Neon Abyss - Review

If you’re a fan of rouge-like platformer genre, this is one to purchase. With games such as Dead Cells leading the way in terms of quality of gameplay, controls and visuals, Neon Abyss would be considered up there with it. And sure, it may not live up to the standard of Dead Cell’s buttery smooth controls, but it definitely is close.

First off, the rogue-like genre shouldn’t be something new to gamers’ as it’s been around for awhile now. But for the small amount of people who are unsure as to what it is, to summarize, it’s basically a game that changes its rooms/dungeons every time a player dies. This means that there are no saving points and upon death, and the game restarts. The great thing is it gives players a challenge every play through, which is always different. There’s a huge amount of replay value due to the changes and nature of a rogue-like game .

Neon Abyss’ visuals and design not only looks appealing to the more seasoned gaming audience who grew up with 8bit type games, but also to the younger market as it has a very modern take on it. It’s not only flat colors, but a certain gradient glow can be seen when you come across lighting (neon), making it a game of visual artwork.

As previously stated, though the controls and physics might not necessarily feel as smooth as Dead Cells, it still has a great feel to it, where characters don’t feel as though they are floating when you hit the jump button, and the weight of falling feels right. 

The controls compliment the gameplay due to the nature of the enemies spawn points (and movements) in each room. And though it might take a little bit of getting used to as the left joystick is used to control your character, the right is used to fire your weapon by moving it towards the direction you’re wanting to shoot, is a welcomed and refreshing way to lay out your controls. Much like FromSoftware games where the controller settings/layout isn’t as conventional as most other game controls, where attack is a right trigger… it’s one where once you get used to it, you can’t go back. Neon Abyss has clearly thought through reasons as to why the button layout (and combinations later used - ie, jump and shoot) was decided the way it is.

In terms of story (without spoilers), this game doesn’t hold back in throwing you into the deep end. The only opening clue you get is that a character named Hades, who has a common enemy with you, decides to side and arm you with a weapon. It’s quite apparent that he’s not necessarily a ‘good guy’, but as they say, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” And from that very quick interaction, you jump to your ‘death’ and straight into this world of monsters and enemies. As you progress through the game, you’re able to unlock different characters you can use, that have variations in stats ie, high life, bigger and harder attacks etc, which is more the reason for its replay value. Same goes with a lot of these rogue-like games, unlocking different weapons and purchasing them by exchanging gems is found throughout the levels. Similar to Dead Cells, you’ll have to move across the rooms to ‘unlock’ your visual map (and teleportation), which will keep you busy exploring the area. Due to the nature of the changing levels, each player might not necessarily always rush in guns blazing for each run, but take a more cautious and meticulous approach on each room.

Neon Abyss is definitely one worth purchasing if you’re wanting a game that has high replay value, love 8bit visuals and are able to play games for short spurts at a time. It’s not one where you have to invest 110% of your time to work out it’s narrative etc, and is a welcomed fun platformer, which always plays and feels great on the Nintendo Switch.

The Score

8.0

Review code provided by Team17

The Pros

+Fantastic visuals and design

+High amount of replay value

The Cons

+New players might rogue-like a little difficult

+Seasoned rogue-like players could find it too easy