Developer Radiangames announced on February 15 that the roguelike shooting game “Rhythm Storm“announced. The compatible platform is PC (Steam) and is scheduled to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“Rhythm Storm” is a shooting game with roguelike elements. 1 song = 1 stage, aiming to survive until the end of the song while defeating enemies that appear from all directions in waves every 8 bars. A top-down perspective is adopted, and at first glance it may seem like a twin-stick shooter, but aiming and shooting at enemies is automatic. Players will be able to concentrate on moving their own aircraft and operating abilities.
When you defeat an enemy, you get experience points, and when you accumulate a certain amount, you can get two types of upgrades. It seems that various upgrades such as improving shot attack power, shooting speed, aim speed, etc., increasing the number of so-called optional drone equipment, etc. will be presented at random. There is also a mode called Encore Upgrades that records the upgrades obtained in a specific stage and allows you to replay while automatically earning the same upgrades. This is a mode where you can enjoy music without interruptions for upgrade selection.
This work is characterized by gameplay that synchronizes with the rhythm of the music. The previously mentioned enemy wave every 8 bars is one of the elements. In addition, enemies move and attack according to the rhythm, and the environment, background, and UI of the stage change in a beat-like manner. On the other hand, there are no rhythm synchronization elements for your own machine, so you can play freely. However, it seems that exhilaration will be improved if you use abilities etc. according to the rhythm.
In addition, the visuals of this work will be one of the attractions. Vector graphics inspired by the shooting game “Geometry Wars” and the movie “Tron: Legacy” are adopted, and when an enemy is defeated, countless lights are scattered by GPU particles. The developer strongly recommends playing on a monitor of 1440p or higher and 120Hz or higher for the best visual experience.
Radiangames, which handles this work, is the personal studio of indie developer Luke Schneider. Known for developing the physical demolition simulation game “Instruments of Destruction”, the twin-stick shooter “Devastator”, and the puzzle game “Slydris” series. This work was born when he encountered “Vampire Survivors” while searching for a roguelike element in his next twin-stick shooter.
In fact, this work adopts a system that strongly feels the influence from “Vampire Survivors”. However, Mr. Schneider said that it was quite late to know the existence of the same work, and he did not grasp the situation that follower works were appearing one after another. Still, he said that the competition is motivating, and above all, that this work is fun to make.
“Rhythm Storm” is a PC (Steam) will be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2023. An alpha version demo is scheduled to be delivered on February 21.
