Neon Blight is a rogue-lite gun store management game that’s currently looking for funding on Kickstarter (check out the campaign here). It’s a lot like Moonlighter and Enter the Gungeon, though it’s set in its own alternate version of cyberpunk that really makes it stand out from any other similar games. The trailer for the game in its current state shows off gameplay that reminds me a lot of Sparklite, but there’s a key difference with Neon Blight being a gun-focused game over melee weapons. Check that trailer out below and read on for more details.
Managing Your Own Gun Store
One of the most interesting aspects of Neon Blight for me is the fact that it allows you to manage your own store. I find management games a joy to play in whatever capacity they allow you to manage, but actually running a store sounds like a lot of fun. Yes, Moonlighter allows for this, but I haven’t played that game.
Your store is your main source of income in the game, with that income going towards character upgrades that make you stronger, and weapon upgrades that make the weapons you personally use a lot more powerful too. As you’d expect, some NPCs will want a cheap deal on their weapons, while others want the best that money can buy, and they’ve got a lot of cash. Players have to manage the prices of each weapon to cater to these customers, so it sounds like these will be people that you’ll get to know over the course of the game.
Some NPCs will even request specific items from you. If you get the item within the time limit, then you’ll get a boost to your credibility, leading to more sales later on. Customers will even leave reviews for your weapons and services. As I type this I’m just getting more excited about running my store, so I hope all of you enjoy that sort of thing too.
Getting Your Stock
You don’t just sit behind a desk and order guns into your store, you’ve got to go and get them yourself. You find your stock, weapons and other items, in The Outer Borders. This is a colossal area of the game with seven distinct areas, and more than 200 rooms to explore. Of course, The Outer Borders is littered with enemies to fight and puzzles to solve, all of which will lead you close to the ultimate weapon, a mysterious item that seems to be your overall goal in life.
The Outer Borders is interesting because it isn’t all immediately open to you. As each in-game day goes by, more of The Outer Borders becomes accessible, while paths that were open become inaccessible. The paths function on a seven day pattern, which is important to learn over time so that you can know where the best loot is on any given day.
While The Outer Borders is primarily a space for you to farm loot to sell, it does offer progression. Bosses need to be defeated, and puzzles solved so that you can work towards that overall goal of acquiring the ultimate weapon.
Fighting For Your Life
Combat in Neon Blight is easy to learn, but hard to master. Each enemy has been designed from the ground up with unique animations, just like games similar to Dark Souls. Fighting enemies across a wide spectrum of sizes, including tiny zombies and massive giants, isn’t something that you can do without the right tools though. This is where your weapons come into play, with hundreds to choose from, and each one can be upgraded to suit your needs. There are even Legendary variants of weapons that can drop in The Outer Borders, which have special stats and effects on them that make them extremely special to use, or sell.
Support A Worthy Cause
Not Only does Neon Blight look awesome, it’s got a stretch goal for Nintendo Switch. I would absolutely love to see this game hit Nintendo Switch, so let’s all give it a boost to get it there. The Kickstarter campaign wasn’t originally necessary for Neon Blight, though it was always in the creator’s mind. Last year a publisher approached the developer, Enrique Poirier, though he hasn’t said who they were. Things were looking good for a while, but then the publisher just stopped speaking to Enrique. As of November, the publisher was dropped, and this Kickstarter campaign was planned.
How’s It Looking?
At the time of writing this campaign sits at £1,609 out of the required £22,792 goal to get the game made. This is a game that’s been in development for a couple of years now, but seeing the difference over those two years shows you just how good the work is. neon Blight has the potential to be as popular as games like Moonlighter, sneaking in as a sleeper hit, but it just needs that boost to get it over the edge. When it comes to rewards, they’re all mostly digital, with a couple of physical items for the collectors out there who want a CD or enamel pin. The digital rewards are fairly beefy though, with options for designing levels, clothes, and even an entire boss! I could see this campaign getting fully funded, but it needs some awareness spreading first, so that all of you generous people out there can actually see it. We’ll have to wait and see what happens with this one, with a long way to go and 23 days still left until the campaign ends.
Sometimes we write about indie games on Kickstarter that are looking for funding. If you want to read about some others then check them out here.