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Lithium City - Stylized neon-drenched Action game (Steam). 97% positive. Let's make this unknown indie successful!

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werezompire

werezompire

Zeboyd Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
11,636
store.steampowered.com

Lithium City on Steam

Lithium City is a stylized isometric action game set in a neon-drenched world of electricity and violence.
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com

$7.99 USD. Came out earlier this month. It currently has a 97% positive user rating.



Some quotes from a user review I found from the Metacritic page (no review sites have reviewed it so far):

9/10

A blast to playthrough with some surprisingly fun level designs. It's sort of a 2 hour high octane action set piece and a fresh take on the Hotline Miami formula with a stunning isometric neon aesthetic.

The pace of the difficulty was tight and the gameplay was fast and frenetic requiring you to think on your feet as the situations are all varied. Hotline Miami required pitch perfect runs with no room for errors sometimes leading to cheap strategies like hiding behind doors and stacking enemies. Here, it's more accessible/forgiving and allows the player more chances to fight back.

There's no dialogue but there's some environmental story telling going on and leaves the interpretation entirely up to the player. I wish this was explored more because it was interesting to say the least.

I was expecting the usual Outrun/Synthwave style music but what i got instead was a welcome change with Electro/Techno style beats and soaring string sections with a hint of JRPG inspiration. Somehow, it just works. The guns sound meaty and the sound effects are all unique and solid. There's a lack of ambiances or environmental sounds that hurt it a bit but that sort of thing can probably be overlooked in this style of game.
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Here's an article from the developer about his journey as an indie developer over 10 years that covers this game's difficult journey.

Some highlights:
It won the Excellence in Audio award at GDC China IGF 2015.
He experimented with procedural generation before deciding that hand-crafted levels were the way to go.
Became depressed during development and work halted.
Crawled his way out of his depression and forced himself to work on it more.
Was going to be highlighted in a Steam demo event but then they moved the event time past his release date.
Only sold around 300 copies in the first week or so.

The developer seems like a very nice guy with a lot of talent and a family and his game doesn't deserve to languish in obscurity. The game looks awesome & it's not expensive. A few Metacritic reviews (I know we have media people who frequent the forum & could do a review), a few members here picking it up alongside their Steam sale haul, and we could turn this game into a real success story (and he lives in the Philippines so cost of living is relatively low so it doesn't need a crazy amount of sales to be successful). I know I plan to pick it up soon (just waiting for my new, replacement computer to ship).
 
Lelouch0612

Lelouch0612

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,200
Always appreciated to put the spotlight on hidden gems, especially for indies.

Good thread OP, it looks interesting
 
hikarutilmitt

hikarutilmitt

"This guy are sick"
Member
Dec 16, 2017
11,555
How does it control? It looks like there may be some twin stick to it with the shooting in the trailer.
 

Deleted member 46489

User requested account closure
Banned
Aug 7, 2018
1,979
Nooooo. No no no no no. I already blew my budget in the steam summer sale. Why would you do this to me, OP?
Dang, it looks so good.
 
HandsomeCharles

HandsomeCharles

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,987
This guy has a load of kids to feed too, give him some love!

(Also, IIRC this game is made in Flash. Yep, that Flash!)
 
Mass_Pincup

Mass_Pincup

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
7,149
Seems right up my alley.

I'll probably get it at the end of the Steam Sale, thanks for highlighting this game.
 
nded

nded

Member
Nov 14, 2017
10,672
WiRgUqN.jpg

Everything checks out.
 
SapientWolf

SapientWolf

Member
Nov 6, 2017
6,565
Yeah, this one went near the top of my wishlist the moment I watched the trailer. It's like a synthwave Hotline Miami with an amped up movement system. It just oozes style.
 

Deleted member 4321

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
895
werezompire said:
store.steampowered.com

Lithium City on Steam

Lithium City is a stylized isometric action game set in a neon-drenched world of electricity and violence.
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com

$7.99 USD. Came out earlier this month. It currently has a 97% positive user rating.



