Voltage High Society

I love Couch And will protect them to the ends of the earth and back

[h1]Glad to see 1.0 is finally out![/h1] I played this way back in 2023 when the dev gifted me a copy. Decided to start a new game to see if anything in those first few areas changed at all, and I'm really glad I did! So many things have been updated, and I feel most of those changes were for the better! Like the in game economy used to be really stingy, you barely ever found scrap, but now it's seemingly everywhere. Even if the game is very completable without ever spending any scrap, it felt nice to find and collect and spend on the local small businesses. [h2]The absolute worst parts of the game were two boss fights.[/h2] One about half way through, where you have to persistently first person platform to keep away from one enemy who will kill you in 2 hits, and the jump in this game isn't very generous, so you can just barely make it, but while you're jumping, you have to keep an eye on the boss for when they stop and get stuck, cause that's your opportunity to attack. Constant whipping eyes front to see where the edge is, eyes back to see the boss. All the while you have an enemy in the center of the arena chucking projectiles you also have to dodge. While the concept of a dual boss is fun, the execution ended up being frustrating, and it would have been the worst part of the game if it wasn't for the final boss. Which felt way worse. The thing that absolutely floored me about the final boss was the checkpoint. I thought the dual clowns walk of shame was bad as you walk 10 seconds through a couple rooms, but the final boss's walk of shame takes at least a minute or so. Puts you at the bottom of a tower, even though there was a perfectly suited space just before the fight. The dual boss fight, their health reset when you die, but not the final boss, which was a blessing, cause starting that fight from scratch every time... I would have given up. The actual final boss itself isn't so bad, but to increase the difficulty they added a bunch of chaos around them. While you're trying to figure out the boss's pattern of vulnerability, you have this invincible helicopter that spams a barrage of projectiles, plus the game spawns in ground troops with hit scan weapons coupled with basically no good cover. It almost felt impossible not to get killed, and every time you die it's that minute or two walk back to the top of the tower. While walking back, you can still hear the final boss's taunts. It's all you have to keep you company as you climb the tower. It's unfortunate the final act of game play is such a black mark on what is otherwise a fantastic little adventure. [h2] Performance [/h2] A minor annoyance, the 2nd area, base camp and mutant huts, had a persistent stutter every 10 seconds that I don't remember being in the early access version. All I can imagine is something was added that tanks performance, and if it just affected the area with all the people, that'd be bad enough, but it sticks throughout the entire section of the game. I was worried maybe it was a memory leak or something from the previous area, but resetting the game didn't help. [h2]Rings of Power[/h2] I really liked the addition of the rings that give you small boosts. Though the game really front loads them. I felt like I was finding a bunch at the start, but after area 1, they dry up almost entirely. It would have been nice to get more of them and actually have to make a decision about what to wear. As is, you have so many slots that you just put on whatever. [h2] Story vs Lore [/h2] Speaking of new additions, there are a bunch of TVs now with audio logs that do a great job of fleshing out the world and building things up, but a lot of them are very easy to miss and they require you to stop dead in your tracks to listen. The world building and lore of this game are neat, and the metal plague sounds horrific when described, but since the core method you interact with the world is your fists, the horror elements all fall flat. I never had to fear the metal plague, even though the character is subtly infected by it. I almost missed that detail. I wish the story was more felt. Very much one of those games where you just keep doing stuff because that's how you progress, rather than being invested in the why. [h2] Exploration [/h2] The game technically meets the requirements to call itself a metroidvania, but deep down in my plums, it doesn't scratch that itch. You're introduced to obstruction in your path, you find item that removes the blockage, you return to area and continue. I suppose the issue is the way the levels are designed, you feel like you're walking down the one critical path, there's seldom a locked thing you see before getting the item that isn't a critical path. I never really had those "Ah! cool, now I can check out all these new areas" moments. The game is broken up in to sections, and while you do pass through old sections later in the game, at that point they're so warped they it feel like new sections basically. [h2] The Beats [/h2] Every once in a while, the soundtrack kicks off with something really banging. The music is a highlight of this game. [h2] Overall [/h2] Despite a lot of belly aching, I do recommend the EXP. You'd think all that time in early access would have led to something quite polished, but I wager most people were like me, waiting for the full release to really give it a go, and so they didn't get as much feedback on the game as they wanted.