Ring Runner: Flight of the Sages is the definition of an underrated gem- didn't even have a steam release at launch. I found it on Good Old Games a couple of years ago, having never heard of it prior to the day of its launch. A mere ten dollars, I gambled on it and it payed off in spades. It's a lovingly crafted 2D, top-down space shooter with some heavy rpg elements. At the center of theRing Runner: Flight of the Sages is the definition of an underrated gem- didn't even have a steam release at launch. I found it on Good Old Games a couple of years ago, having never heard of it prior to the day of its launch. A mere ten dollars, I gambled on it and it payed off in spades. It's a lovingly crafted 2D, top-down space shooter with some heavy rpg elements. At the center of the experience is a brilliantly written campaign full of twists and dry humor about a distant future. In a universe ruled by a powerful central government across many galaxies, there are beings with the power to rewrite reality at the subatomic level, known as sages. The government views these individuals as a threat, of course, and has a standing capture or kill bounty on their heads. But what does this have to do with you? You don't have a clue, as you have no memory before waking up in a creepy medical lab with a sarcastic AI named Nero stuck in your head. From the moment you escape the lab and the exploding space station it's in to the very end, Ring Runner offers a compelling, fast paced and tactically diverse gameplay experience, including about sixty different ship hulls across five distinct ship classes and grouped by power level into five tiers: Arsenals are slow and powerful, with rocket and missile weapons, deployable mines and turrets, and defensive abilities. Casters are space-wizards with gravity and space-time manipulation and specialized energy weapons, Fighters are fast and maneuverable with powerful fixed-forward laser cannons, movement abilities and build up a lot of waste heat, but they can weaponize it and cause enemy ships to overheat. Grapplers take a page from Outlaw Star, with aggressive "jousting" abilties, melee weapons and grapple tethers. Rogues are sneaky, using cloaking, decoys and apply "gemini beacons" to enemies which can be exploited for damage and crowd control effects. There are a number of hulls that are hybrids of two or even three classes, and a special set of "Duo" ships that allow for two player local coop, with one player steering the ship and another operating an independent turret. Each class also has passive "veterancy" bonuses earned in-game for getting kill streaks, but reset if you get blown up. There are hundreds of different components, allowing you to customize your loadout to an intense degree: power supply, engine, shields, heat dispersion, auxiliary drives, utility systems, weapons, and class equipment. You have twelve possible ability slots in-game, as well as a "sage power" ultimate slot such as slowing down time, and an extra directional ability slot that uses the mouse or right stick. However, you need not fill ALL these slots with weapons and abilities, as there are a range of passive items that multiply the power of your active abilities, but use the same slots. Early in the campaign you use a fixed setup while you learn the controls and the nuances of each ship class, but eventually you gain access to the research lab and hangar to purchase new parts and reconfigure your setup. You can also buy a number of prebuilt configurations that are all viable endgame setups and can provide inspiration for your custom ships. There's also a wide variety of cooperative and versus multiplayer modes. The former includes wave survival, a boss rush style "gladiator" mode, zombie mode, team-based "attack their base and defend yours" spire mode, and a moba-flavored "Space Defense League" mode that includes things like minions, neutral bosses and buffs, but without the ♥♥♥♥♥iness of a typical moba. In any game mode, including the campaign, you earn "plex" to spend on researching and purchasing new ship hulls and parts from the lab, which act as a sort of experience meter: reaching certain net worth milestones unlocks new prebuilt ships. Add to this a beautiful backgrounds and visual effects, fully-functional Newtonian physics, an excellent, atmospheric soundtrack, and steam workshop support so that you can share your ship setups with others, and you have a recipe for a game that is, I think, one in a million. If you enjoy space shooters or action rpgs of any kind, you cannot afford to miss Ring Runner. There's even a novel! I should get around to reading that...… Expand
Ring Runner: Flight of the SagesYour Score0 out of 10User Score
