Review
Sasha here! 👋
I wasn't entirely sure about this game when I first picked it out. My interest to play came mostly from my fascination with games that have some focus on musical gameplay.
For the most part you're simply pressing a button to a steady beat (or holding down in some cases). That's not really the difficult part. The challenge comes from the hordes of enemies that are constantly coming at you. This game is a wave-based game. As you beat each level you unlock new abilities to take on the next wave until you just can't anymore.
Things I Liked
The game overall is full of charm. The menus and UI are well made and make me want to play. The font reminds me of music/concert posters and the character select just makes them look so cool. They're what I'd expect badass musicians to look like.
Now I described it as a "character select" but what you're really selecting is what instrument (weapon) you'll start with. They all have different attack patterns. I really liked Sarah's guitar, it allows for you to attack on both the left and right side at once!
Another thing I liked was how the game moves you from one state to the next. The game flows from the main menu, through each wave, and back to the main menu smoothly. You're never waiting for the game to load. Along with the music that follows the ups and downs of the game's tension through these state changes, it feels good to transition through each states of the game. (although the waves can feel as if they end abruptly sometimes)
The gameloop made me wanting to play more.
Things I'm Critical About
I would have liked there to be a bit more rhythm involved. I found myself playing on an expert setting that doubles the beats. The most fun I had was when I was playing on that setting but also had an ability that let me double tap on each beat to deal more damage. This ability-setting combo along with the dodge roll made the game feel more rhythmically free. As long as I hit on the main beats I could fill in the empty space around them with my own rhythm. Maybe you get more options to do that the further you progress but if that's what makes the game fun to play then I'd like to get to it much quicker.
The only other critique is that it was difficult to read when I took a hit from an enemy. The feedback for the player could possibly be stronger for this. The screen can get really full of sprites and it can be a bit overwhelming trying to process it at times so I often wouldn't notice when I got hit.
Story
The game adds some flavour by slowly introducing a story as you complete each absurdity level (a set of waves with a boss fight at the end). It's not much but it adds a nice break between the end of a wave set and the main menu.
Final Thoughts
If you're into games with a shorter more arcadey gameloop, especially with bopping background music, then I'd recommend this for you. If you're not big on wave-based survival games then it might not be for you.
I bought the game 50% off for $6.49 CAD on Steam but there is also a free demo you can download too if you're unsure about this one.
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