Yeah, the voice overs are fantastic.
This has been on the top of my wishlist since @tomchick’s review, and now that it’s on sale I went ahead and picked it up. A couple of hours in, it’s just as good as everyone said, with the whole strategy and planning layer really separating it from other twin-stick roguelikes, and I can see how the option to go for bonus objectives can liven up early stages that could otherwise get rote with experience.
That said, my first session ended on a really sour note. I got to the Cryptark with enough money for two attempts at it, died a few minutes into the first, and then stocked up on all the health and ammo I could afford for a final try. Half an hour of desperate battling and multiple close calls later, I was on the home stretch, with only 5 out of 22 systems remaining. I blew up a factory, and… the game crashed to the menu. The message said I could try again, but I was already into negative money from health and ammo refills during the run, so it was just an instant game over. Bleh, hopefully this is just a freak and not something that’s going to keep happening.
I’ve had game freezes on the level loading screen and I think one crash mid game. That really sucks it happened to you on the home stretch of the Cryptark no less. Oof. That’s an incredible result on your first run though Thraeg!
Oh for fuck’s sake. I tried a new run, died once from playing too cautiously and getting overwhelmed in my first attempt at the Cryptark, then loaded up and went back with a better plan. Blitzed in and took out both repairs and two advanced factories before the factories could ramp up. All set to go, plenty of ammo and two big repair packs, headed off to the next system… and got stuck in a wall. Absolutely nothing I could do to get free, and had to abandon the mission.
Aw that sucks. You seem to be finding all the bugs Thraeg.
He is just playing it wrong, which is why he is being so successful to that point.
hmpf!
I experienced a Cryptark run crash once (infuriating, I’d like to say… if it hadn’t been one of the worse setup and I had no hope of clearing it), and I get stuck every now and then, but usually it takes a minute or so of random inputs to get unstuck.
I’ve got a save at the Cryptark but I went on holiday, forgot my situation, got rusty and now I’m scared to load it up and waste the progress. My plan is to start again and use that save after I’ve warmed up.
The aggravating thing is that I’m not! Over several hours of play I’ve seen exactly two bugs. They just have the worst possible timing. Nary a one in earlier levels, or when I’m hard pressed and probably going to die anyway.
Well I hope they’re the only ones you find and, if not, they come a lot earlier in a run or when you’re sucking it up!
Any preferences loadout-wise? Which systems do you tend to prioritise? Are you a sucker for any particular tough objectives? The low hull ones are terrible for me. They’re good practice but super dangerous.
Fourth time’s the charm – I played a couple more pleasantly bug-free runs tonight, and fell short in the first one, but eventually prevailed in the second. Ended with negative money because I massively overbought ammo rather than risk running out.
There’s still a bunch of weapons and suits I haven’t played with yet. But the ones that I’ve probably gotten the most use out of are the ramming spike, HE grenades, slug gun, and heavy machine gun - burst. My win was using a Jennet with a final loadout of a frag gun, a nuke launcher, and a big stack of repair-10 kits.
Repair systems, advanced factories, and radar jammers are probably my biggest priorities in terms of systems. My last couple of runs, I’ve been looking for objectives to leave systems alive – I’ve had a couple where I was able to go in, pick off one or two systems and complete all three objectives with 90% time left on the clock. I’ve been too scared to tackle the artifact objectives to take 3 max hull or $45k total loadout, but I’ll probably try them now that I’ve gotten the first win.
Repair systems have actually become pretty low on my priority list: they get distracted very easily if you keep destroying other systems (they switch to the most recent destroyed one), which lets you carve your way to them pretty easily - ideally taking out any doppleganging station in the process.
Factories are the single biggest threat in my book: once they are all taken care of, the game turns from a battle of attrition to a fight where you can take your time planning your moves, and probably won’t have to worry about your ammo.
The game seems historically accurate: like any truly respected supreme leader, you need those nukes for your survival at the end.
I got a laugh out of this!
I’ve had three separate runs at the Cryptark now and it’s a bastard. The last one I did had an alarm system in one corner covering a shield generator in another corner that was covering a repair system in another. That alone was a nightmare before you consider the radar jammer, the flak turrets, armoury, numerous factories and secondary repair and shield systems. Every second spent battling through the Cryptark to find the systems was time the repair systems were rebuilding stuff. All while I’m burning through ammo and health. Like, this particular configuration I’m not sure how I could have done it any other way. My previous attempt had tons of locked doors so I couldn’t actually get in anywhere to make a start, and those environmental saw blades were everywhere, all of which don’t show up on your radar. Very stressful!
After sleeping on it I think I should have just gone straight for the factories, repair systems be damned. While ever you’re messing about with systems that don’t spawn things, the systems that do are screwing you. Next time I’m going to try and aim for factory, armoury and sentry systems.
I wish I’d remembered these words!
@Thraeg: gah, I forgot to respond to your answer!
Repair 10 kits sound amazing and I love the spike. The slug gun I didn’t get to test in the field unfortunately. The nuke launcher is tremendous for fire-and-forget system (and enemy) destruction.
I really dig the smart guns because they make aiming a non-issue. The auto-cannon is a beast though. Even against armoury buffed Ironclads and Juggernauts, it was ripping through them. I bet it’s great paired with a recycler, which I really want to learn how to use properly.
The Salamander chassis’ flame trail is great at dealing with Spikedogs and those little drones that attack and chase you en masse. Just boost away and let them burn up in your exhaust.
Nuke packs need to be armed, remember that. They’re useless when you’re getting mobbed! Cloak might work…
Oh and @Left_Empty, I managed to do a 3 Hull objective!
I saw you getting the achievement on my activity feed yesterday. We may not have cleared the Cryptark, but we went above and beyond!
I did it! I hit the factories as hard and as quickly as possible while avoiding conflict until things settled down. On one of the derelicts before I reached the Cryptark I had a choice of getting two more technologies or trying to get the time/money bonus. I decided to leave the money on the table and go for the tech: nuke rockets and autocannon. Yusss!
I also managed to secure Fix-10 repair packs which saved my bacon. My first run on the Cryptark ended with me getting mobbed down a dead-end but my second run was much cleaner as I watched out for the red dots and tried to steer clear. Final loadout: Salamander chassis 6HP, zip smart gun, vulcan laser, nuke rockets and autocannon, all Fix-10s.
Screenshot or it didn’t hap
… Dang it. I am the only one who still got to do it!
I’ve seen your scores on N++, you can do it Left!
So, uh, this is unexpected and cool:
Only discovered it because I saw @BrianRubin wishlist it on my Steam activity feed!
I wants it. I wants it so badly.