Bot Vice
The more I play this game, the more I enjoy it. Make no mistake, this is old school gaming at its core. Meaning no mercy. You learn through your many mistakes. And somehow you get better. You finally beat the game. But you look back and think you can do better. So you play it again, hoping to get even better.
For the love of god, use a controller. Friends don’t let friends use keyboard for this game. That being said, the controls take some time getting used to. You will probably be spending a good amount of time stumbling with the controls before it feels right, however long it takes. Targetting will always feel somewhat off, but somehow, like everything else in the game, it somehow works out.
– Real player with 50.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Top-Down Shooter Shoot 'Em Up Games.
I didn’t like it, not because of the difficulty -I actually found it interesting that you have to move out of your comfort zone and learn a different moveset. No, I didn’t like it because it’s just not very enjoyable.
First, let’s be clear: the casual players should just go on their way because this game is not for them. The fact that there is less than 10% players with the “finish the game” achievement should be telling. Once you get past half the game you’ll start to have good feelings with the gameplay, but it will be too late for most players and there is just too much bs to go through.
– Real player with 12.2 hrs in game
Penimorta
Penimorta is a delightfully charming yet challenging bullet-hell experience that is chock full of stellar sprite designs and thoughtful level design. The movement is fluid, controls easy to handle, and the presentation of the game itself is quite polished. I was incredibly pleased with Penimorta and would emphatically recommend it, although it had just one minor qualm which I will address later on in the review.
Let’s start with the sprite design. Penimorta’s enemies (and especially its bosses) were incredibly well animated and aesthetically pleasing. The overall quality of the artistic direction of this game is superb, and easily makes it stand out among other similar indie games. The mage (the second boss of the game) had one of the best designs in the game, notably because of how well his appearance changes accompanied his second phase. The enemy attack patterns never felt boring, and were rather refreshing due to the pleasant palate of colors selected for their pellets/bullets. I also appreciated the slight distinctions in color and shape for the enemy bullets as it helped make navigation and movement more refined.
– Real player with 3.6 hrs in game
Read More: Best Top-Down Shooter Pixel Graphics Games.
This game is great, but the snake boss is the worst thing to happen to humanity. The entire game before the snake boss was easy, I only died around 3 times before it appeared. I hate the snake boss, please make the game more balanced.
Edit #1: Turns out that the warden (the final boss I think) is even worse than the snake. It has basically every negative affect, and for some reason there is a cage it randomly puts on you without any sign, the cage moves randomly too, damaging and blinding you whenever you touch it. I could keep on complaining but that would take a while. But please just balance the game, everything but the last 2 bosses is like 1/8 of the difficulty.
– Real player with 2.9 hrs in game
Calturin
This is a really awesome game!
There are some bugs, but not game breaking, and they have to be triggered intentionally.
It took me about 2.5 hours to complete (only the green portals).
It has very good voice acting and awesome sound effects.
The pixel art style also fits the game and it’s story very well.
The only thing I would change would be the bosses. With each portal their attacks get stronger, but they aren’t harder beat necessarily. Some attacks are stronger but easy to dodge. The dragon for example is very easy to defeat, compared to the bull? before, which is a little bit harder, or the knight at the beginning.
– Real player with 49.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Top-Down Shooter Story Rich Games.
This is a nice little game.
Do be aware that it is short, around 2 hours to complete the main game, and double that to complete all the challenges.
On my first playthough, I was on the fence about liking the game but midway through the game picks up and becomes pretty fun. I really like the graphics although they do seems somewhat amaturish at time or lacking some small amount of polish that I cant put my finger on. That being said I really love the title screen art and the player sprites. The combat is pretty simple which is good for this type of game(shoot, blink, heal).
– Real player with 42.6 hrs in game
Fracture Hell
Great game I’m not sure how I feel about different character score bonuses but that’s just a small nitpick. The game doesn’t explain anything about the enemies and I really liked that because it allowed me to learn about the enemy types. Which was oddly satisfying for some reason. There are plenty of different character types to choose from. The effects and sound implementation was well done. I had a lot of fun with this game and it’s only 2.99 at the time of writing which is a steal if you like these types of games.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
Pretty decent quality, for what you might expect from a new title on Steam. Good fun, pretty responsive, feels good.
My one massive gripe, is the decision to make ammo-count a thing for your main gun. In my playthrough, despite putting many of the upgrades (hey, upgrades are cool) into ammo, it ended with no bullets.
I think it takes away from the “fun” part of the game: spamming bullets and going “AHHHH!” So consider removing ammo counters for some core weapons and if you feel it decreases difficulty, just reduce some of the round timers.
– Real player with 0.2 hrs in game
Memorise’n’run
Fun and quirky combination of the common memory game and a bullet dodger.
