Posted on: February 14, 2020
Early Access review
V3nom
Games: 1285 Reviews: 9
Shmup + semi-rng roguelite = Novadrift
Got this game on itch.io for a year now, I always come back to it every know and then. It's very well balanced, maybe a little bit hard after the 1st minutes (I love that). It's an asteroid kind of shmup : top down 360 degrees twin stick shooter, no borders (you teleport to the opposite of the screen when you reach one, but not your "non construct" lasers). Every run makes you start fresh (roguelite hence you unlock stuff over games), earn xp, and every lvl you gain offers you to choose between a lot of random stuff that can very quickly be optimized in a way (or not if you are very unlucky, wich remains rare). Hull types (with "class" bonuses and specialities), shield type, main weapon type, drones, and so on, + up to 4 kind of upgrades for each "technology", + synergies bonuses, and some more overpowered (and pretty conditionnal) bonuses. A lot of upgrades are benefical only, some of them "costs" you (speed, firerate, hull, shield), and some are very specific to a certain gameplay (zero fire damage, all on crash damage and hull). Very smooth gameplay, nice inertia, very readable arena. Not as very fast paced and fuzzy as Ion Assault, Geometry Wars, Beat Hazard, Xenoraptor or Waves can be. It's more in a "zen-kind" ambiance like Starscape or Transcripted. I'm a fan of shmups, so I can lack objectivity, but this one is definitely special. I love it.
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