KIBORG Review Summary

Satisfying and impactful combat: The game delivers satisfying and impactful combat through its visceral mechanics, responsive controls, and satisfying hit feedback. Players enjoy the fast-paced action, diverse enemy types, and the ability to unlock new combos and special attacks.

Appealing graphics and sound: The game features enjoyable graphics, a cool art style, and satisfying gore effects, contributing to a visually appealing experience. The sound design and music are also well-received, enhancing the overall atmosphere.

Great beat 'em up roguelike mix: The game successfully blends beat 'em up and roguelike elements, offering a unique and engaging experience reminiscent of classic 90s beat 'em ups. Players appreciate the originality and the roguelike spin on the genre.

Deep implant and build system: The game's implant system allows for diverse builds and character customization, significantly impacting battles and progression. Players enjoy experimenting with different synergies and set bonuses, adding depth and replayability.

Addictive progression system: The game features a well-designed progression system with a large upgrade tree, providing a sense of constant progress and character strengthening. Players find the system addictive and appreciate the smooth introduction of new items and skill checks.

High and Unbalanced Difficulty: The game's difficulty is a common concern, stemming from a lack of initial guidance, a reliance on grinding, and a steep difficulty curve. Some players find the health depletion rate too high and the mid-game difficulty spikes due to enemy health scaling, making the game challenging, especially for beginners.

Lacking Story and Customization: Several reviewers noted the game lacks a compelling story and character customization options. The absence of a proper narrative and the inability to personalize characters detract from the overall experience.

Various Minor Bugs/Glitches: Several minor bugs and glitches were reported, including graphical issues, enemies not taking damage, soft locks, and allies refusing to attack. These issues contribute to a lack of polish.

Poor Voice Acting/Localization: The game suffers from localization issues, declining voice acting quality, and an annoying narrator. The use of TTS for the AI companion is also criticized.

Unbalanced Upgrade/Gacha System: The upgrade system and gacha mechanics are criticized for their lack of intuitive balance and poor drop rates. Upgrades do not persist after death, and the rewards from the randomizer wheel often don't outweigh the cost.

Story and Arena modes: The game features a story mode where the protagonist, wrongly imprisoned, must escape a TV program-like prison by reaching a shuttle on the roof. The narrative is reminiscent of "Death Race," with a constant commentary from a "host" and GoPro-style live streaming. An Arena mode is also available.

Progression and unlockables: The game features a progression system with an ability upgrade system with development branches. Unlocking elements seems to have quite a few routes. Finishing the easiest difficulty unlocks harder options.

Varied loot and randomizers: During playthroughs, players find varied loot, augmentations, and mutations. Augments provide random perks, while mutations offer advantages and disadvantages, adding strategic depth. Randomizers also appear, offering buffs or debuffs that players can choose to accept or decline, influencing their run.

Strategic combat mechanics: The game features unique mechanics such as no health regeneration and a limited number of dodges per round. Players earn ammo by performing a certain number of hits. Light, heavy, and circular attacks generate energy, while blocking, parrying, or dodging consumes it, creating a strategic energy management system.

Rewards and progression: Non-combat rooms offer shops, meditation opportunities, or rewards. Fights through the tower follow a linear path at times, but primarily, players choose between two paths, with a TV representing the rewards to expect from each. Killing bosses involves tearing and stripping them to acquire implants, seamlessly transitioning into the reward selection screen.

Strongly recommended for genre fans: Many reviewers recommend the game, especially to fans of roguelikes, beat 'em ups, and games with Batman-like combat. Some compare it favorably to Hades, while others appreciate its nostalgic PS2-era action feel. Several reviewers specifically call out the satisfying combat and fun gameplay.

Concerns about difficulty/value: Some reviewers express concerns about the game's difficulty, balance, and overall value proposition, with some suggesting it is overpriced for its current state. One reviewer explicitly advises against purchasing it as a full release, while another mentions the lack of story.

Not for strategy-focused players: The game is not suited for strategy-focused players looking for resource optimization, as the build options primarily serve the combat system.

Cathartic, violent experience: The game is designed to be a cathartic experience with blood, violence, and dismemberment.

Great game: This cluster contains general emotional responses without specific details. Therefore, the importance score is reduced by 90%.

Unexplained in-game symbols: The game lacks clear explanations for in-game symbols, potentially hindering player understanding and engagement. Without proper guidance, players may struggle to interpret essential information, leading to frustration.

References to Redeemer: The game contains references to Redeemer. This may be appreciated by fans of that game, but may not be relevant or understandable to new players.