Ruiner

Alright the game is a blast. The only potential problem it comes with imo is the KB+M controls (WASD is tilted, just as the view), as they take some getting used to and can become quite frustating, especially when you die because - say - you wanted to dash north but dashed north-east instead. I guess "played best with a gamepad" is especially relevant here, to sum it up. Other than than minor potential flaw, lets see what we 've got: Art Design: Cyperpunk to the core, the best way to describe it is Ghost in the Shell on steroids. Its color palette predominantly consists of bright neon reds mixed with darker colors, and is set from the very beginning to put you in a dark and violent place. Soundtrack: The sound of Ruiner is mainly made of dark synths and industrial/dark techno beats that couldn't be a better fit to the aforementioned atmosphere. Meanwhile, some of the tracks are among the best I've heard in a game ever. Gameplay: It's been a long time since I've played something so... addictive. Yes, addictive is certainly the word. Its clearly an action game that focuses mostly on fast reflexes and efficient management of your skills. Other than making life-or-death split-second decisions, you must also choose carefully how you spend your skill points for each situation (and there is a wide arsenal of skills at your disposal), and effectively manage those skills during combat, which means that spamming the attack button alone won't get you far. Duration/Replayability: It's certainly not a long game, perhaps ~10 hours on your first playthrough depending on difficulty, maybe less. You can play the main story in 3 difficulty levels (easy, normal, hard), and then there's NG+, speedrun mode and arena mode to keep you busy for a while. Story: Personally I liked the story, some others find it a bit anticlimactic though. In any case, it's gonna keep you guessing till the end, and there are some plot twists you certainly won't see coming. Overall, its been great.

NOTE: I have this game on Steam. Ruiner is, in essence, a twin-stick shooter. You control a nameless guy with a cybernetic arm and a weird screen-like mask that covers his entire head on his way to kill The Boss aka "Big Dog"; at least that's your main goal for the first ten to fifteen minutes of the game when - surprise! - a lot of excrement hits a spinning object. Your choices in this game are mostly limited to how your enemies die (or you, if you're not careful). While there's a large arsenal of guns melee weapons, the choice mostly boils down to slashing things or putting holes in them. It should also be noted that all but your basic gun and melee weapon have limited ammo or durability, so you end up pick up weapons from fallen enemies A LOT. The controls, being critical, are positively tight. I personally played through this game using a gamepad, though some may prefer KB+M. The overall design of Ruiner is much closer to classic 80s cyberpunk Anime than any western cyberpunk setting. This serves to give the game a somewhat fresh and unique look compared to other contemporary cyberpunk games. The action is fast-paced and, at times, combat can be challenging. That being said, I've often seen this game being criticized for its high level of difficulty, and while that may have been true in the past, the developers released some updates to game balance and (I think) a new easy mode along with it, which shouldn't be a problem for the average gamer - much less for experienced players well-accustomed to the twin-stick genre. So, do I like Ruiner? Hell yes! I like it very much. It knows what it is; it's a brutal, fast-paced action game set in a world full of bad and even worse people. The high-contrast red/black look of the game (sometimes with a dash of bright cyan) together with the fantastic - if unusual - soundtrack help to make Ruiner a game that you won't forget easily. If not for its gameplay, then definitely for its style.

Wish the melee had a block function

I love this game. Have done everything there is to do in it on the PS4. What is it? A top down twin stick shooter set in a dark awful cyberpunk world. You are on a mission of violence. But the combat feels so good. As satisfying as hotline miami but quite different. The only unfortunate thing is that this is so good that much like Hotline Maimi when looking for like games like it none of them are able to scratch thatbsake itch. The atmosphere, the story, the gameplay. All amazing. I unfortunately don't remember the music as I had a Perturbator playlist on and it paired so well I forgot it was on till I beat the game and even then it just worked so well and fit so well that I kept to that but added a few other artists to my Ruiner playlist haha. But of cyberpunk is your genera. Or twin stick shooters you're game. This is a gritty and great pairing of the two. I recomend highly and will enjoy the romp myself again no doubt.