Nociception ~ Voltaic Marketplace

An absolutely delightful game! As someone who is totally new to the bullet hells, picking this up finally made the genre really click for me. Not to mention the fantastic artwork and great soundtrack. I genuinely only wish there was even more for me to dive into, and hope for more games in the same vein in the future. Extremely strong recommendation.

An outstanding look into the future of shmups! Takes the Touhou formula into something very uniquely special with its abstract fantasy setting and exquisite world-building discoverable due to the scanning mechanic. Despite it's advances into the potential of the bullet hell genre, it's actually very easy for a bullet hell! It makes this a great introduction for new players that would want to explore this genre as it's quite forgiving with it's amount of lives as well as bullet patterns which make this very approachable for something of this caliber before getting into the harder difficulties. The cast of characters are great! The playable characters all have unique special attacks and their perks that are worth a try although Empitts is hands-down the easiest character to do a full run with as she gifted with bonus lives and the best balance of speed and utility. The bosses and the enemies are unforgettable with their surreal appearances and multi-media visual style that tell vast stor...

Died where I did my first run in the demo. Then again, I was playing Desperate mode both times. Steam asks if I recommend this game? I did! I was using an emoji that caught someone's eye, (because Sawney is just that good) and invited them to the Discord!