Sometimes a neat idea for a game comes by combining genres. That’s exactly what Memorise’n’run does.
Each level has a boss with a certain attack pattern. You defeat the boss by dodging its attacks while simultaneously solving the memory puzzle of finding pairs.
You only get to see the puzzle for a short time before everything is hidden, but you get unlimited number of guesses. That is, as long as you can dodge the bullets.
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire
Really great intro bullet hell for those interested in the genre. Great character variety, a scoring system that is simple yet satisfying, a solid training mode, and loads of game-modifier options that let you customize how the game plays. Sisters Royale doesn’t do anything too crazy or unique but what it does do it does well.
(Playtime listed isn’t entirely accurate, been playing since the JP release on Switch. Just saw it had few reviews and wanted to help correct that.)
– Real player with 28.1 hrs in game
Don’t let the chibi mobile bait fool you, this game is solid.
It’s essentially Shikigami no Shiro 4 in all but name.
Sonay=Kohtaro, Selma=Kim, Ece=Emilio, Nur=Sayo, Lale=Niigi, and Ode=Fumiko.
The game is extremely approachable for newcomers, since its difficulty isn’t too bad and gives you tons of resources to brute force your way through. The real game is in score play, as 90% of its design and different character playstyles is based around this, so get grazing and push those bosses into overtime.
– Real player with 26.7 hrs in game
Starexcess
The game made me feel like I was in the 16-bit era again. With a cool challenge, it’s a great shmup with 3 selectable ships. I recommend.
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
horrible controls
– Real player with 0.2 hrs in game
Starlight: Eye of the Storm
Information / English
Starlight Eye of the Storm is Available in the Action, Shooter, Shoot-Em-Up, Vertical genre and was developed by Strides Interactive Game Studio. The Game is still in the development Phase and there may still be Bugs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnfigxmEZJo
Gameplay / Story
The player gets behind the wheel of a spaceship and confesses as we know it from Star Wars, heard hostile, with lasers, rockets, guns, etc. That has a charming 3D effect. There is an introductory tutorial that simplifies the entrance and explains the controls. At the beginning you can improve from 4 levels of difficulty. In the further course of the game you unlock new spaceships. Each new weapon brings with it new weapons that can also belong to themselves. The levels are flown through alternately vertically and horizontally. You were offered 2D and 3D graphics. Must come, it belongs to it. An opponent will be with other spaceships. But the selection is wide and each one has a different strategy to control it. The background music of the game in arcade style, which rounds off that certain something and the whole.
– Real player with 14.6 hrs in game
I’ve have been looking for a classic bullet hell type of game for a long time now and have tired some that were out already on the market but they didn’t scratch my itch. Then i came across starlight which thankfully did the job. While it doesn’t have a story mode it makes up with beautiful artwork, challenging enemies, an interesting progression system, and a good soundtrack. The only thing that is missing from this game is in the endless mode.
If you want a classic bullet hell shooter Starlight would be the game I would recommend
– Real player with 9.7 hrs in game
Xander the Monster Morpher: Universe Breaker
This is a very fun game, definitely worth the price!
– Real player with 55.2 hrs in game
Do you like catching monsters?
Do you like… BEING the monster?
Do you like fusing monsters together and making ridiculous and almost broken monsters?
Then I’m pretty sure you would like this game
– Real player with 11.8 hrs in game
Zap Blastum: Galactic Tactics
You are Zap, an alien who has always dreamed of saving the galaxy. When robots invade your planet, you’re super-psyched and ready for anything! Zap Blastum caters to both hardcore and casual gamers with its intuitive cover shooter gameplay, optional mouse controls, and action-packed tactical combat.
SIMPLE CONTROLS
Streamlined controls bring cover shooter gameplay to anyone who can use a mouse – without losing any depth. Snap into cover and automatically lean around corners while shooting. Even on a gamepad, just select a target and lock on – we’ve removed aiming from the equation.
WARM, COLORFUL, EXPLODE-Y
This is a shooter that’s not afraid to be cheerful. Not everyone’s into dark and gritty space marines. Zap doesn’t fit the stereotype. The robots will never know what hit ‘em!
STORY
The game explores impostor syndrome: the tendency to attribute our earned success to luck or deception. Deep down, Zap is haunted by self doubt, and the robots know how to take advantage of it. In a way, your mission is an internal one. You can be a hero. Don’t listen to the voices that say “No.”
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Explore 20 levels that span across 5 planets.
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Enjoy an original soundtrack that mixes orchestral, rock, and dubstep genres.
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Fight 10+ types of robot enemies.
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Rack up huge points in the online leaderboards and earn big rewards for combos and streaks.
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Unlock new features to discover more secrets.
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Play in full screen or in a small window. Take a break from your busy day and shoot some robots.
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Save the galaxy with a friend in local co-op!