Developed by Veewo Games and published by Team17 (and Yooreka Studio in China), Neon Abyss is a dance-club-fueled roguelike with almost as much cartoony charm as the Mushroom Kingdom — albeit a version of the Mushroom Kingdom slathered with a hefty dose of gore.
With each run, the randomly generated environment throws monsters, traps, and challenges at you, tasking you with basic survival as you amass an arsenal of skills and power-ups in order to systematically destroy each of the games randomly assigned bosses.
Although Neon Abyss has enough gore to fill a 2000 Presidential campaign, it is also oddly charming and kind of cutesy. As you enter each randomly generated room, there’s a brief moment where you can feel an “aww” bubbling up within you. Until, of course, the enemies start to methodically go about murdering you.
Basically a 2D side-scrolling right-stick shooter, Neon Abyss can seem rather rudimentary at times. The platforming, although light, isn’t the most precise on the market. Plus, the base-level firearms and some of the upgrades can feel a bit Nerf-y at times.
But once you die that first time and end up back at the nightclub that serves as the game’s hub (you can change characters and upgrade skills here), and you take a moment to dance via button prompt as the DJ spins records and the rest of the club occupants swirl around you, this game will no doubt win you over.
Add to that a truly engaging combat and exploration loop, and this all adds up to a great roguelike that I can’t stop rocking out to. You can check out the Neon Abyss trailer below.
