The Ascent - Released

The Action-Shooter RPG The Ascent has been released today:

The Ascent is a solo and co-op action RPG, set on Veles, a packed cyberpunk world.

Welcome to The Ascent Group arcology, a self-contained corporate-run metropolis, stretching high into the sky and filled with creatures from all over the galaxy.

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You play as a worker, enslaved by the company that owns you and everyone else in your district. One day, whilst sent on a routine assignment to make use of your skills with a cyberdeck, you are suddenly caught in a vortex of catastrophic events. The Ascent Group, the largest mega corporation on the planet, shuts down for unknown reasons, causing the automated security systems to go haywire.

The survival of your district is threatened: rival corporations are trying to force appropriation and crime syndicates are looking to boost their black-market augmentation trade. You must take up arms to stop them from seizing control and embark on a new mission to find out what started it all.

You belong to the corporation. Can you survive without it?

SHOOT AND LOOT

Consider enemies' height and weaknesses into account when fighting, making the most out of every opportunity. Take down even the worst opponents to find the rarest loot.

SOLO OR CO-OP

Play the entire game alone or work together with up to three friends in local or online co-op.

More information.

The reviews I read today are mixed. Seems the shooting side of the game is the problem. Like I said before the combat looks to hectic with an odd camera angle.

Likely to cause seizures with some players as well.

Edit: Metacritic stands at 75 - https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/t…critic-reviews

Game looks more like a top down arcade shooter with light rpg elements.

If you go into this with the expectations of it being a causal third person arcade shooter with co-op you will have fun. So I'll pass but some watchers might like playing it.

Well, my impressions based on a few hours are very positive.

First of all, it's absolutely beautiful. I don't think I'm lying when I'm saying it's probably the best looking Cyberpunk game I've seen - and yes, that includes that other one.

The shooting and movement feels really rather fantastic, to be honest - but it's definitely hectic. It's a typical twin-stick shooter in that way - only a little more elaborate and challenging than many.

So far, the only real problems I had was a completely crappy map that looks flashy but doesn't do shit for navigation - and the infamous Unreal Engine 4 stuttering when loading areas. I was very annoyed with that in Jedi Fallen Order - and it's more or less exactly the same here.

But for a small indie team, this is one hell of a looker.

I tried it. I agree the visuals are really good. I found myself wishing there was a zoom function just so I could see parts of the environment up closer.

The gameplay seems kind of simplistic to me, but I'm not the target audience here. I think anyone who's more into action-RPGs will like it. I also see it being more fun in co-op.

Not really an ARPG fan, but this looks so intriguing judging from the setting, atmosphere and city. I will wait a bit longer, but I think I will have to give it a try.

Well, 40K Inquisitor also looked great but was boring as hell…

Originally Posted by Darkheart
Not really an ARPG fan, but this looks so intriguing judging from the setting, atmosphere and city. I will wait a bit longer, but I think I will have to give it a try.

Well, 40K Inquisitor also looked great but was boring as hell…

If you didn't like 40K Inquisitor, I highly doubt you'll like this.

This is less of a straight-up RPG looter than Martyr - and I'd say it has a stronger emphasis on story and presentation.

It does start out as a simplistic game in a way - which, I guess, is how most shootey-shoot games start.

But it does have some relatively elaborate mechanics for a twin-stick game - including skills, augmentations, tactical powers and so forth.

I don't think I've seen a game like this make use of height and cover to this degree, either. You have to actually aim low or high - as well as precisely - and it quickly becomes very challenging.

Also, it's quite heavy on the questing and traversal - since some of the areas are unusually large.

It's a pretty unique mixture of action and RPG elements - though I would definitely NOT expect a full RPG in any way.

That said, there's a big issue with DX12 at the moment - and you can't get raytracing without it - so I'll probably wait for a patch or two.

I should probably also wait for a co-op partner, as this is the kind of game that's always going to be a lot of fun when played together.

I don't think it was a great choice to have hand-placed items in a co-op focused game, though, as players each find the exact same things in the same places. A weird design choice - and it also means there's close to zero incentive for me to replay the game, which would have been an expectation for what's mostly an action-rpg.

Oh well, can't have it all. It was quite cheap as well for what you're getting, so I think it's a steal if you're into this kind of game.

This short video does a decent job of pointing out a few of the cooler things in the game, I think:

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
This is less of a straight-up RPG looter than Martyr - and I'd say it has a stronger emphasis on story and presentation.

I don't think it was a great choice to have hand-placed items in a co-op focused game, though, as players each find the exact same things in the same places. A weird design choice - and it also means there's close to zero incentive for me to replay the game, which would have been an expectation for what's mostly an action-rpg.

Hand-placed loot and a greater focus on story are big pluses to me. You are right, that it might diminish replayability, but it also makes your (first) run more rewarding. Especially, when you know those side-missions will have unique rewards.

I might give this a try this weekend actually.

Originally Posted by Darkheart
Hand-placed loot and a greater focus on story are big pluses to me. You are right, that it might diminish replayability, but it also makes your (first) run more rewarding. Especially, when you know those side-missions will have unique rewards.

I might give this a try this weekend actually.

I largely prefer hand-placed loot for singleplayer one-time experiences myself, so it's cool.

But for co-op (when both players have identical loot) and replayability - it's not great.

Maybe I'll just play this solo

Looks fantastic!!
Its real-time unfortunately, so I'm continuing with the supremely amazing and similarly cyberpunk / postapocalyptic turn-based XPIRATEZ!