Surprised at how fast I beat it after hearing all about how hard it is. That one left trigger ability, Overload, is overpowered. Game was fun enough for me to play all of it in two sessions. More games should have this flexible of a respec system to encourage experimentation, too.
Even with my relatively quick 5-hour playtime, the encounter variety fell off even quicker. There were missed opportunities with adding complexity, as enemy types and arena designs are very clearly segmented. Feels like if the game had mixed and matched elements, it would have been more interesting all the way through. Still, the combat was satisfying enough for me to finish it.
The aesthetic excels at what it's trying to do with its harsh red and black palette, cool blue industrial light glow, grimy graphic novel portrait art, and bright arcade effects with a smattering of glitch visuals. Soundtrack is oppressive dark synthwave that's great to pump through headphones with the lights out.
The writing generally matched that vibe as everyone is just an asshole or downright abusive. Themes of control and coercion are omnipresent, but the game doesn't really give the storytelling room to breathe. It's the most apparent with how abrupt the ending is, and it's pretty egregious leaving out the motivations of a major character for a potential sequel that's probably not happening.
There is an earnest attempt at worldbuilding that I appreciate, but none of it is explored through gameplay outside of some surface-level enemy archetypes. The hub area could have been that one place to bring the narrative and mechanics together, but aside from a handful of very simple sidequests, it also feels like something the devs wanted to do more with it but ran up against time and budget constraints.
Ruiner's a short entertaining burst of adrenaline that I maybe would replay on hard once if I didn't have other games I want to get through before I jump into the next-gen, but that's about it. The soundtrack will probably get more spins from me.
Even with my relatively quick 5-hour playtime, the encounter variety fell off even quicker. There were missed opportunities with adding complexity, as enemy types and arena designs are very clearly segmented. Feels like if the game had mixed and matched elements, it would have been more interesting all the way through. Still, the combat was satisfying enough for me to finish it.
The aesthetic excels at what it's trying to do with its harsh red and black palette, cool blue industrial light glow, grimy graphic novel portrait art, and bright arcade effects with a smattering of glitch visuals. Soundtrack is oppressive dark synthwave that's great to pump through headphones with the lights out.
The writing generally matched that vibe as everyone is just an asshole or downright abusive. Themes of control and coercion are omnipresent, but the game doesn't really give the storytelling room to breathe. It's the most apparent with how abrupt the ending is, and it's pretty egregious leaving out the motivations of a major character for a potential sequel that's probably not happening.
There is an earnest attempt at worldbuilding that I appreciate, but none of it is explored through gameplay outside of some surface-level enemy archetypes. The hub area could have been that one place to bring the narrative and mechanics together, but aside from a handful of very simple sidequests, it also feels like something the devs wanted to do more with it but ran up against time and budget constraints.
Ruiner's a short entertaining burst of adrenaline that I maybe would replay on hard once if I didn't have other games I want to get through before I jump into the next-gen, but that's about it. The soundtrack will probably get more spins from me.