Power of Ten

Overall the game is short, but good. Not great, but not bad either. I enjoyed my time with it, but since the harder difficulties remove your progressive, permanent, upgrades (rather than making the game harder in other ways) and there are no other unlocks (like weapons) I find little reason to continue playing. Story: Barebones, but sufficient for a roguelite. You are a single fighter pilot lost in a nebula trying to save planets from Deadeyes while searching for a way home. The planets don't have any distinct personalities and the dialogue repeats very quickly. The prologue is well done, but doesn't seem to lead to anything. Gameplay: Collect resources, power up planetary shields, fight enemy ships, repeat. The shooting looks impactful, but the choice of weapons is somewhat boring. There are a few good weapons, but I found myself passing on most of them. Passing on weapons increases your max ammo so there's at least value in that because running out of ammo is a real threat. Upgrades are, individually, not very strong, but with enough of them you can become a power house. This is a positive as it makes all decisions important while not railroading players into a specifc build. The biggest issue is the combat is short and intense, but not very interesting. Strafe and shoot. Once battle ends you spend 3x as long gathering resources. It's a slower pace that sort of works, but I found myself getting slightly bored on successive playthroughs. There's only 1 boss, but it's a great fight. A fitting climax. Visuals: Nice pixel art, buit lacks any character. What is there works well and looks nice. The models flow and look great, but there are very few models so there's nothing terribly memorable. Sound: Good use of a minimal soundtrack. Music swells when combat begins and dies again while travelling and resource hunting. The gun fire has punch. Worth it for fans of space shooters, but fans of roguelites might find the difficulty and progression lacking.

Liked it a lot, worth it! Get's a little weary and repetitive, found myself setting it on the shelf a few times but then playing it again from time to time. Thanks :)