The Ascent Reviews
It's a shame "The Ascent" could be more fun game. Its structure was not interesting compared to the attractive cyberpunk world in it.
Review in Korean | Read full review
In theory, a co-op, loot-based isometric RPG like The Ascent has the potential of being a great cyberpunk-themed experience to play with a group of friends. The world-building is appealing visually and aurally, but it’s ultimately unsatisfying and often unrewarding during exploration. The lack of replayability, broken cooperative play, bugs, and unbalanced artificial enemy difficulty make it tough to appreciate its positive elements. It’s sad to say that The Ascent is another over-hyped cyberpunk game that is all fluff and no substance.
The Ascent is not perfect, but it is fun as hell. The frenetic gunplay is only supported by its engaging aesthetic. If you don’t mind not having a fully immersive experience that has a shallow narrative, what you will get is a massive arcology to explore, along with taking on hordes of foes with your hard-earned loot. Its deceptively simplistic gameplay only allows for better exploration and engagement with its many sidequests.
The Ascent is a solid and fun action-RPG, capable of providing many hours of fun thanks to well-paced gameplay and powerful and inspired graphics. Too bad for some flaws such as the poorly executed cooperative mode, annoying bugs and the lack of Italian localization, which prevent the first job of Neon Giant to shine as it deserves.
Review in Italian | Read full review
The Ascent offers a surprisingly decent amount of depth and is best suited for fans of looter shooters.
For [US$20] or so, you’ll have a jolly neon-filled dystopian-blasting old time with The Ascent. Just don’t expect a grandeur tale ala Cyberpunk 2077, though you’ll have a meatier action RPG experience.
The Ascent feels like two very different games. One of those games is an enjoyable aRPG in an over-the-top cyberpunk world where you find new equipment, upgrade your weapons and abilities, and take on odd jobs in an attempt to better your character’s situation. In many ways, this feels like a combination of the canceled Prey 2 and what a lot of people mistakenly expected Cyberpunk 2077 to be like, all filtered through a world that combines the alien-rich population of Mass Effect with Blade Runner‘s rainy dystopia. The other game is the one that undermines that first one.
Overall, The Ascent is a great addition to the cyberpunk genre. The graphics are stunning, the characters and story entertaining, and it’s available right now on Gamepass!
The Ascent is a love letter to dark, gritty sci-fi that feels like a marriage between Dredd and Syndicate. Dripping with atmosphere and Sweet Justice’s Carptenter-esque score, all backed by intense tactical shootouts and next gen visuals. The Ascent is easily one of this years best games.
Whether you will explore it alone or with friends, Veles is incredibly immersive. The Ascent is an incredible audiovisual achievement that is not without issues, but they are not as big as to be unforgivable.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
The Ascent is a bloody good time that combines addictive twin-stick shooting, a spectacular cyberpunk world, and a rocking synth soundtrack that elevates every moment to the next level. I never wanted to put the game down, despite some shortcomings.
Neon Giant has some minor performance issues to iron out with RTX and DX12. The developers have made a game that’s as complex as you want, but doesn’t overcomplicate anything. Every system has a purpose, and is a weapon of opportunity for you to overcome obstacles. I love when the game isn’t having me fight everything in sight, and allowing me to take in the world. No game has made me want DLC or more content than The Ascent has. Simply put, The Ascent is a brilliant game, that absolutely lives up to the hype.
The Ascent’s setting is remarkably striking, and it’s quite fun to play to boot. But the aspects that are either lacking, or entirely non-existent in the game’s design, have a large, detrimental affect on the overall quality of the experience.
At $30 US it is a steal, but it’s also available day one on Game Pass. Stunning graphics, excellent music, innovative gameplay, and so many other factors come together to not only make one of the best releases of the year but one of my favorite games of all time. (score updated after launch, console version is far behind/buggier than the Steam version)
A decent enough action-shooter RPG that comes with its own sets of problems, The Ascent is a flawed debut for Neon Giant and a missed opportunity.