Xenogunner Reviews

Fun! If you're into challenging, speedy, boss-heavy action games like Alien Soldier or Gunstar Heroes, the style of this game is likely to be to your taste. While it doesn't necessarily bring anything particularly *unique* to the world of action games (aside from a few particularly neat boss concepts), twin-stick platform action games are uncommon enough that I think this is still worth the time of anyone who happens to enjoy that specific genre mashup. Playing through the game in full with both characters will put you somewhere between 4-5 hours of gameplay which means the price may be a bit steep for some players, but if you're the type for whom *time* is more of a premium, I think this game's brisk pace will suit your needs fairly well. Presentation-wise, the music is energetic and pleasant to listen to, and it helps take the edge off the more frustrating fights). The art is generally cute and fairly unique as far as pixel artwork goes, with the variety of pretty key art pieces during cutscenes working to carry the game's dialogue. The story isn't terribly interesting and lore-dumps tend to go on a bit too long, but it constitutes about 5% of the runtime so it's not really an issue.

A very great game made by some cool friends! Has outstanding music, fun gameplay, and looks nice. (Don't pay attention to the fact I'm also doing this to get the Steam Awards badge lol :p)

Hoooh boy. This game. It's fun. I'm not so sure if its for me, but it is still undeniably enjoyable. If you liked stuff like Cuphead and Gunstar Heroes, give this a try!

Leavin this review cause these smaller games can always use it, but regardless this game is awesome. If you like the whole arcade run and gun style game you'll feel right at home with this.

This is a very fun game but most of my playtime is on my switch now that I no longer have a windows system. Great Boss rush game with responsive controls, fantastic art style, and amazing music. The story is on the simple side but definitely still a blast to play.

This game is just OKAY, treat this as a luke-warm recommendation. I bought it on sale for about 5$, and I'm not disappointed at that price. It's a HARD game, and you'll get that satisfaction from beating the tough bosses of course. However, a lot of the bosses are the cheap BS type, where their attacks come out at blistering fast speeds that are impossible to dodge well at least the first couple of times you fight them. The telegraphing of attacks are not good at all, if you compare this game to Cup Head, that game's boss attack patterns have much better telegraphing to give the proper hints you need to dodge their attacks effectively. Also a handful of bosses are just painful to play against, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about with the 2nd chapter's final boss with Zeta. Overall it's a 7/10, get it on sale, but be wary the game is hard as balls!

pretty cool game. feels kind of half-baked still (not due to lack of achievements but idk overall) somehow felt short and easy, though it's not easy at all actually xd at a baseline, checkpoint system doesn't really force you to get too grippy with more difficult bosses (game literally checkpoints you at EVERY phase change at more longer ones), and alternative to this is too tough imo - beating the whole episode (one out of 3-ish) in one sitting. kind of an overthrow. you could maybe modulate some difficulty settings but this whole thing kind of misses the point then. idk kind of felt like segments between bosses ar maybe a bit too shallow? treasure games had them kind of more challenging, in comparison graphics and music are good and familiar. overall game is fun

It's not very long and I'd argue it should be cheaper, but I had a lot of fun playing this. The controls are tight, it has a nice art style, the music is pretty good and the story is not bad either. If it's on sale, definitely buy it and give it a shot. If you're into action platformers, you'll definitely enjoy this one.

A good bit of Gunstar Heroes/Alien Soldier style boss platforming madness that overcomes issues and lack of polish, delivering a surprisingly nice experience. Xenogunner is in a funny position of having a heap of issues and deficiencies, yet the good stuff ultimately brings the game together into an enjoyable package full of creativity, care, crazy bosses and a lot of action. Game's lower points usually reside in the topic of production values. Pixel art is good, but not amazing. Writing has a lot of charm, but it's not the greatest in the world. Cutscenes are lengthy and story is contextual and overly expanded at the same time. Music isn't all the bangers, all the time and few bosses still definitely need few tweaks or overhauls. However, those problems aren't deal breakers and game provides a lot of good stuff to compensate. Controls are very good - responsive, powerful, nimble and fast. Aiming your weapon feels good (if you play on mouse and keyboard, I don't recommend the controller) and most boss patterns and attacks are joyous to dodge or dash through. Game brims with creative ideas and is unapologetic with how strange and out-of-place it can get, while still giving that sense of wonder and curiousity, you often times don't find in games. As a fan for games from this genre, I felt like 15 bucks was the money well spent, but I can definitely see why somebody might have problem with the price point. In that case, put Xenogunner on the sale watch and get it at the comfortable price cut. Still, you need to know that game is surely worth your time (around 4 hours for one of two available characters). Solid recommendation.

I adore this boss-rush action game despite its various flaws. If you like the gameplay in the trailer and can afford it, I totally recommend it. If you're on the fence, though, consider watching some gameplay on Youtube or checking out a speedrun. The Good: + The music is HYPE! But also kinda weird. Love listening to this with Skullcandy Crushers ANC for that extra bass rumble. + Thrilling hyper-action boss-rush side-scrolling shmup-platformer, very much like Gunstar Heroes or much more closely Alien Soldier for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive. There aren't that many games like this. + All of the playable characters play differently and have different campaigns, providing replayability. + Several variables in the options menu allow changing difficulty through HP modifiers and optional bonuses for clearing all enemies in levels. Assist options allow playing the game at a lower speed. + Wild, colorful art. + Not too short, not too long. Speedruns can clear the game in under 20 minutes. A first time player can expect 4-10 to clear all of the main story campaigns, an an extra hour or two to clear the hidden campaign. + Fun Hidden bosses / character can be found by being patient at certain parts of the game. + Relatively light-hearted sensibilities overall. + Pretty cutscenes for the main character's story campaign. The Bad: - The story is OK, but not particularly coherent. There is some amusing hidden lore. But there's a little bit of mood whiplash, and after seeing all the art a few times, it becomes forgettable. I still don't quite know what exactly Xenonature is, despite knowing it's critical to how the story works. If you're a fan of Treasure games like Sin and Punishment however, this disjointed story is perfectly on-brand. Right down to the inexplicable inevitable space level. - Goofy boss design and silly goofball plot is somewhat at odds with the punishing difficulty. - No built in timer of any kind. - No achievements. Instead, would-be achievements are handled in the form of badges, which accumulate and can be used to unlock bonus content in the Custom Gauntlet mode. - Technical jank with the control system - Pressing keyboard or mouse inputs after enabling gamepad play may disable the gamepad until the game is returned to the title screen and gamepad re-enabled. For speedrunning, this means you will not be able to use the split hotkey for LiveSplit while playing on Gamepad. There is also no "fire" button due to the twin-stick layout, making certain bosses requiring timed hits just a little more frustrating. (Unfortunately, input problems seem to be the norm for games made in Clickteam Fusion. Keyboard and Mouse heavily recommended.)