Saturday Morning Gaming: The Ascent

Okay. Cyberpunk 2077 was a disappointment. Don’t get me wrong: I had a blast with the game and do not begrudge spending my hard-earned cash on it at the GOG.com store.

But back before the game came out, back when I thought I would be able to get my paws on a PS5 (Hey! Sony recently announced that they’ve finally gotten their hands on some chips and should be able to meet demand soon!), I thought “I’m going to get a version of this game for the PS5, so I can play it on my big television instead of on merely a computer monitor!”

And I no longer have any intention to pick up Cyberpunk for the PS5.

Sigh.

In any case, the genre of Cyberpunk is one that remains near and dear to my heart and, honestly, I kinda thought that Cyberpunk 2077 might have killed the genre.

As it turns out, those fears were premature.

The Ascent is a twin-stick ARPG that takes place in an *AWESOME* cyberpunk universe.

It’s a game where you are one of The Ascent Group’s “indents” sent down to investigate why there are malfunctions outside of tolerances down in waste disposal. You quickly learn that there is a problem… a big one. Apparently… The Ascent Group seems to have disbanded. Now you’re an indent without a corp and you have to fix things so that your ex-boss’s ex-boss’s ex-boss’s ex-boss can get a bonus while you can squeak out enough creds to pay for enough food to get you to tomorrow. Ain’t that always the way?

It seems that security just noticed that The Ascent Group ain’t signing paychecks anymore and, well, it’s all downhill from there.

The game is absolutely *GORGEOUS*. Here, check this out:

Seriously, the graphics are great and they’re mostly animated. See this sign here?

It’s spinning.

As I was walking around the city for the first time, I kept thinking “this place is so crowded… this place is so filthy… this place is a good place to get stabbed…”

You run around, you get quests, you get sidequests, and you get to customize your character! As the game progresses, you have opportunities to play dolly dressup with fashion for your character and play with weapon loadout, armor, and augmentations. Dozens of different guns, closetsful of different kind of armor, and cyber-enhancements out the wazoo. Just pay up front.

If I have a complaint, it’s that I am not very good at the combat. It’s twin stick run-and-aim and you fire by pulling the trigger. There are a *LOT* of enemies on some levels and I have to run away a lot and peel off a couple and then reload and go back. This might not be a flaw with the game, of course. Maybe I’m just someone who sucks at the combat.

The game is cyberpunk as heck. If you find yourself missing the game you kinda wished you were going to play back when Cyberpunk 2077 still seemed like a good idea, you should check this puppy out. The setting is unreal. You’ll find yourself wanting to play a tabletop version of this.

So… what are you playing?

(Featured image is the splash screen of The Ascent. All screenshots taken by the author.)