Windows The Ascent

[diamond.g]

So has anyone else given this a try via GamePass or Steam? I am level 9 so far. It is just difficult enough to be fun and not frustrating.
It is an ARPG CyberPunk alternative.

I have noticed that the GP version is broken (compared to the Steam version). RT and DLSS are broken/missing.

 

[Huntn]

I’m following this game. Is this primarily isometric camera? Looking at different images. The gameplay images I’ve seen appear to be a mix of closeup and isometric action. Of note, I persistently dislike isometric camera angle games, but there could be exceptions.

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[diamond.g]

I’m following this game. Is this primarily isometric camera? Looking at different images. The gameplay videos I’ve watched appear to be a mix of closeup and isometric action. Of note, I persistently dislike isometric camera angle games, but there could be exceptions.

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Aside from "cut scenes" it is isometric (or at least for as far as I have played). I do wish you could change the zoom level though.

 

[garnerx]

It has to be a fixed perspective because it's basically a twin-stick shooter. Character stays in the middle of the screen, the second stick (or mouse) controls the aiming direction. I'm up to level 11 now, it's fun but one-paced, and I'm not finding the story very engaging.

I'm playing on Xbox and getting a lot of audio glitches. Sometimes I'm in a 'peaceful' area, where you can't use guns, but it sounds like fireworks are going off continuously.

The Xbox edition lets you play with mouse and keyboard but doesn't include any control customisation - perhaps they uploaded the wrong build to Game Pass, if the PC version is missing some options.

 

[diamond.g]

It has to be a fixed perspective because it's basically a twin-stick shooter. Character stays in the middle of the screen, the second stick (or mouse) controls the aiming direction. I'm up to level 11 now, it's fun but one-paced, and I'm not finding the story very engaging.

I'm playing on Xbox and getting a lot of audio glitches. Sometimes I'm in a 'peaceful' area, where you can't use guns, but it sounds like fireworks are going off continuously.

The Xbox edition lets you play with mouse and keyboard but doesn't include any control customisation - perhaps they uploaded the wrong build to Game Pass, if the PC version is missing some options.

Yeah so far the story isn't very engaging. The "gun fights" are alright though. The raising your gun mechanic is kinda hit or miss.

 

[garnerx]

Yeah so far the story isn't very engaging. The "gun fights" are alright though. The raising your gun mechanic is kinda hit or miss.

I've just been going in guns blazing. The cover system isn't much use, because having to raise the gun makes you super slow and the enemies flank you really quickly.

I put most of my points into speeding up the reload time, and I roll into a group of enemies and one-shot kill them all with an upgraded shotgun. In the current area there are enemies that run towards you with katanas - there's an achievement for getting killed by a katana, but I'd have to work to get that one, they're cannon fodder.

The only thing that's been a challenge so far is this giant ED-209 robot that moves faster than I can roll and unleashes loads of rockets. Other than that it's a lot of long walks while countless enemies spawn slightly off screen. I'm certainly glad the ammo is infinite.

 

[garnerx]

I'm about 6 hours in but running out of steam with this now, not sure if I'll go back.

I got to a point where the boss I need to fight is too tough (a robot spider that many people seem to rate as the hardest part of the game). So I've gone off on side missions to level up a bit, but the return journey from one of these quests is huge and full of hundreds of enemies. I'm just bored of fighting them, it's relentless.

The map is not much help for finding the way back to the quest giver, and the fast travel taxi option only seems to work for areas close to where I am, I can't use it to travel home.

At this stage I would certainly use a cheat to give myself all the weapons and upgrades, since it isn't really an RPG or adventure - it's a full-on shooter, and the way you upgrade your character early on can make it hard to damage some of the later enemies. Shooting games are way more fun when you've got a maxed-out arsenal.

 

[diamond.g]

I'm about 6 hours in but running out of steam with this now, not sure if I'll go back.

I got to a point where the boss I need to fight is too tough (a robot spider that many people seem to rate as the hardest part of the game). So I've gone off on side missions to level up a bit, but the return journey from one of these quests is huge and full of hundreds of enemies. I'm just bored of fighting them, it's relentless.

The map is not much help for finding the way back to the quest giver, and the fast travel taxi option only seems to work for areas close to where I am, I can't use it to travel home.

At this stage I would certainly use a cheat to give myself all the weapons and upgrades, since it isn't really an RPG or adventure - it's a full-on shooter, and the way you upgrade your character early on can make it hard to damage some of the later enemies. Shooting games are way more fun when you've got a maxed-out arsenal.

Did you ever beat the robot spider (I am assuming it is the Tokamak Reactor one)?

 

[garnerx]

Did you ever beat the robot spider (I am assuming it is the Tokamak Reactor one)?

That's the one, and no, I lost one too many times that day and perma-quit the game.

I was at a part where I had taken a long detour to avoid an area of seemingly unlimited enemies, purely to hand in a side-quest that probably wasn't even worth much XP. I reached the building where I was supposed to go, but I got killed outside the door by a group of enemies who appeared from nowhere. Then instead of respawning me there, next to the objective, it sent me all the way back across the map, so far away that I had no idea where I even was.

These days, any game that pulls something like that on me, it's an instant rage-uninstall. Life's too short!