Lithium City is a neat little action game with a cool aesthetic and some neat ideas, some of which work while some don't. It's short enough that every level feels fresh and I got over the frustrating sections when the game presented a new set of challenges.

I do think that while the isometric POV works for the most part, there are rooms where that camera view combined with the glowing lights from different surfaces made it hard to gauge whether you're in direct line-of-sight of certain enemies or in safe cover, and that proved fatal way too many times. Also wasn't a big fan of the grenade and disc mechanics, as I didn't feel I had enough control over their trajectories. Those particular sections demanded a level of precision that a direct, top-down angle would've served better. I can see how there's intent in creating a sense of chaos for those sections, but I just didn't enjoy having to replay those parts a lot while trying to account for a degree of randomness.

I definitely enjoyed the gunplay and the beat 'em up sections, and a lot of that enjoyment stems from the tightness of the controls and the feedback. Lithium City just nails ~game feel~. It's why I actually enjoyed figuring out and getting better at the last boss, which sounds like some people didn't have as much fun with from reading a number of reviews! That fight encapsulates the strongest elements of the game: killer style and satisfying combat.

Reviewed on Feb 15, 2022


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