Jan 16, 2023 - Day 16 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 22

Game: Nex Machina

Platform: Steam PC
Release Date: Jun 20, 2017
Library Date: Dec 3, 2017
Unplayed: 1870 days (5y1m13d)
Playtime: 23m

Nex Machina nearly got three different ratings. You'll have to wait until the end for this one.

It's a top-down twin-stick bullet-hell shooter; it's gorgeously rendered. Shoot a mob and it explodes in a shower of voxels in a deeply satisfying way. The lighting of the jungle-ish alien planet I'm fighting my way through is glorious.

The first 7 minutes were spent with hands on G13 & mouse, and I could not get past level 4. I was ready to throw my mouse at the wall, and quit. It's right there in the paragraph above: 'twin-stick shooter'. "Maybe I should at least give it a try with a controller".

With a controller I now kept dying on level 3. I'm ready to throw the controller at the wall, and there's no cable to restrain it.

All of the gorgeous lighting & explosions of mobs made it almost impossible for me to follow the action. Mobs would spawn right on top of me.

Then a weapon power-up drops. Suddenly my triple-shot is making me effective, and now I realise that it's not that the game sucks; it's just difficult, but rewarding.

If you're a fan of bullet-hell or twin-sticks, this might be your game.

First Nope, then Meh; now my Nex Machina rating is:

4: Good

#NexMachina #TwinStick #BulletHell #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay