Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 2

Review Disclaimer

Every game ranked was played, but also scaled based on research, talking to developers & your feedback. The priority with the scale's initial design was to compare similarity on relatively objective features - so it doesn't claim to include reviews of the depth and clarity you'd get at a games journalism site, nor the intensive time played you might get from player reviews on steam. We try to incorporate and link all of that along with a 'review scale' that checks for bugs. See the heatmap and breakdown! Time played noted so you can take any notes with a big grain of salt! I can't get to high level gameplay in 850+ games so I heavily research every game. Over 80 game creators let me interview or survey them! I Hope to go back and refine. Please argue or submit your own scores and reviews to be incorporated with credit into the notes and score numbers.

Added or last checked on 12/23/2023

First impressions! Scoring subject to change as I play more - but it's not a survivors-like really so it's not top priority.

A first person shooter rogue-lite that sometimes comes up recommended to survivors-like fans looking to switch up the gameplay perspective. I'm just starting to try it out, as it seems to be one of the recent titles with a larger player base and many play hours visible in the steam reviews. However, it doesn't seem to be oriented around wave survival. It's more like a dungeon crawler.

A big draw here is the multiplayer, which allows up to 4 players co-op. As a big Borderlands/Destiny player on steam (with my partner), this one has been shoved in my face by the platform for a couple years now (It fully came out in November 2021 after a year and a half of Early Access from May 2020.)

It's not a bullet heaven - while you certainly shoot a lot of bullets and can get quite OP, the enemies are always going to be shooting a lot as well. It's not really a bullet hell either, though, since you don't weave your way among enemy shot patterns. It's just an FPS.

It's got a low polygon cel shaded aesthetic which is overall alright for the enemies and sometimes quite cute for the characters. It can be pretty sometimes but most of the time just serves its purpose. The vibe is a kind of eastern adventure RPG, a little more cozy and definitely more furry than the Borderlands wastelands that obviously inspired it.

Translation from chinese can feel a little stilted. It's hard to say if the game has/had more personality in the writing before that. Some weapons (like literally just a brick) are funny enough to give it some positive score in subtle humor.

Overall it can feel a little underwhelming aesthetically when you focus on the details, but I think it's likely the visual style prioritizes being able to work on a wide variety of machines to enable the multiplayer aspect. And it's not a AAA studio, which of course I respect.

The controls are much more complex than most of the games on this list, which makes sense considering it's a first person shooter. Compared to other FPS games, though, it's somewhat simplified in some areas and mixed up in others. For example, the first character and many weapons use a secondary fire on the left trigger instead of an aim. There's a dodge instead of a sprint/run and so on.

I think the general gameplay and controls, along with character styles, would feel at home to Risk of Rain 2 players. It does seem to be missing some of that verticality (also from games like destiny) and to me it's also missing some of the visual depth and vibe that keeps a game on my big screen, but I'm looking forward to playing more on steam deck.

Honestly I admit kind of wanking around in first person shooters, so I tend to enjoy ones that let me die a lot in co-op.

The initial tutorial walkthrough makes it feel more complicated than it really is - part of why I dislike them - as overall it's got a currency unlock menu and some character upgrades. The major way you progress in game is by picking up weapons, which comparing stats on is kind of more complex than a simple 3 or 4 card level option (hence the related low score for streamlined levels). Find based unlocks exist here too.

I'm counting the elemental fusion system (synergy from attacking with different weapon elements) as a partial score for weapon combination.

It's more expensive than many of the games on this list, but given the 3D first person art style, it makes sense. It's still cheap enough to consider buying a copy for your partner or friend to play with you.

I think this is likely a great option to try if you really want an FPS roguelite, but also won't really appeal to core survivors-likes fans looking for a very similar mechanics vibe either from a bullet heaven or simplified controls/ui perspective.

Pixel sprites are from Steam emotes, not in game.

Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 4 (xoxomonstergirl) 4500ish (peA_sh0ter)

Review Disclaimer

Every game ranked was played, but also scaled based on research, talking to developers & your feedback. The priority with the scale's initial design was to compare similarity on relatively objective features - so it doesn't claim to include reviews of the depth and clarity you'd get at a games journalism site, nor the intensive time played you might get from player reviews on steam. We try to incorporate and link all of that along with a 'review scale' that checks for bugs. See the heatmap and breakdown! Time played noted so you can take any notes with a big grain of salt! I can't get to high level gameplay in 850+ games so I heavily research every game. Over 80 game creators let me interview or survey them! I Hope to go back and refine. Please argue or submit your own scores and reviews to be incorporated with credit into the notes and score numbers.

Added or last checked on ?

Scale scoring from scorecard submitted by player reviewer. Once evaluated after a couple hours play and some research, will be adjusted and moved up into the ranking proper.

PeA_sh0ter: "Imagine you are peacefully farming... and throw all that garbage out the window. No dew or stars can be found here, only blood, bullets, and blooms! This top down shooter will allow you to rain botanical hell (and hoes!) on all sorts of foes, all while keeping track of time to get back to the farm before those pesky snails show up at night! Keep the cashews flowing, or else your blood will be. Grow crops in the extreme radioactive environment via super genetic engineering. Listen to them hoot and holler, and then harvest to prepare the land for the next wave of seeds. Fight wacky, mutated foes, and mash em into fertilizer before you get flown back to town!"

"This game is very much multitasking+planning oriented. You must manage your time while out beating camps to get items, while also planning out your build, and then heading back in time to fight off waves of foes coming in to eat your crops or take you down, all while frantically farming! Crops are of the utmost importance, giving you money to buy weapons, seeds, tools, etc."

"Your farm is in the middle of four biomes: desert, tundra, plains, and jungle. Each of these has some special enemies that inhabit them, with desert and plains being easier. Each biome will have a extra hard tier that is best visited later, once you have some good firepower. Camps in these biomes can hold seeds, farm animals that help with farming, gameplay altering items, and all sorts of special goodies."

"I don't want to spoil it like a rotting tomato, but the exploration part of the game is just as fun as the farming! Speaking of farming, did the sun just go down?!?? Seeing as the day was only two and a half minutes, it makes logical sense, but no time for sense or logic! Better book it to the farm, as waves of monsters will start invading, each wave about 30 seconds long."

"During night, this is the best time to harvest crops and plant new ones, all while dodging bombs and bullets. Keep the snails off your plants! Once dawn comes, all foes will vanish, including any bosses you failed to beat, along with their rewards."

"Then comes the town. Here you can buy guns to get stats and customize your build, flirt with townsfolk for items and eventually marry them, and host festivals! In order to flirt, you need roses. Roses are a special crop found in any biome, and are basically a direct currency to items. They are contrasts to heart beets, the way you heal in this game."

"Harvesting a heart beat will heal you, and partly increase your health. If you fertilize four heart beets, they will make one big one that is far better at healing and expanding you health. Fertilizing crops is actually where a big part of strategy comes in this game, as a fertilized crop is worth far more than an unfertilized one, and merged crops are worth much more, and can even by max fertilized too! All fertilizer is gained from killing foes, which is part of why exploring during the day is important."

"Each third night, a boss will appear, and they can have all sorts of patterns! Killing them will reward you, but should dawn come they will escape. Will you survive to winter to fight the final boss? You can always throw a festival after you beat a boss! These are special times when all sorts of deals, bets, and trades can be made, and the more food you made, the more rewards."

"Atomicrops is a real work of gritty, gross, and hilarious art that is sure to have you clenching your teeth, chewing your veggies, and blasting your foes to the moon! My only gripe with the game is this: there is not enough! The developers have dropped the game, and while the main dev wishes to keep on working on the game, he does not have the funding to make any more."

"The game can be played in one sitting, or in three minutes at a time. The art is special and I have only seen such a style in this game. Gameplay is far different from your generic shoot shoot shoot roguelike, as it makes you think and plan all while farming and adrenaline pumping!

"GO PLAY THE GAMMMMMMME! It gives old school difficulty with a very interesting twist a life of its own. Whether you are looking for fun, difficulty, or grinding, you will love this game from the get go, and it will grow on you, like a radioactive brain tumor in the best possible way!"

