izigame.me

Oh boy do I have a lot to say about this little gem. There's lots of good, and a bit of really annoying bad.
Let's get a couple of things out of the way though. Firstly, the game will immediately install something that exists purely to handle crossplay between this version and the Epic version, for co-op. It doesnt do anything else, and no, it's not the EGS. I'm bringing this up because, if you're the sort that screams every time Epic is mentioned because the internet told you to, this aint a game for you. (EDIT: Also, if you're here to just comment/rant about that, I'm just gonna block and remove. I've made my points and am not interested in knocking this out of line with that more than already done. Too much of this, and I'll simply close the comments and that'll be that.)
Second: This is a mostly old-school type of roguelike. AKA, no stat-based meta progression. If you've played Dead Cells, it's a lot like that. The "meta" elements are just things like traversal abilities that let you get into certain types of areas, and item unlocks. The game isnt going to hand you a win simply because you died so much that you start with 2000+ attack bonus every run. Your progression is your skill... simple as that.
Now, let's continue. I want to say right away, I freaking love this game. This has engaged me for like 9 hours already and it JUST came out. Usually, I dont do marathon sessions. But this one just keeps me coming back.
The controls and general game feel is SPECTACULAR. Character movement is perfect, jumping is perfect, aiming is perfect, guns are very satisfying, and so on. (EDIT: previously had said that the controllers couldnt be rebound, turns out I'd simply not spotted that the settings menu for it is in fact in the preset listings. You'd think it'd be in, you know, the "controller settings" part of it. But hey, that's fine. I guess I dont have *any* complaints about the controls then! This just keeps getting better and better.)
Getting into the real meat of the game, it's a simple premise, at first. Our plucky heroine is having a spectacularly bad day, as she crash lands into Planet Roguelike, and you know what that means: LOTS of dying. I wont spoil it, but this does factor heavily into the story, too. It's handled well enough, and usually doesnt feel unfair or anything.
Fortunately, she's a professional when it comes to monster stomping. But more importantly, a professional when it comes to dodging stuff. This is very heavily inspired by bullet hell games, and also action roguelikes in general tend to have a heavy focus on dodging stuff. This isnt a "hide behind cover" sort of game. This is a "run around like a maniac and weave through chaos" sort of game. And it really shines for it. Absolutely my sort of thing, I love it.
Enemy designs are... mostly good. I'm not fond of the Stupid Flying Medusa Heads. Well, okay, that's not the official name, but I think it fits a couple of aerial monsters that manage to be abnormally irritating. Other than those though... great designs that will challenge you constantly.
Less great though is the first biome itself. Clearly designed for screenshots, it has visibility issues. Whoever decided that fog should be there shouldnt be designing stuff, seriously. No way to turn that nonsense off. And pits are often hard to see, among other things. It's not THAT big of a deal, but it really shouldnt have that problem.
The actual LAYOUT of rooms though, is great. Great setups for exciting fights and very well done platforming, these dynamic room designs keep things extra exciting, and enemies have no trouble getting around them.
As for other gameplay elements, well, like most roguelikes there's a gazillion interwoven mechanics in there to learn, and lots of decision making to do... all the good stuff. It's a lot to learn at first, but the game does a good job of explaining everything, and the more you get into it, the more depth the gameplay has. This isnt Isaac or Risk of Rain though, dont expect builds where you push a single button and suddenly the entirety of Texas is full of exploding dinosaurs. Builds in this are more on the calmer side (which is how I prefer it for most of the genre) but the items and such you choose/find are no less important. In particular, you need to be careful about what you spend your weird yellow currency stuff on.
Honestly, there's too much good stuff to talk about here... Steam character limit, you know. And I dont want to talk about the story here either, as I dont want to spoil things.
To conclude... even with some flaws, this game, in my opinion, is downright amazing. I just LOVE it. Seriously, if you like this genre... pick this one up.