I, AI Reviews

A very enjoyable shmup, a bit too small !!! The game could be x10 times longer it would make it all the better :)

I can't recommend this game in good faith, even though the game itself is entertaining! It seems quite unpolished because: [list] [*] You can move your spaceship out of the screen at any time. [*] Enemies can be shot at from outside the screen and sometimes even fire at you from outside the screen. [*] Your spaceship has a huge hit box. Which seems out of date. [*] And your ship has no movement animations! Which looks very cheap. [*] Too many resources from destroyed enemies slow down the game if you don't pick them up immediately. But the action itself doesn't cause any slowdowns. Which seems weird. [*] Also, the resources have the same blue tint as some enemy bullets and stars in the background. [*] The resolution is reset from time to time. But the resolution doesn't seem to have any influence on the slowdowns anyway. [*] The damage power-up usually only appears when you can no longer use it. This is often due to the fact that there are a few dead phases in each mission in which almost nothing happens. And the power-up typically appears shortly before that. And there is also no way to save this power-up. [*] It is quite easy to get all the achievements, though. However, for the “No hit” achievements, you have to complete all the missions in a row in one session, otherwise they don't count! I therefore recommend playing them overpowered.[/list] 4/10 This game is only worth playing for achievement hunters.

What a fantastic game! the graphics are amazing and it has a story but it doesn't get in the way of game play. plenty of upgrades and hard without being impossible.

"I, AI" is a much simpler and shorter version of Stellatum. Since they have many common strong/weak points, my review will also be very similar to the one I wrote for Stellatum. I love shmup games and completed several hard games. I understand my fellow gamers' frustration and agree with the Mixed user rating for "I, AI". Although I am biased towards a positive review for indie games, this game has serious issues that indicate it wasn't tested & balanced properly by the developers. This game could have much higher ratings if the difficulty and progression were properly balanced, which seems to be a common issue with these devs' games (such as their "Stellatum"). Even after the "rebalance", the grind was a bit too much and playing this did not feel fun/rewarding but I forced myself to finish the game since I am a bit of a stubborn completionist. I would only recommend getting this game (especially while on sale) if you love space shmups with great visuals and don't mind grinding hard to get only marginally better upgrades. Unfortunately, Steam won't showcase your completion of this game's achievements on your profile, which is not fair for indie developers. [h3] Pros:[/h3] [list] [*] The general aesthetic of the spaceships, asteroids and backgrounds is very pleasing. [*] The customizability of the ship is a big plus. I would have loved to see options for adjusting the firing angles / spread, speed & acceleration/deceleration as well as addition of a more efficient magnet part (or an option) for making collection less of a painful ordeal. [*] Some of the boss designs & attacks were quite memorable (like the spidery boss). I wish there were more boss fights like that. [*] I like the slow soundtrack on the menus and the higher octane music during the action. [*] Supports 4K resolution and generally runs very smooth and stable. [*] Supports both keyboard + mouse & gamepad setups and allows you to customize key bindings. I haven't encountered any input lags or bugs with my keyboard + mouse setup. [*] The price is reasonable. [/list] [h3]Cons:[/h3] [list] [*] The campaign is too short (only 20 missions compared to 50 in Stellatum). [*] There is just one ship you can play with. No alternative ships with different capabilities, and not even reskins. [*] Even after the "rebalance" the upgrade prices are too high. This means you'll be stuck with ridiculously underpowered weaponry and armor if you don't repeat the previous levels over and over, which will slow down your progress quite a bit. [*] Even on "Easy" mode, the enemy HP and fire rate is too high and they are numerous. They even shoot you while they are out of the screen. On the other hand, the player's guns are basically pea shooters. The damage & firing rate of your main guns are too low. Combined with the forced forward movement and kill 'em all requirement to get 3 stars for a mission, completing a mission is more of a chore than fun. [*] When the ship is destroyed it is respawned at the same location without any shield or temporary invulnerability so you are basically screwed if you died under heavy fire because you will probably die there again. [*] It is almost impossible to differentiate the asteroids in the foreground from the ones in the background. Also the colors of the enemies usually matches the colors of their base, making it harder to spot them. This kind of camouflage makes sense strategically (for the enemy) but it is an inconvenience at best for a shmup player. Also limited color palette makes the game look a bit bland / monotone. [*] Story is meh and that's not a major issue for me in a shmup game but your preferences may differ. [/list] I would gladly change my review to a positive one if the issues I mentioned are resolved.

