You can’t please everyone, but Team17’s latest title, Neon Abyss, sure as hell goes for it. With run n’ gun elements, platforming, RPG-like upgrades and a retro aesthetic that will have you reaching for your Reebok Pumps, this game is absolutely wicked.
Let’s be clear: I’m a Team17 fan and have been for donkey’s years. Secondly, Katana Zero is one of my favourite games, and Neon Abyss has a similar-ish pixel art style that’s super pretty with some nuanced animations from the flick of a character’s clothing through to their own little dance moves in the lobby and later mini-game.
Neon Abyss is a dungeon crawler, and therefore, a rogue-like, as deemed by developers Veewo Games. Unlike most titles where death means losing everything and restarting with nothing, this title is a throwback to 16-bit classics such as Chaos Engine, where you input a code to access a myriad of custom items you unlocked in the last run.
You play several characters, all on the path to destroy five gods with the help of Hades, the bartender. Making a pack with the caretaker of the Underworld, you run through a series of 2D platform-style rooms, collecting a wealth of loot, battling sub-bosses until you defeat the god of each respective area.
Each time you die, you return to the underworld bar, the Neon Abyss of the title. With Hades as a barkeep, you can configure a few options from here, such as changing the difficulty, upgrading your skills, <ahem> dancing, input codes from a previous run and pray to a statue (that comes with time).
It might be worth mentioning the eggs in the game, too. Like most of the items in Neon Abyss, you collect random eggs that hover around with you and through wanton destruction, they hatch into a variety of mini-helpers, attacking assailants, or a little more mischievous and pinching your loot.
On top of the weapons, accessories and power-ups that can be activated with R2, you also have grenades that blow up secret paths, chests and enemies. Collect coins to buy new items from the merchants located on each stage, keys to unlock chests and doors, plus pick up a variety of crystals too.
The skill tree has three paths to follow, and if you want to unlock them all, expect to grind some levels. It’s not that time-consuming, however, and I enjoyed unlocking the bonuses such as improved weapons and new characters. Once I unlocked the popcorn buff, it was all plain sailing. Mostly. No matter what gun I used, each consecutive bullet would explode, causing massive damage and an easy run.
My only complaint was my accuracy; often firing within proximity of my face and taking off a good amount of health. In the end, that’s what killed me. Unfazed, I went back to do the run once more with my popcorn ‘God mode’, but no longer had it. Though I got used to the controls at a reasonable speed, I will say that aiming with the right stick wasn’t always on par. I’ll be quick to raise my hand when at fault, but I think there were some times when it wasn’t as accurate as I had hoped.
Neon Abyss isn’t as hardcore as similar titles (unless you change the difficulty past normal). The overall presentation of the game is excellent, with plenty of opportunities for repeat play to defeat the bosses ‘one more time’, or simply to unlock all the items and characters. There’s the trophy list, too, such as dying 999 times. Who’s counting?
