Recent reviews by Realm

Great game, very relaxing.

I am curious to know how each tile connects and adjusts to those next to it from a technical point of view.

It would be interesting to see some form of life walking or swimming around.

Choosing areas that are green or concrete platforms would be a nice touch as opposed to only being limited to when conditions are met.

I would be interested in seeing grid generation that can be made from imported images, like a height map.

It would be very awesome to have WAY bigger worlds which you can expand, older hardware my not be able to run it, understandably. But it is something that can improve creative freedom.

Wooden bridge or ramp tiles that are longer than one tile would compliment flying cities.

A much wider zoom-out option should be available for larger screens and finding a nice grid pattern more conveniently.

This is the type of game that shakes up the formula. And does so very well.

Never made a review because frankly I've far too much to describe; my present hours are from a single playthrough not yet complete. I don't want to complete it because then, the story I've built will end.

This is a post-apocalyptic, alien, fallout world that you will find intriguing and if you care for roleplaying, choices are sincere.

The whole experience feels very melancholic to me, and is one of the games I wish to have the chance of playing again as if for the first time.

The corporate dystopia and cyberpunk society on an alien planet is most definitely there. Personally, I like it. I would have not expected myself to get into a top-down shooter this easily, but being as obsessed as I am with the genre in art, movies and other games, it's an enjoyable immersion.

At the time of writing this, prior to any possible updates, I have 10.5 hours in single player. I've only just unlocked the second level of the game, having explored as much of every single corner of the map as I could. I would briefly like to go into what I've come across so far.

The Good

The game is quite beautiful, in all honesty. Maybe it is my bias for futuristic, sci-fi worlds.
It was a weird function to get used to; not being able to control my camera angle, but that said, it simplifies a lot of combat and exploration-related events by keeping the player's eyes where the important elements are (whether that be doors, chests, buildings, characters). Ultimately, removing the confusion that might otherwise come with being able to spin your own camera angle, which may or may not become annoying sometimes in other games.

In my current time played, weapon variation isn't overly diverse, but this doesn't come across as a problem. They can quite simply be upgraded. The system used in The Ascent is one where a player collects a single component item for upgrading. This loot is universally applicable to all weapons, you do not need a recipe's worth of ingredients for each weapon.
However, as you upgrade a weapon, it will need a second tier of the component.

I was surprised to realise that my ammo count wasn't limited, initially it felt a bit overpowered but in all honesty, you'll be thankful sooner or later.

The currency is quite simple to get early on, at least if my understanding of its value stands correct. Fighting enemies will drop you weapons and armour, a lot of which you'll end up selling. Running through boxes will also give you a little bit, every now and then. Doesn't sound like much, but consider that there will be dozens upon dozens of these boxes.

Love the Codex, everything that lets a player access lore at any time they choose is always epic.

As with any cyberpunk game, The Ascent has body augmentations. however, here they are used more as supportive abilities for combat and survival, not always available, so you might want to think before spamming one or two.

The Meh

Oftentimes, the more I speak to different NPCs, the more repetitive their alien language begins to sound - as if they're all saying the same thing. It might help a little with the immersion to add more variation to the dialogue.

The game has been confusing sometimes; most side missions appear to be accessible right off the bat - provided, if you can survive whatever they send your way. You can accept them, but there is no guarantee that you'll be able to progress as areas may be locked due to the main story not being far enough. It might help to simply point this out a little. I was running around a step of stairs, trying to figure out where the waypoint was leading me until I eventually gave up. Having come back to it later in the main story, the waypoint lead me to a completely different - now accessible - location.

Please consider implementing the ability of showing text in-game, regarding damage and armour/protection types. Some icons aren't very clear from the get-go.

I've noticed plenty of grammatical and punctuation issues in the subtitles which oftentimes ruin the immersion. Especially when you have no choice but to read them, as the NPC is talking in an alien dialogue. I would understand if this was a creative direction, but seeing that having completely random variation of "you're" and "your" most definitely is not. Lots of other text in the subtitles could be rephrased; they feel like a mouthful of riddles written at a late night without reading back through them.
I'd be more than happy to help out with this, if need be, considering I am working against the same habit :D

I hope this covers a fair share of what the first bit of experience will be like for people, if you have any questions, shoot.

PS: Please keep in mind that even if this is a top-down shooter, it is performance-heavy and the plentiful, colourful lights aren't for everyone either.

PPS: Prepare yourself for being assisted by an AI who gets turned on when she sees blood and murder!

Brothers of the dark rejoice!
Swing, swing, swing with me
Raise your pick and raise your voice!
Sing, drill, kill with me
Down and down into the deep
Who knows what we'll find beneath?
Bismor, jadis, gold and more
Hidden in the planet store
Born in the cosmos, suckled from a teat of stone
Raised in the dark, the safety of our spaceship home
Skin made of iron, steel in our bones
To dig and kill makes us free
Come on brothers sing with me!
I am a dwarf and I'm drilling a hole
Drilly, drilly hole, drilly, drilly hole
I am a dwarf and I'm drilling a hole
Drilly, drilly hole, drilling a hole
The sunlight will not reach this low
Deep, deep in the cave
Always seen the blue moon glow
Dwarves have flown so high
Fill a glass and down some mead!
Stuff your bellies at the feast!
Stumble to the pod and fall asleep
Dreaming in our spaceship keep
Born in the cosmos, grown inside an iron womb
The space is our cradle; and it shall become our tomb
Face us on the battlefield; you will meet your doom
We do not fear what lies beneath
We can never drill too deep
I am a dwarf and I'm drilling a hole
Drilly, drilly hole, drilly, drilly hole
I am a dwarf and I'm drilling a hole
Drilly, drilly hole, drilling a hole
I am a dwarf and I'm drilling a hole
Drilly, drilly hole, drilly, drilly hole
I am a dwarf and I'm drilling a hole
Drilly, drilly hole, drilling a hole
Born in the cosmos, suckled from a teat of stone
Raised in the dark, the safety of our spaceship home
Skin made of iron, steel in our bones
To drill and kill makes us free
Come on brothers sing with me!
I am a dwarf and I'm drilling a hole
Drilly, drilly hole, drilly, drilly hole
I am a dwarf and I'm drilling a hole
Drilly, drilly hole, drilling a hole
I am a dwarf and I'm drilling a hole
Drilly, drilly hole, drilly, drilly hole
I am a dwarf and I'm drilling a hole
Drilly, drilly hole, drilling a hole...

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4l! Ha1l th3 M1ghty 0n3.

EDIT: Don't waste your money on this game OR these developers until you see other sources saying that the core issues regarding playability and balance have been fixed.

During my first 4 hours I somehow managed to sign myself up for delivering... coffee and steak... to pirates... 12 light years away. Along the way my warp drive almost flew me right into an exploding supernova, trying to escape from it almost burnt me to a crisp.
Moments later only to completely run out of fuel reserves in deep space and get saved by the Fuel Rats faction with 10 seconds remaining on my O2 life support counter... just seeing the empty space with my last remaining breath, thinking "Well, this is it, wasn't very long", before hearing sudden engine halts around me and several of the Rats spamming me with repairs and all the goodies! <3

In short: It's one hell of a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ experience.

I couldn't save everyone ):
So I ate everyone (:

Mixed feelings.
It has a story, which to some extent is great.
It has arguably *the* best Free to Play system created so far.
Constant events, devstreams with rewards.
Daily grinds and farms to put up with (this game is literally nicknamed Warfarm).

However DE themselves are possibly some of the worst developers I've seen so far in terms of ethics and the general stuff they've pulled on players individually, and the community altogether. Ultimately, all I can say is that the game is quite well made but still with some noticeable errors outside of what the DE themselves have done, and that it's up to you to decide whether you want to experience the positives mentioned here and by doing so, supporting a significantly problematic games developer, or not.

And so it's a mixed experience at the back of my head; definitely great, but definitely with its issues. Technically because these reviews are supposed to be for the game itself, I am leaving with a thumbs up on this review despite genuinely believing it strongly stands in between.

3 accounts and around 5 years of playing this damned game, seen just about everything, from how the Seekers got introduced and became a spammy hell to other cancerous bs. Developers have seemed to realise that they were not doing a favour to their community at some point while I was away.
Though now I recently find out that at one point or another ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Tencent now has rights to this game. As a product, it's good on a surface level, but the way the devs made revenue their utmost priority in the long-term has made it look over all shady.
---------------
After a few more minutes of realisation, the physics of the game have been completely numbed down to beyond arcade level. No variety, nothing. No more epic flyer strafes and more, not to mention the auto redirection of bots regardless of what transportation tech you use, disallowing you to have any kind of armour angling and guarding of the most vulnerable spots on the vehicle.

Through minutes to hours, poke, stab, slam, crash, massacre your fellow members of the Stick Federation in all ways possible. Summon a black hole too, if you wish!
A little party game that can go a long way when you have nothing else to do and wish to mess around, experiencing plenty of dumb ways to die... and kill,