer more to enhance your loadout on the more sparing playthroughs. These doors can be unlocked using keys or faith gems that you pick up.
The game reacts to how you play, with its reputation bars. You’ll be able to fill a Violence bar or Wisdom bar, to unlock a secret room on each level. The violence bar is filled by embracing the damage you’ll be sure to endure, while the wisdom bar is focused on by the more defensive player. Each room will offer a reward to benefit your playstyle and help you venture further into its dungeons.
Enemies won’t become stale as there are so many kinds and different variants with their own attacks. Even the bottom feeder enemies would end my run while I was focused on the stronger ones. You can’t underestimate the playing field when it goes into its hectic combat sections.
Bosses though were the stars of the show in my eyes. They’re approach in their fighting styles and patterns made them a challenge to fight, but easy to outsmart. Every boss fight felt fair, and I only seemed to die when it had been my fault for miscalculating my own reactions to them. I never felt like they were impossible to defeat, which made it attractable to try and take them down as soon as possible.
Visuals
Neon Abyss lives up to its name with vibrant neon hues of light littered not only throughout the levels, but on the enemies, weapons, and everything in-between. Colors aren’t used sparingly at all, and that’s exactly what I loved about it. Every level was like watching a firework show, as enemies and I shot at each other along the neon laced backgrounds.
The game has a beautiful art style that blends well with its color palette as well. Enemies’ character models look really cool and differ vastly from one another, creating a unique army of bullet fodder. The bosses specifically are very well done, and funny too in their meta appearances. There were times I had died just because I was too busy watching the bosses bouncing around the screen because they were so awesome to look at.
Audio
The game has a great sound mix, with weapons always taking the forefront over the music tracks. A fantastic job was done at creating guns with sounds that never conformed to the traditional “bang-bang” shots. My weapon of choice was that guitar gun I spoke of earlier. Besides being a good gun overall it actually played guitar riffs while in use. It’s just little details like this that can have a huge impact on the finished result.
Music in the game is synth-heavy, and cyberpunk inspired. It really helped set the aesthetic that the game was going for, making everything feel like cogs in a well-oiled machine. Tracks would blend in and out flawlessly while starting and finishing a battle with the onslaught of onscreen enemies. The sound department was obviously handled with care and as an audiophile, I welcomed it with open arms.
Replayability
Because of its almost infinite possibilities of synergies and level layouts, this game was built for gamers to come back, hungry for more. It goes out of its way to give you power that most games don’t, and for me, this is one of its strong suits. Unlockables are vast and rewarding, leading to even more to play around within this oasis of neon.
What Could’ve Been Better
My gripe with the game is the lack of instructions and details. At least for someone new to the genre, it can sometimes be infuriating not to know the game mechanics past the general movements and buttons. I eventually discovered how everything worked on my own, but others might just give up after being so confused that they stop playing the game entirely.
Verdict
Even with as angry as I would get with myself for dying repeatedly, the game drew me back with its siren song of gameplay and aesthetics. Once I had gotten into the swing of things, I had an absolute blast trying over and over to do better than I had on my last run. The synergies possible in the game make for a god-like experience that most games don’t offer. The developers knew what players would enjoy in Neon Abyss, and executed it by creating a game that centers on being fun.
