Cycled Reviews

[h1]Ceak's Cycled Review[/h1] [b] TLDR [/b]: The unique Cycle mechanic alone should be enough to get you to at least check out the game. After that what keeps you will be trying to get that perfect compatibility. Cycled is a Unique Roguelike where due to an interdimensional catastrophe the player has the ability to control two different characters in alternate realities at the same time. Thru trial and error, a bit of luck, and some tactical planning the two characters under your control will eventually find a synergy that will -hopefully- allow you to push through the more difficult challenges that you will inevitably face. [h1][u]Pros:[/u][/h1] [list] [*] The Cycle is an interesting mechanic [*] Starting abilities for each character are variable [*] Game keeps track of what you have upgraded per run [*] Game changes as you beat runs making players choose ways to make following runs more difficult [*] Bosses are pretty cool [*] Good variety of enemies [/list] [h1][u]Cons:[/u][/h1] [list] [*] Abilities are hard to target sometimes [*] Key puzzle is rough to get right [*] Melee Spiritual Strike abilities are terrible compared to ranged because they require perfect timing where as ranged fly forward unlimitedly [*] Ultimate abilities are underwhelming for something that takes awhile to activate I would expect it to be flashier [/list] [h1][u]Suggestions:[/u][/h1] [*] I do not know what the different idols do, perhaps a heads up display telling the player [*] It would be nice to see different sized rooms

Cycled really caught me by surprise. Despite only being Early Access, what's here is quite well-refined. The game is essentially a slow-to-mid-paced twin-stick shooter with roguelike mechanics and a few novel twists atop that core. For one, the stage cycles between dimensions every few seconds, which alters everything: the landscape, enemies, and even your character. This cycling swaps you between two characters, which are randomly chosen from a small handful at the start of your run: a paladin, ranger, monk, mage, etc. Each of these characters has unique skills and bonuses, and even your core attacks are varied across runs, so it's unlikely you'll ever play the exact same character more than once. Combat, despite being fairly methodical and slow-paced, actually feels quite good - characters' attacks feel weighty in the ways that they should and cooldowns are long enough that you're forced to think strategically about your next moves. Dodging is essential, and the developers had the foresight to allow it to cancel any current action, which enables you to get yourself out of a tight spot at a moment's notice. The interplay between the characters surprised me: it's both fun and not annoying, which must have been quite a feat to pull off, given that you have little to no control over when it occurs (barring a skill you obtain which lets you do so voluntarily). The randomized abilities are fun and none feel worthless or forgettable. The presentation of the game is a bit hackeneyed - the actual game itself is gorgeous, with well-detailed 3D models, simple-yet-elegant stages, and memorable enemies, but the UI and menus desperately need some help. As far as I can tell, there isn't even a proper title screen. Additionally, dialogue and storytelling is practically non-existent, and what is there was surely written by a non-native English speaker. Hopefully these things will get smoothed out over time. All in all, a truly enjoyable game with some unique modifications that help it stand out amongst its peers. I'll be interested to see how it develops. Find more reviews and recommendations on my Steam Curator page, Indie Infinitesimal: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41769714/

Using way to many resources, even after exiting game was using 35% of my 3070ti. that strangely stopped after i killed the internet connection.....

Just beat the first (and second?) boss and while this feels like really early to judge the game, Cycled has a lot of charm and I want to see how it develops. The game, at it's core, relies on changing the enviroment, enemies and player character every few seconds. This means you're always in a rush to do what you need in time - sometimes just kiting certain enemies that will soon transform into others who might be more convient to deal with. It's fun to pull off some combos with both character's you're controlling such as by attacking and then summoning your other character right at the end of a wave, then quickly attacking again and summoning the previous character for a final hit. It controls weird but it's really unique once you get used to it. Combat manages to be good while rather slow-paced, tricky, somewhat clunky and you need to take into account things like non-instant turning and manual aiming, but all of those "issues" end up adding a lot to it. You're never getting away by mindlessly attacking and dodging once in a while - everything you do needs to be very precise and well thought out, and since the world is constantly changing, you need to think ahead as well to not get caught in tough spot when characters swap. Definitely needs to show some more information and get some interface tweaks, but it's hopefully going in the right direction, as the devs seem to really listen to feedback. Music is great, though I wished the tracks just kept playing across rooms and only changed after they were finished. Found myself waiting for the good parts of certain music tracks long after killing all enemies just because I didn't want the whole music to change the next room.