The Ascent (XSX|S/XB1/PC/Game Pass) - Twin Stick Shooter/ARPG coming to PS on 24th March.

PC gamepass version still doesn’t have DLSS and ray tracing from what I can tell.

The shotgun (riot gun) in this is excellent. One of the best shotgun’s I’ve ever used. A lot of fun.

However, there is an annoying bug with the main menu and trying to quit the game. I end up just getting killed to avoid quitting from main menu. Also, I’m not quite sure they have worked out game and mission design. The map is rubbish, the objectives are not well posted, and it’s hard to optimise how you go from objective to objective. It also seems overly restrictive as to what areas you can/cannot access and you only find this out when you pick an objective and head all the way over, only to find a barrier.

How is this as a solo player game? I have just found out my mate i wa splanning on playing this with won't be about for a month. I'm not sure if i can be arsed to wait for him if its decent and not too grindy in SP.

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:How is this as a solo player game? I have just found out my mate i wa splanning on playing this with won't be about for a month. I'm not sure if i can be arsed to wait for him if its decent and not too grindy in SP.

It’s enjoyable, not spectacular. It doesn’t feel like a loot shooter. I can imagine it being fun in co-op. The story is a bit meh.

If you are not in any rush, and you have other stuff to play. Give it a month, especially if you are on PC.

Bertie wrote:
kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:How is this as a solo player game? I have just found out my mate i was planning on playing this with won't be about for a month. I'm not sure if i can be arsed to wait for him if its decent and not too grindy in SP.

It’s enjoyable, not spectacular. It doesn’t feel like a loot shooter. I can imagine it being fun in co-op. The story is a bit meh.

If you are not in any rush, and you have other stuff to play. Give it a month, especially if you are on PC.

Thanks. Im on Series X, but it sounds like maybe its worth waiting for the co-op experience. I certainly have plenty of other stuff to play.

Played a bit more of this. It’s a little buggy. Some of the missions and way point markers are buggy. Loads of missions can’t be completed until later, but it doesn’t tell you this.

There are some crazy difficult spikes, where you basically need to change all your equipment and pick one gun, but it doesn’t tell you this. Hopefully feedback will improve it in the coming weeks and months for those joining later.

The guns and sound are excellent though.

Sounds like a good one to hold off for a few months on.

kazanova_Frankenstein wrote:Sounds like a good one to hold off for a few months on.

I’m into it now, and will push through. A small team have done an incredible job, just lacks a bit of polish of those RPG elements. They spent a lot of time polishing the graphics and sounds, but missed a few areas.

twitter.com/DomsPlaying/status/1422921748677382152

Patches are out now for all versions. No idea what they contain yet.

I like the look of this but I’ve heard it’s a little janky right now.

13Gb update. Not playing that tonight.

It looks great, but I'm not sold on the gameplay. Felt like I was firing peashooters at various generic enemies, and I lack patience and taste. Hope you folks get the most out of it!

Finished it today and would probably give it a 8. Graphics and gunplay were very good. Story was ok. Bosses were definitely a difficulty spike but not too bad. Other than one crash & one heavy framerate drop it was pretty bug free.

Monkey Man wrote:Finished it today and would probably give it a 8. Graphics and gunplay were very good. Story was ok. Bosses were definitely a difficulty spike but not too bad. Other than one crash & one heavy framerate drop it was pretty bug free.

How long did it take you?

Finiarél wrote:
Monkey Man wrote:Finished it today and would probably give it a 8. Graphics and gunplay were very good. Story was ok. Bosses were definitely a difficulty spike but not too bad. Other than one crash & one heavy framerate drop it was pretty bug free.

How long did it take you?

14hrs, that includes pretty much all of the side-quests.

Finished. The last mission and very last section of the very last mission is properly cheap and I still don't quite know how I managed it. It isn't the best and is very frustrating.

Overall, a decent game. Story is pretty rubbish. It looks incredible, but seems odd that PC Gamepass users get no DLSS and proper ray tracing yet. Solid mechanics, guns are good, but could have done more with the RPG elements, hacking etc. Solid 6 or 7.

Image from last mission - look at the radar top right too.

Crazy amount of detail.

twitter.com/AscentTheGame/status/1428334729951068161

About time. I’ve finished the game and deleted now. No idea why MS don’t get the PC gamepass versions sorted for release.

Sounds like that update is a bit borked:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021 ... f-problems

…players have reported that this patch has negatively affected the cyberpunk-themed twin-stick shooter, including hits to framerate, stuttering and asset loading problems.

I'm currently playing the Game Pass for PC version of The Ascent, and can report that after this update went live, the game became pretty much unplayable, with an horrendous framerate, stuttering and moments when I couldn't proceed because the environment failed to load.

Players have also reported lost Cyberdeck functions (you use the Cyberdeck to open locked chests and doors, among other things).

Redditor Kottypiqz suggested a fix for the update stutter on PC that helped my game perform better. You need to enable DX12 and toggle off all ray tracing options. For some reason, The Ascent appears to toggle ray tracing options on even if your GPU can't use the graphics tech, and then greys out those options with the game set to DX11.

But don't forget; it's set in a dystopian future, where things are supposed to be worse than the past.

The Ascent (XSX|S/XB1/PC/Game Pass) - Twin Stick Shooter/ARPG coming to PS on 24th March.

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