Neon Abyss

 Switch
User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 27 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 27
  3. Negative: 8 out of 27

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  1. whataruckus
    Jul 17, 2020
    7
    I picked this game up after playing the demo on the e-shop. I love punishing, rouge-like games and Neon Abyss certainly scratches that itch. It reminds me a lot of Enter the Gungeon in that you are exploring the same few random floors over and over, collecting loot and crazy power-ups along the way. Also like ETG, it’s got a sense of humor. I also get some vibes that remind me of theI picked this game up after playing the demo on the e-shop. I love punishing, rouge-like games and Neon Abyss certainly scratches that itch. It reminds me a lot of Enter the Gungeon in that you are exploring the same few random floors over and over, collecting loot and crazy power-ups along the way. Also like ETG, it’s got a sense of humor. I also get some vibes that remind me of the Starz adaptation of “American Gods,” in that you are battling “new” gods like TV, fast food, etc. The visuals of the game a simple, but eye catching. The music blends in well, picking up when you are in battle and fading out when you are just exploring.

    All of this seems like it would be a recipe for an excellent review. And it is… except for the frame rate issues. Primarily in the later game boss battles, the frame rate takes a nosedive into a chug and a skip. This can be frustrating if you have managed to doge all the enemy fire on a floor only to have your perfect run ruined.

    Frame rate issues aside, I am still having a blast with this game and cannot wait to keep exploring what it has to offer. I give it a 7/10 for the frame rate issues. If they fix the issue I would bump the score up to an 8.    … Expand
  2. Lordfate
    Jul 30, 2020
    0
    This game straight up hates you. Pets that are 100% detrimental like the blue doctor. Explosive weapons and perks are a death sentence especially with the shield orb pet.

    The devs clearly hate the game too as they clearly never finished a single game on Switch. So many crashes I lost count. Black screen hang killed an epic run 1 level before the Manager. Massive framerate drops    This game straight up hates you. Pets that are 100% detrimental like the blue doctor. Explosive weapons and perks are a death sentence especially with the shield orb pet.

    The devs clearly hate the game too as they clearly never finished a single game on Switch. So many crashes I lost count. Black screen hang killed an epic run 1 level before the Manager.

    Massive framerate drops throughout every aspect of the game. Drops are especially bad in piano room where precision is required. Insanely cluttered visuals where dangers are impossible to see. Cheap enemy design where they appear instantly on top of you

    This game clearly needs about another year of balancing, bug fixing and optimizing.

    Absolutely mind boggling to think these devs have actually created a game before. Did they learn nothing?    … Expand
  3. skycomandor
    Jul 21, 2020
    3
    Yea some fun
    but boring and it laggy
    Yes your game can just stop working.
    bosses fun but steal it is a clone of Isaac and dead cells
  4. Qbon1802
    Aug 15, 2020
    0
    Nice rouglike with many similarities to Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon. Would recommend but after they fix the framerate. Currently it's unplayable on switch due to frames dropping even to only 5-10 per second.
  5. BatMat
    Jul 23, 2020
    4
    The game is very fun and addictive, but...it's virtually unplayable on the switch. Bad fps when there is a lot on the screen, constant crashes and gamebreaking bugs when you progress. I will stop playing until this is updates. Way too frustrating now. Score will be changed when an update fixes this.
  6. Qpido
    Jul 25, 2020
    5
    Had super high hopes for this game, but clearly was not beta tested enough.

    I played the demo extensively and loved seeing what the full version had to offer once it came out. I was quite disappointed with the lack of additional content or gameplay. Also the amount of crashes and bugs did not help. What annoyed me mostly is that the guns and eggs provide little to no synergy and most of    Had super high hopes for this game, but clearly was not beta tested enough.

    I played the demo extensively and loved seeing what the full version had to offer once it came out. I was quite disappointed with the lack of additional content or gameplay. Also the amount of crashes and bugs did not help.

    What annoyed me mostly is that the guns and eggs provide little to no synergy and most of the time work against each other. The shielding egg that hovers around you blocks your bullets half the time and with the explosive damage on just ends up killing you within 2-3 rooms, making every game a total waste of time if you dare try picking up “power ups”.

