Vampire Survivors but with the Deep Rock Galactic Dwarfs and universe. Very addicting just like Vampire Survivors especially as you get further in levels sweeping through bugs. The big differentiator beyond artstyle and universe is the ability to mine minerals to use as currency while moving into the next floor. This helps boost your power with the valuable upgrades you can buy, but if you get too greedy you might get swarmed as you mine with no way out. The same goes for the supply pods, giving you something to work towards as a mini-boost before the main boss of the floor. Some minerals can also be used to upgrade outside levels to boost your base stats and you gain XP as you play, unlocking more upgrades from supply drops. There's a lot going on but you are constantly improving as you play even when you die, making it incredibly easy to click that restart button and play one more time.
My only gripe has been the gear you can unlock and equip before a level that add bonuses. It feels like another system to manage that doesn't feel as important and you forget until it asks about your loadout. The game does have an auto-set option to make it easy, but if the system wasn't in place I don't think it would hurt the game. Easily makes the bundle with the main Deep Rock Galactic game worth it. Deep Rock Galactic is fun enough alone and really good with friends, but Survivor feels like the real Deep Rock singleplayer game mode.
Replayed on PS5. Originally played on Xbox One, and can say the game is even smoother and visually stunning on the "newer" modern consoles. The main campaign is short, but has different difficulty levels to truly test yourself. The bonus modes add just that bit more variety, especially Random Effect mode that throws bombs, visual effects and other hazards your way. The perfect game to pop on when you want to busy yourself with something while relaxing.
A really fun coop game. Seriously great style and vibe, feels a lot like the humor of TF2 mixed with Helldivers 2 (even if it came before Helldivers 2). The different mission types make for great variety, and while some were a bit more convoluted than others, all of them ended up pretty fun. The 4 classes didn't clearly make it feel like one was better than the other, but that's only with about 10 hours of play. Singleplayer was how I played the first 10 missions, and despite being built for 4 players all mission types felt doable, especially with the Bosco robot they give you when alone. Definitely made for multiplayer though, so I recommend buying if you know you have some friends to play, even if not immediately.
Very weird, charming rogue-like in the same field as Balatro. You bounce a ball (Nubby) on a board between numbered balls to collect a score. You want to pass a threshold, but if you can get higher scores or clear the board, you get bonuses. On top of that, every few rounds you can go to a market to buy items that affect the game, from seals that slap numbers to exploding beach balls. The art style and vibe are very specific, this new-ish 2000s nostalgia style that's become more popular over time, which might throw some people off. I personally love how weird the game looks, reminds me of some kid's PC games you could play when I was little. Worth checking out if you enjoyed Balatro, I know I had fun.
Finally got my hands on this game. As someone who didn't really play Playstation games as a kid, I wasn't sure if the game would be fit for me with all the references. However, the gameplay alone made the experience worth it, and the references were just enough to pique my curiosity about what games they came from, but not enough to take me out of it or have me lost. Really happy Team Asobi was able to flesh out their ideas from Astro's Playroom into a fantastic platformer.