Beautiful graphics and nice overall gameplay. The difficulty isn't extremely heavy on the earlier levels (I managed to clear level 8 with just a max of 10 armor points and only gun upgrades). The game demands replaying of earlier levels to amass enough upgrade materials for the enhancement of the various ship parts and I understand that this can be tedious for less patient players, but for me it is okay as a game mechanism. A nice enough time eater I reckon, but my one observation is that the upgrade cost later on should be somewhat lower...

English and Russian Very good and variable-difficulty scrool-shooter. Has a normal grind which compensated by upgrade system so do not reconsider this as bad side of this game. The price is adequate, especially on sales. Worth to buy and play. Tip: turn on option "mouse movement" in controls - will make ship control more comfortable Очень хороший с подстраиваемой сложностью скролл-шутер. Имеет нормальный гринд (переигрывание с целью добычи) что компенсировано системой улучшений, так что не следует расценивать это как плохую сторону. Цена адекватна, особенно при распродажах. Стоит того чтобы купить и играть. Совет: включите в опциях управления "использовать движение мышью" - сделает управление кораблём более удобным.

Absolutely gorgeus game! One of my childhood favourite shmup was Demonstar, and I, Ai is very similar to that game in style. Its more slow paced, very clean design, the maps and backgrounds are visually stunning, very detailed environment, i just love the everchanging stardust and fog in the background. The upgrade system is very well done, every single purchase has a great impact. Yeah, it can be a little bit grindy IF you want to finish the game on a higher difficulty, but you can earn credits easier if you change the difficulty (any time in menu), and collect money for upgrades - then go back to higher diff. The ships are awesome looking, the bosses are huge, but it don't take to long to fight them, but they can be lethal. I, Ai is definitely one of the best looking top down arcade game around, the gameplay is smooth, i really can't understand the negative reviews. Maybe it lacks any revolutionary ideas, but hey, its just strong in every aspect. Maybe the slow pace is the problem for others, i actually like it, every bullet counts, its not bullet hell, you have to watch every rocket, and bullet coming for you, and dance with them. Sound design OK, music is OK, the sound of the main weapon is very lame... what is that? :D EDIT: The dev actually listens to feedback, and changed the main weapon's sound effects. Thank you! Anyway, grab it in a deal, it totally worth it.

TL;DR: If you loved Tyrian and Sky Force: Reloaded, you will love this game. This is a visually stunning, classic-style shmup. Stellatum is a great top-down, vertical shooter (yes, aside from the poorly directed cut scenes - some of which duplicate - and horrendous English translation). The devs took the best of that game and enhanced it in this one. This game has better UI and a way better menu than the first one - but I'd still like to use the directional pad to navigate the menu please! I do not understand why some players complain about grinding. I grew up playing Tyrian - and I can tell you this is a classic-style shmup like Tyrian. And yes, there is grind, but that is the appeal of these games. You grind to get better and blitz your way through. The visuals are gorgeous. The gameplay is smooth and responsive. The English translation is much better! My only major gripe are some pretty nasty frame drops which occur randomly throughout. But they don't happen often at all to be an annoyance. I do hope these devs continue to make these games as they have a great formula and I expect it will only get better.

Works for me (though I admit I waited for a sale), wanting something to fill a few minutes at a time for my work-from-home "coffee-breaks." The fixed pace of each level ensures I won't feel compelled to play longer than I intended. The reviewers who pointed out that this game can be a bit "grindy" aren't wrong, but that's okay for me, as I'm not playing it for long enough at a time to get bored. A former music major, I recognize the value of practice and getting closer to the next weapon upgrade is a nice reward for putting in the time repeating previous levels. The alleged story is pretty silly, but I don't imagine the devs spent enough time on it for it to have taken anything away from the rest of the game which feels pretty well polished.

It's a decent shooter, I bought it because I liked the Dev's previous game. But the grinding necessary to unlock the weapons and upgrades needed to survive the game's later stages is way too long. The time spent repeating the same levels over and over seems to be a "feature" or 'extending gameplay' but that's not the case with this modern system. Instead of learning the enemies and being able to clear late levels with skill, the game has armor levels for you and the enemies that make it a joke if you're not powered up to the level that the dev's intended foe that level. Imagine skillfully weaving around enemy fire and scoring hit after hit, only to realize that the same enemies you've been encountering since level one now has advanced armor and with your pea shooter you'll need to be doing that for another 5min to make a dent. ; P Now compare that to say Raiden, even with a low power gun your skill can get you through the levels without 30 min boss fights.