    This game has so much potential, but there just wasn’t enough input into the room designs, not enough cool hidden features and the items are limiting and mostly provide anti-value to your gameplay. It’s attempting a new take on the Binding of Isaac, where every playthrough felt like a new adventure with things to discover. This game was either released too early or the developers lack creativity to make this game live up to its full potential, which it definitely, definitely has.    … Expand
  7. Sullabim
    Jul 16, 2020
    10
    Neon Abyss is a twin stick shooter that keeps the controls simple and the gameplay exciting and evolving. There are secret upgrades to unlock, eggs that you can acquire that hatch around you with various skills to protect you, varying badies in Vertically ascending/descending dungeonesque rooms with engaging attacks and larger than life bosses at the end of these stages.

    You can    Neon Abyss is a twin stick shooter that keeps the controls simple and the gameplay exciting and evolving. There are secret upgrades to unlock, eggs that you can acquire that hatch around you with various skills to protect you, varying badies in Vertically ascending/descending dungeonesque rooms with engaging attacks and larger than life bosses at the end of these stages.

    You can adventure as much as you want in each level trying to increase wisdom and damage levels, hearts, shields, guns, etc, and each boss is different. Because it's a roguelite, you will die, but there is a skill tree that can be leveled up to add abilities or potential upgrades after your demise. Once you get through 5 stages, another set of stages open up as the game becomes more challenging and compelling.

    I have not had one boring moment and could play this for hours, and while I have read comparisons to the Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon (both games I like for different reasons), I would say this is definitely a different experience. I have a ton of games, but have played little else since it was released, and I'm super picky about my games. I pray it gets a physical release.    … Expand
  8. Myzuno
    Jul 16, 2020
    0
    The game is really great but don't buy on switch, there are bad fps. Without exaggerating, when fighting a boss, the game had 5 fps, it's unplayable :(
  9. ChiefChakra
    Jan 22, 2021
    10
    This is absolutely one of my favorite games! I have not found a rouge-like game that I enjoyed before playing Neon Abyss. From the art style to the music and variety of weapons and enemies, I can't get enough!
  10. Matrix7
    Jul 17, 2020
    10
    很棒的设计，很久没玩到这么爽快的设计项rouglike游戏了，丰富的道具，各种各样的组合，amazing~~~
  11. cRINTENDO
    Jul 20, 2020
    9
    This game is so much fun. It is pretty much Enter the Gungeon slapped onto a platformer game. If you liked EtG, this is a game for you. Don't expect anything new and fresh, but hell this game is fun. :D
  12. OMGTehAwsome
    Sep 2, 2020
    5
    Short and sweet: it's a capable action rogue-like with a fun art style, though it does suffer from some really frustrating glitches, limited boss selection and not quite perfectly honed design.

    This game wears its Binding of Isaac inspiration on its sleeve, and that's A-okay. I've put a lot of hours into it, and it's an absolute blast when you're fighting the odds and manage to score    Short and sweet: it's a capable action rogue-like with a fun art style, though it does suffer from some really frustrating glitches, limited boss selection and not quite perfectly honed design.

    This game wears its Binding of Isaac inspiration on its sleeve, and that's A-okay. I've put a lot of hours into it, and it's an absolute blast when you're fighting the odds and manage to score that one lucky item that turns your terrible build into something amazing. The progression system is also pretty nice, because even if everything went horribly there's still a chance you made progress towards a new room or character.

    The big downside is the bugs. It's actually pretty bad. I would say there's a game-breaking bug... maybe 1 every 4 or 5 games? The entire screen just goes black, with the game still running in the background, with no way to bring it back. Massive framerate drops during weird times. Crashes when you enter a boss portal. Crashed when you enter a room. Crashes when you just finished your game and it saves your progress. Speaking of which, the lack of saves is also a real bummer. Sometimes I just want to put a run aside for later and pop over into another game for a quick second, but you can't. And this wouldn't be an issue but some of these runs are looooong. If you're being thorough and careful it could be an hour of gameplay just gone.

