Is Jydge as dictatorial in how it has to be played to succeed?

[Memph]

I'm so trying to like this game, but constantly running out of ammo and finding one must play certain sections in very particular ways is really starting to grind my gears, in coming down to sheer trial and error, rather than any reactionary skill.

Loved NeonChrome, but after this I'm a little wary of how 'hardcore' the latter level-based games are, as I'm not much on repetitive grinding for perfection, rather than minute-to-minute action where you can just play through sloppy and then go back to do better.

Love my shooters, but so many fall into the trap of being for masochists-with-infinite-time-and-patience-to-repeat-the-same-so-many-minutes-to-absolute-perfection, where more casual players, who'd just like to play through first, can bounce right off of.

Kinda feel I'm at that point at chapter 2 and dying repeatedly to running out of bullets, or getting one-shotted from offscreen

[Benedict]

No Jydge is totally different gameplay (while still being a top down shooter in the same engine).

In Jydge you have fixed maps. Each "difficulty" for the map has 3 different semi-optional objectives (like save hostages etc). You mix and match your loadout each time, based on your play style, the objectives, etc - there is no right way to play. As such its completely different to Neon Chrome (one life, random levels, random loadouts) and TimeRecoil (fixed maps, no loadout, one way to play each map well).

Im also enjoying TimeRecoil a lot less than Jydge, but I will persevere with it.

[BlackjackGT]

I'm trying this cause the bundle was on sale (this and Xenoraid were the ones I'd held out on to this point). I'm on normal difficulty, not really enjoying the whole "you get shot one time, you're dead" aspect at all.

I like the slow-mo idea but arguably Max Payne did it better as a 3rd person shooter years ago.

And I like the time travel idea but going from 1988 to 1981 to 1987 is really just not all that interesting. :) I mean I thought the game might have us veer into wildly different years and settings.

Jydge certainly is more flexible in how you can approach stuff and it's more focused on weapons and abilities and equipment customization. The medals system there still ends up requiring a fair amount of replaying the same fixed levels to earn enough medals unlock the next mission map. But I never felt I had to play a Jydge map a certain way to succeed -- certainly seemed to reward variety in tactics. :)

While I appreciate Time Recoil not being a roguelike, I already see that I'll need to play many levels over and over and over to figure a way through them.

I like it but I don't feel Jydge or Time Recoil or Tesla vs. Lovecraft so far come close to Neon Chrome in fun factor or replayability, at least for my tastes. I feel like TvL may reach sales heighths their other twin-sticks haven't reached because, well, it's a flashy game with screenfuls of monsters and that just seems to sell (I quit TvL for now cause I'm stuck on its 2nd "Aether" difficulty and can't progress any further). :)

And I think the roguelike or roguelite label that Neon Chrome has tends to scare more casual gamers off. And plus, the name. What the heck IS a "Neon Chrome" anyway? Maybe "Maze Massacre" would've drawn more attention/sales. :) I've wandered so far off topic, sorry. :)

[BlackjackGT]

Yeessh. This might be the most exasperating twin-stick I've ever played. On some maps literally I can't get past the start without dying. The whole "get hit once, you die" aspect really just isn't my cup of tea in this genre. If I can get to the point where I have something other than this constantly out of ammo pop pistol, I might get somewhere.