"It's PEAK"
Wanted to wait until Final Ascent was out to give a review. And now that it's out, very glad to say they totally nailed it! The game is a basic concept of 'first-person climbing simulator with friends'. But, in my opinion, there is a LOT more going on that helped elevate this game to my favorite of 2025.

First off, despite co-op being a main selling point of this game, this game is equally fun solo, and lends itself well to solo runs without sacrificing the the core mechanics. I originally tried some solo runs as a joke, as it was hard for me to play with others, and I ended up liking it so much, that that's become my primary way of playing, and it's very interesting to approach the game differently when there aren't other players to back you up.

The game is also super satisfying both in visuals, and the way it controls, thought the latter can certainly take a bit to get used to. There's a surprising amount of tech in this game, and I found it very fun to develop strategies and routes on many of the maps, especially when it came to doing Ascents. I ended up enjoying just playing casually so much, that even after I got 100%, I'd still be coming back just to see what the day's seed had to offer, and even went for self-imposed challenge runs.

If I had to say anything major against the game, there are a few sound effects that are just ridiculously loud for no reason, Dynamite especially, and there are a few mechanics that feel a little bit more annoying than what they're worth, with the main one being Ascent 5's cold nights, which pair especially poorly with Ascent 7 and 8's gimmicks, though that might honestly just be a skill issue on my part. (Also for some reason, the game has some weird stutters on Vulkan which aren't nearly as present on DirectX, which feels odd to me, but eh)

Overall, it's been a blast playing this. Can't wait to take down Ascent 8 solo. Wishing the team best of luck on their future projects!! o7