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Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 240 (Thundergodeneru)

Review Disclaimer

Every game ranked was played, but also scaled based on research, talking to developers & your feedback. The priority with the scale's initial design was to compare similarity on relatively objective features - so it doesn't claim to include reviews of the depth and clarity you'd get at a games journalism site, nor the intensive time played you might get from player reviews on steam. We try to incorporate and link all of that along with a 'review scale' that checks for bugs. See the heatmap and breakdown! Time played noted so you can take any notes with a big grain of salt! I can't get to high level gameplay in 850+ games so I heavily research every game. Over 80 game creators let me interview or survey them! I Hope to go back and refine. Please argue or submit your own scores and reviews to be incorporated with credit into the notes and score numbers.

Added or last checked on ?

Scale scoring from scorecard submitted by player reviewer. Once evaluated after a couple hours play and some research, will be adjusted and moved up into the ranking proper.

Review Notes by Thundergodeneru: "This game is a rogue lite like many others, such as Wizard of Legend or Enter the Gungeon. The difference is how much it leans to Chinese cultivation, where it has moves and monsters that would be foreign and interesting to most people who aren't familiar with this trope."

Thundergodeneru: "The mechanics are fairly unique, taking a lot from the Chinese xianxia trope. You age one year when you enter each room, if your lifespan reaches 0 you die with there being many ways to increase your lifespan."

"This is only one mechanic as there are skills and weapons that can be matched into combos, changing their animation and how they work. A main function of this game is how you collect chi, which empowers anything that uses its element and how you can pick cards that synergize and make you much stronger like uncapping your crit rate so you can crit twice in one attack. The main focus is to synergize in this game."

"Playing this game is a blast, especially figuring out how the game works on your own as if does not tell you. The guides are scarce and figuring out a combination and obliterating an enemy with your new-found power is a very enjoyable experience." - Thundergodeneru

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Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 74.9 (Minnievengo)

Review Disclaimer

Every game ranked was played, but also scaled based on research, talking to developers & your feedback. The priority with the scale's initial design was to compare similarity on relatively objective features - so it doesn't claim to include reviews of the depth and clarity you'd get at a games journalism site, nor the intensive time played you might get from player reviews on steam. We try to incorporate and link all of that along with a 'review scale' that checks for bugs. See the heatmap and breakdown! Time played noted so you can take any notes with a big grain of salt! I can't get to high level gameplay in 850+ games so I heavily research every game. Over 80 game creators let me interview or survey them! I Hope to go back and refine. Please argue or submit your own scores and reviews to be incorporated with credit into the notes and score numbers.

Added or last checked on ?

Scale scoring from scorecard submitted by player reviewer. Once evaluated after a couple hours play and some research, will be adjusted and moved up into the ranking proper.

Review notes by Minnievengo: "Noobs Want to Live. Roguelike, Vampire Survivors like. Isometric game. It is a fast-paced roguelike featuring several characters and a large pool of skills to choose from (that synergize with one another, too!) Fight, kill, grow. Each run is a new chance to create a steamrolling build."

Review notes by Minnievengo: "Perfect animation with perfect localization that exactly conveys all the funny things that devs try to express. I do recommend this game to fans of Vampire Survivors and the survivors-like games. It features special art style and funny text, with all kinds of builds that makes you laugh for sure."

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Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 1500 (ComplexPlane97)

Review Disclaimer

Every game ranked was played, but also scaled based on research, talking to developers & your feedback. The priority with the scale's initial design was to compare similarity on relatively objective features - so it doesn't claim to include reviews of the depth and clarity you'd get at a games journalism site, nor the intensive time played you might get from player reviews on steam. We try to incorporate and link all of that along with a 'review scale' that checks for bugs. See the heatmap and breakdown! Time played noted so you can take any notes with a big grain of salt! I can't get to high level gameplay in 850+ games so I heavily research every game. Over 80 game creators let me interview or survey them! I Hope to go back and refine. Please argue or submit your own scores and reviews to be incorporated with credit into the notes and score numbers.

Added or last checked on 11/23/23

Scale scoring from scorecard submitted by player reviewer. Once evaluated after a couple hours play and some research, will be adjusted and moved up into the ranking proper.

Help us rank this game! [Submit Feature Survey]