Nintendo Switch – Neon Chrome #27

Another rogue-like game I wish I was good at…

Neon Chrome – Nintendo Switch – Released: 10/12/17– $14.99

Short Review (Review Copy provided by Developer)

If you like Twin Shooters and Rogue-like games, this game is up your alley…. but for me, I just wish I was better at these games. That isn’t a bad thing since Neon Chrome gives you endless levels but barely any story but it is further explained in the prequel, JYDGE, which I am also reviewing so look forward to that. Neon Chrome is a rogue-like twin sticker shooter, one of my favorite genre of games mixed with a genre, I can’t seem to grasp. The game is a procedural generated level game that changes with each level, death, and upgrades you find. The added benefit that I love is that with each death, you are able to permanently upgrade your character with stat upgrades. These range from health, damage, luck, etc. so with each new life, you will always come back slightly stronger.

This was the driving force for me to keep playing but knowing the game tops at 10.0, I’m really in no rush to finish the game completely. 10 hours into the game and I feel as though I have barely scratched the surface. Each time you start a life you are given the choice between three random character, main weapon, and secondary weapon, this could be a character with better health, could be a hacker with less damage, could be a character with more damage but less speed, could be a hacker that has a drone buddy, could be anything out of three. After picking your character you decide if you start from the beginning or one of the checkpoints in the game. These checkpoints will appear every few levels and they will help you greatly in finishing the game.

I really enjoy playing this game since it feels as though I am in complete control as to how I want to play but I die a lot… I typically go for a hacker with high damage and great speed. This becomes an issue with some of the bosses, the bosses are not random, I will only talk about two. One is a very high health tank that gives you a big room to hide in but it is able to clear out the walls to take you down. Eventually you end up having to play it like a bullet hell shooter until you beat him. The other boss is a centipede which I found really easy but that was because I had mines that did a ton of damage. This required you to attack it from the back until you destroyed each section of its body. With each section destroyed, it would do a new type of attack that could be shooting out mines, sending out drones, homing missiles, rushing in a direction while dropping mines, sending out tank like drones that shoot burst attacks.

If you want something that make you feel as though you are progressing each time you die, I would say go for it. Neon Chrome is a great rogue-like game that makes you feel in control and gives you the chance to get to the end even if you aren’t the best in the genre. Without the slight upgrades between deaths and checkpoints every few levels, I have no clue how I would get to the end of the game. If you want to take it slow I would say it could take anywhere between 5-10 hours to defeat the first overseer. Now if you want something that is a little easier with a lot more story, I would check out my next review, JYDGE, which is a prequel to Neon Chrome.

Icon for you lovely people:

Story

The game revolves around the villain, Overseer, the Human CPU/OS of Neon Chrome. Neon Chrome itself is an arcology that host hundreds of thousands to millions of people in the world. One overseer has decided to take it upon themselves to become above all us and your job is to take them out. Does this sound complicated? Going from the game you wouldn’t know this information outside of the overseer is bad so go kill him. I had to look this up on the Wikia page, but after reading through it. I found that Neon Chrome is much like the Oasis in “Ready. Player One” or Sword Art Online, where people do jobs, entertain themselves, and other normal things while their body is just sitting in a chair at home.

Gameplay

I basically covered the big things in the short review. I found that the gameplay is solid and since I was able to upgrade my character between deaths, I felt as though I was in control of making my character the way I like them. Each death wasn’t a new beginning but a new start that made me decide, should I use my money to get more health or should I use my next life to farm credits to buy more things in the following life. Checking in on the chair to see what kind of characters I have give me the option of picking which route to take each time. Knowing I didn’t have a hacker, should I go tank with damage or low damage but speedy. Should I focus on upgrading my luck to get better drops for more credits next life or should I go completely damage. There are a lot of questions to ask before each life and I love being able to know what I am getting myself into. Other rogue-like games don’t give you any options so you are stuck with certain characters and that’s it. Having three different select-able characters each round means I have to pick something different each time.

Personal Experience

I really enjoy the game so far but after getting JYDGE, a few days later, I like the easier more story telling game. If you have to pick between two it would depend on if you want a very long game that will test you each life or a game that tells a bigger story but lacks the endless possibilities. For me that is a simple answer but if feel as though after finishing JYDGE, that was it, I returned to Neon Chrome and kept playing it over and over again. So the replay-ability was greater in Neon Chrome but together they tell a great story.  

Final Thoughts

I would say wait for a sale but this is coming from the guy that dies a lot in these games. I do enjoy JYDGE a lot more if that helps because it is easier and I like the story it tells. Neon Chrome is a great game just wish it had more story that didn’t require you to beat the game or look it up on their Wikia page that the developer created for the game.

UPDATE: 5/30/18

I would give this game a 7 out of 10!

Trailer: (Couldn’t find the Switch trailer but here is the PS4 trailer, I couldn’t find any big differences between this trailer and the game in its current state)

End Credits

As stated in the last end credits… I am sick, yay! Feeling much better today but still don’t have my voice so if I do have it tomorrow I will be starting my Let’s Play and working on a video review. Not sure which one it will be but it will likely be one of the games I’ve already done just to test the waters. I will likely be taking the original review as a base for the script and work around that. I have also been uploading game play footage every day so far so check that out!

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