(Image credit: Neon Giant)

Cyberpunk-style Diablo with Problems

Journey into the futuristic world of Velas in Neon Giant’s The Ascent, a Diablo-style game with plenty of guns. The indie’s beautiful cyberpunk scenery and intense combat have their moments. However, a questionable storyline, a locked camera, and frequent offscreen attackers weigh down the fun. Then sprinkle in glitches and a problematic map with hard-to-follow quest marker icons to top it off. The Load Screen reviews The Ascent as a stylish couch or online co-op with limited replayability and other issues.

The Ascent enters a quickly growing genre with so many cyberpunk-themed games within the past few years, like Cyberpunk 2077, Ghostrunner, and the upcoming title Stray. This third-person isometric title mixes vaporwave decorations and a dystopian theme that the genre distinctly features. Every sector looked distinctly unique, and even the lower floor had different esthetics and potential enemies that spawn. My favorite sections were the bridge-ways that showed off the deep world built by Neon Giant, especially Arcology: highStreet with its epic view of the Golden Satori Casino. While the overall sets were beautiful, they often hid obstacles, including interactable platforms and height differences that hindered player progress.

(Image credit: Neon Giant)

Movement problems stem from a locked camera setup used in this isometric third-person shooter. Lacking any camera control was the most frustrating part of The Ascent, especially in longer combat sections. Engaged enemies had a much longer range of view for firing than the player, leading to unnecessary deaths by offscreen gunfire. Towards the end of the game, I began firing towards any red dot on the scanner map, even if I could not see anything. This technique led to killing innocent robots and aliens, but there are no police or consequences other than an occasional verbal berating from the contract owner.

The main story is dystopian and may put off gamers. It starts with the player as a corporate slave to the Ascent Group, working in their central city, Arcology: highStreet. While completing a menial cyberdeck mission, the entire corporation that runs the metropolis collapses. Utter chaos ensues as rival corporations and gangs move in immediately to take control. The hero scrambles through the various warzones created by the void for a new owner who offers the potential of freedom with contract completion. Along the way, more than twenty side quests support the bleak storyline with equally questionable morality.

Luckily when the combat happens onscreen, it is compelling and challenging. There is even an excellent depth to the variety of weapons available. Fighting is live-action Diablo-style, but it adds a cover system since almost everyone has guns. Players can fire higher or lower depending on aiming, and hitting some enemies is only available in one of the firing modes. Cover and firing modes work together and add dimension to every fight.

(Image credit: Neon Giant)

Developers added in other combat mechanics that diversify options for battle significantly. The dodge ability was handy for getting into and out of combat. However, the RPG stat system had little overall effect unless the player seriously pumped up the attribute. The gun upgrade system is more impactful on fighting, especially for player survivability. Hacking was not often necessary and affected looting abilities over other areas.

Traversing the map of Velas was complicated and complex to follow with the given quest markers. On larger map sections with multiple levels and paths, the icon would not fall in a place that is easy to follow. Neon Giant did provide a footprint guide, but I only remembered this after already getting lost since I had onscreen navigation. Complicating navigation even further is the map’s separate floor system. It blocks fast travel by individual floor, and switching between them required going through an elevator in one zone per floor.

This cyberpunk RPG has an immersion destroying bug: quest enemies or items not spawning. I ran into almost every glitch version, and fixing the issue required bouncing to the main menu and then heading back to the game. It was frustrating when enemies that drop needed quest collectibles did not appear. However, it was comical when a boss failed to spawn after starring in an epic cutscene. After it took several minutes to realize the boss was missing, I heartily laughed since the quest marker and footpath system indicated another task. Then the issue caused a side-quest item not to appear, so I could not complete all quests, and it was the only quest left for me after finishing the campaign.

An overly dystopian storyline, a limited camera angle, and a frustrating map system alone make this game extremely challenging to complete. Add in the spawning glitches, and the game feels more like a Beta than an entire release. Resolving issues through feature updates is a possibility, but a few will require indie game developers to rework controller mechanics entirely, like the locked camera. Unfortunately, the beautiful sets and tough battles do not make up for the other issues, but the Co-Op options help a little. At least The Ascent is available on Xbox Game Pass for gamers to experience it for themselves.

The Ascent

• Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

• Developer: Neon Giant

• Publisher: Curve Digital

• Release Date: July 29, 2021

• Played on: PC with Xbox Game Pass