    The design... oh man... everything is so close to being great, but always missing by a hair. I've written and rewritten my checklist of issues and complaints so many times, but it's just too long... The gameplay elements are like taking a bite of what you thought was a perfect pumpkin pie, only to find out it's sweet potato pie, they left out have the sugar on accident, and the crust was made with saltines instead of graham crackers. It's... edible. And you see what they were trying to do. But those bites are still really disappointing when you weren't ready for them.    … Expand
  13. AngelStarr
    Aug 6, 2020
    6
    "Neon Isaac"
    It's definitely fun, I'll give it that. But I have two issues with it: the first is how small its world feels. The music, fantastic as it is, kind of gets tired fast. The world just kind of gets old fast TBH.
    Secondly, I simply can't help but cringe & grit my teeth at the oh-so-obvious ripping off of Binding of Isaac's both graphical style & ideas, to the point where sometimes    "Neon Isaac"
    It's definitely fun, I'll give it that. But I have two issues with it: the first is how small its world feels. The music, fantastic as it is, kind of gets tired fast. The world just kind of gets old fast TBH.
    Secondly, I simply can't help but cringe & grit my teeth at the oh-so-obvious ripping off of Binding of Isaac's both graphical style & ideas, to the point where sometimes I felt like my mind was hoping for certain sidekicks from Isaac's world.    … Expand
  14. Hangedman84
    Sep 7, 2022
    10
    Cool roguelike / platfromer / run & gun game. All the sores from which the game suffered at the start of its life on NS are healed (no bugs, glitches and crashes). The game is constantly evolving and throwing something new for players.
  15. Ebla
    Jul 23, 2020
    3
    Its a hybrid of multiple games of the same genre, mostly enter the gungeon and dead cells except this is poorly executed, there is no dodge mechanic you can only jump around and more often then not you'll find yourself stuck in a corner due to limited mobility, I laughed when I came across the first boss which is 2 balls, if you kill one the other gets stronger, this boss is rippedIts a hybrid of multiple games of the same genre, mostly enter the gungeon and dead cells except this is poorly executed, there is no dodge mechanic you can only jump around and more often then not you'll find yourself stuck in a corner due to limited mobility, I laughed when I came across the first boss which is 2 balls, if you kill one the other gets stronger, this boss is ripped straight out of enter the gungeon.

    Tldr, just buy enter the gungeon    … Expand
  16. anonymous1112
    Jul 26, 2020
    0
    Should be fun, but there are a tons of bugs :
    1) character randomly disappear at some point during the game. Items also disapear in shop and others rooms, got black screen randomly when i enter in a room
    2) After re-download and wipe all saved datas, now my game crash at the end of the 2nd boss (when i die or when i kill him). So i can't go further than the 2nd boss 3) Some weapons    Should be fun, but there are a tons of bugs :
    1) character randomly disappear at some point during the game. Items also disapear in shop and others rooms, got black screen randomly when i enter in a room

    2) After re-download and wipe all saved datas, now my game crash at the end of the 2nd boss (when i die or when i kill him).
    So i can't go further than the 2nd boss

    3) Some weapons that throw grenade, randomly explode at my face, especially when i fire down. (it is not because of eggs or pets or anything else).

    4) A huge down of FPS during some bosses and when too much element is on the screen.

    5) I wanted to submit this bug report on their website, but it also didn't work, got some error.

    Don't buy this game now, wait fixes !    … Expand
  17. mfleischman9490
    Jul 27, 2020
    3
    Great styling and gameplay. On the switch the game is basically unplayable huge frame rate drops that lead to crashes back to the main menu always happening in the middle of huge boss fights. They could fix it but right now the game is unplayable
  18. commstarbase
    Oct 2, 2020
    7
    While the genre is pretty packed these days, Neon Abyss has a pretty fun take on the roguelike genre. I enjoy the dual-stick controls and the punishing difficulty. The art is also pretty fun! The onboarding didn't feel particularly strong and I will say that while the runs aren't as dynamic per run, it's a solid choice!

Awards & Rankings

82
#82 Best Switch Game of 2020
64
#64 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. Nintenderos
    Nov 29, 2020
    70
    A game with a fun playable essence, a sensation of successful shooting and constant challenge, but with some unbalanced design decisions, especially those that aimed at better and greater content compared to its progression system.
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  2. Cubed3
    Aug 28, 2020
    70
    Those who love The Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon will find an awful lot to like here. The gameplay is fast and fluid, the presentation striking, and there is a huge amount to keep coming back for. There are tons of things to unlock that change up subsequent runs, unique seeds to master the most enjoyable versions of levels, and even an insanely challenging difficulty mode to unlock. The biggest issue is the small amount of rooms to pull from when generating a stage. It's not too noticeable for a few play-throughs, but for the players who will run this over and over, it really detracts from the experience.
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  3. GamingTrend
    Jul 27, 2020
    90
    Neon Abyss plays like a panic-stricken, action, rouge game that knows exactly what it wants to be from beginning to the end. The guns are big, the options are plentiful, and randomness is the name of the game. The boss battles left me a bit empty, but this game is definitely more than a glass half full.
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