oOo: Ascension is an arcade puzzle game that involves solving ways to complete a level while also challenging your reflex skills. I think I must be a sucker for punishment, because I love these kinds of games that push me to rage because I’m so bad at them.
The first tagline I saw for this game was ‘Dying repeatedly never looked so good’ and it couldn’t be more on the money. The graphics in this game are absolutely beautiful, and the UI is purely image-based (which can be risky, but the devs have done a good job of relaying information without using words). The game is pretty straightforward and utilises the isolation technique very well – you start with a ship that you have to move from A to B while avoiding the walls, otherwise you explode. The entire game follows this same principle, but with each level it adds more obstacles, enemies to run from and walls to evade, layering the complexity until you reach a level that completely stumps you. That level for me was the final level in world 2.
I lost count of the amount of times I tried this level, that by the time I completed it, I screamed because I was so happy. Playing it reminded me a lot of playing games like Cuphead and Super Meat Boy – they’re not similar mechanics, but they’re the types of games that at various points you will end up playing a level over and over and over until you know it inside out and finally complete it. If you’re the kind of person who is a glutton for punishment (like me) and enjoys games like Binding of Isaac or Geometry Wars, you’ll like this game a lot.
One caveat to be aware of when purchasing this game is that it’s controller only, so do not purchase if you don’t have a controller!
You can purchase the game now on Steam, or follow the developer @oOoAscension.