ABYSS SEEKERーーWhat Do You See Deep in The Abyss Steam Charts & Stats

Very fun!

Fun little game. Limited in content, but for 2$ i'd say it's worth it.

Relatively simplistic twin-stick shooter in which its simplicity is both its strength and its weakness. Rather than relying on multiple weapons for a build, you only have the one weapon you choose when you start the run and then levelling gains you modifications that affect the weapon, and artifacts that act as passives. Weapon mods take up limited slots on the weapon itself, but artifact passives are not limited so you can eventually obtain all of the ones you unlocked so far. One major saving grace and benefit to the weapon mods is that [b]you can overwrite them[/b], which means you can take one mod [b]for now[/b] and then replace it later if you get a better one for what you're building for. The benefit is that you're relying less on heavy RNG that, in other games, can simply ruin an entire run by withholding that one item/weapon you absolutely need until it's too late and you've been forced to fill all slots, so you never really feel too punished by RNG. The fact that you can take weapon mods temporarily if you want the immediate boost and then just overwrite them later means that it's more just a matter of time before you get the build you want. The drawback is that it really does make it that much easier to make broken builds because you rely significantly less on RNG. And while most of the weapons can start off feeling relatively unique - running the gamut from short range defensive to weak rapid-fire to powerful but slow-firing to my personal favourite, the "spin-to-win" laser - ultimately the same build will work for almost all the weapons to make them busted, with only minor tweaks. Some unlockable passive artifacts will just completely negate drawbacks to specific weapon types (e.g. the heavy-hitting, huge mana cost spell's mana cost drawback is negated with the artifact that refills your mana on a kill, or to a lesser degree the one that refills your mana when you dodge, even if you're not actually dodging anything). Ultimately though, the really low couple of dollars that it costs is a more than fair ask for what you do get, which is a decently fun little twin-stick shooter. And realistically, if hitting the broken builds is so much of a drawback that it's actually turning you off from the game, you also have the option to just... not do that, and apply your own restrictions like not taking any mods or only taking what first pops up and not replacing anything.

Japanese Studio SUCCESS Corp released a very similar game called Heaven Seeker. This game turns many of those systems into a twin-stick shooter. The core of the experience is a neat skill augmentation system similar to Path of Exile, Magicraft, Noita, etc. You get a base skill and different slots to customize the attack to your liking. This lets you create some pretty crazy combos. That said, this game suffers from the same shortcomings as its predecessor: It's really punishing and unforgiving. A good rougelite game will have a difficulty curve, but this studio has games that really stick it to you immediately. Monsters are very OP, and bosses will use crazy bullet patterns during the first few minutes of a stage. Healing seems hard to come by. It's normal to complete an entire build within the first five minutes, and leveling up doesn't do much. It would be nice to further upgrade the skills you have, or gain passive effects, or even to heal from level-ups instead of just recycling them into experience. Some tweaks to the difficulty curve and balancing enemies would be nice, but they didn't do this with the previous game, I can't imagine this one being any different. If you're into hardcore games that don't hold your hand and let you get off some crazy skill combos, this is a pretty fun way to spend your time.

Launch review: +++ The foundation is very good, the magic crafting system is fun and allows for creativity. + Progression is simple but rewarding enough to look forward to. + Good value for its price. = Art is good, music is ok but not remarkable for me. = Bosses are the most interesting part of a run, they can be stun-locked and destroyed instantly fairly easily though. It would be nice if there are mini bosses too in the middle of a run. - There are frustrating moments like ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶o̶b̶e̶d̶ ̶e̶n̶e̶m̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶e̶l̶e̶p̶o̶r̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶o̶p̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ , mini slimes flying towards you at mach speed when you kill the big ones with explosions on-hit, and black bats being hard to see in some stages. - Stages don't vary much outside of appearance, the boss and one or two distinct enemies. Overall it's a good survivors game with a solid foundation that will get better simply with having more content. I am enjoying it a lot and most of the things I don't like will easily get better with content updates or minor fixes.

Abyss Seeker may look like a bullet heaven / survivors-like game, but it's more of a straightforward twin stick shooter with weapon modifiers you can equip by leveling up. In some ways, it feels like a more anime-esque take on Crimsonland than it does something like Vampire Survivors. After all, there is no auto aim (or at least I have not found an option to toggle it), you are aiming your own shots and quick reaction times are needed at moments. The maps are relatively tiny and you are immediately swarmed with hordes of enemies upon starting a run, meaning this game feels tense and claustrophobic from the drop. Unlike a lot of games in the survivors-like genre, you only have a single weapon. Instead of carrying a stock of weapons and passives, you instead have modifier slots that change the firing behavior of your weapon and you get to pick one each time you level up. In a way, this reminds me of how items can modify tears in The Binding of Isaac. These can include very basic functions like multiplying the number of projectiles or increasing the rate of fire, or they can be more elaborate like returning bullets that restore ammo or bullets that fire at odd angles. Some of these modifiers can be equipped multiple times to increase their effect, while others have caps on the amount of times the effect can be upgraded. On top of this, you also get to pick from passive skills that increase things like the amount of coins enemies drop and other assorted 'passive' buffs that do not require using one of your modifier slots. In fact, a lot of the 'meta progression' of this game seems to be built around maxing out the amount of slots you have to modify your weapon so that you get just a tad farther each run, especially because earlier runs will have you making difficult decisions regarding which modifiers benefit you the most at the current point in your run. You never stop getting level up choices, even after you have filled all of your slots, and while you do get the option to just skip and not take an item, it feels like this game is constantly asking the player to consider modifying their build to handle some of the more difficult waves of enemies rather than making a single, broken build. Would I recommend buying Abyss Seeker? Yes, but only if you go in knowing that this is not a bullet heaven game in the conventional sense and that you're probably going to get thoroughly humbled for a few runs before you understand what's going on. It is fun enough to justify putting a run or two in when you have free time to grind for upgrades and learn enemy behavior and patterns, but it is not necessarily as addictive as similar games can be, mainly due to its punishing difficulty. Still, for $2, it's worth the price of admission... Especially because the pixel art is genuinely great and the animations are fun and satisfying to watch. Come for the anime girl, stay for the unconventional take on a genre that too often gets maligned as 'mindless'.