Some quotes from a user review I found from the Metacritic page (no review sites have reviewed it so far):



Here's an article from the developer about his journey as an indie developer over 10 years that covers this game's difficult journey.

Some highlights:
It won the Excellence in Audio award at GDC China IGF 2015.
He experimented with procedural generation before deciding that hand-crafted levels were the way to go.
Became depressed during development and work halted.
Crawled his way out of his depression and forced himself to work on it more.
Was going to be highlighted in a Steam demo event but then they moved the event time past his release date.
Only sold around 300 copies in the first week or so.

The developer seems like a very nice guy with a lot of talent and a family and his game doesn't deserve to languish in obscurity. The game looks awesome & it's not expensive. A few Metacritic reviews (I know we have media people who frequent the forum & could do a review), a few members here picking it up alongside their Steam sale haul, and we could turn this game into a real success story (and he lives in the Philippines so cost of living is relatively low so it doesn't need a crazy amount of sales to be successful). I know I plan to pick it up soon (just waiting for my new, replacement computer to ship).
Click to expand...
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How did you hear about it? You know a lot about a game that you haven't played yet.

The article by the developer was an interesting read/skim.
 
OP
OP
werezompire

werezompire

Zeboyd Games
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
11,636
Also, I just wanted to mention that a number of the Steam reviews mentioned that the final boss had a really cheap move that was hard to dodge & in the patch notes yesterday, it mentioned that he added an extra telegraph to that move to make it more manageable. So the developer is willing to listen to feedback and adjust accordingly.
 
2Blackcats

2Blackcats

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,214
werezompire said:
Also, I just wanted to mention that a number of the Steam reviews mentioned that the final boss had a really cheap move that was hard to dodge & in the patch notes yesterday, it mentioned that he added an extra telegraph to that move to make it more manageable. So the developer is willing to listen to feedback and adjust accordingly.
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Congrats on the game launch.

(I jest)
 
denx

denx

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,338
y u do dis to me, I told myself I wouldn't buy anything else in this sale
 
Speely

Speely

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
8,037
Hey thanks for the heads up! Looks great, and is right up my alley. Easy buy :)
 
Filipus

Filipus

Prophet of Regret
Avenger
Dec 7, 2017
5,160
I was reading his article and once I finished I immediately bought the game (not even because I was super interested but because I LOVED the article) and was going to make a topic here on resetera. I'm glad you did it OP!




I converted one of their reddit videos to post on Imgur and share. I don't know how they count views but I got close to 1k views in less than a minute... hoping it helps haha.
 
KujoJosuke

KujoJosuke

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,919
Bought it. Might not ever play it since I have a billion other games to work on, but showing my support for such a cool looking effort.
 
FeedMeAStrayCat

FeedMeAStrayCat

Member
Oct 25, 2017
704
Finally purchased it. Just wanted to wait for the new Humble Monthly/Choice just in case it somehow was included (which it was not).
Thanks for the OP!
 
kyle mechlachlan

kyle mechlachlan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,395
I finished this this morning, it's fun but felt a little underwhelmed by it overall. Mostly because it felt a little undercooked and shorter than it should have been.

I got stuck for a while on what ended up being the final boss. Fighting her and seeing credits I was a little surprised, because I assumed I was at least halfway through the game by this point. The game didn't feel like it was over by this point IMO. I felt like it didn't fully explore it's mechanical potential.

It's a neat little thing tho...
 
Additional chapters to be added as free updates
  • Index
    • OP
    OP
    werezompire

    werezompire

    Zeboyd Games
    Verified
    Oct 26, 2017
    11,636
    The developer just posted an update saying that originally the game was going to have 13 chapters, but due to various difficulties, they launched with only 6 chapters. However, due to feedback (people liking the game a lot with the biggest complaint being length), he's planning on doing free updates that will add the rest of the chapters. ETA is for chapters 7-9 to be added sometime in August-September, with TBA on chapters 10-13.
     
  • Index
    • Filipus

    Filipus

    Prophet of Regret
    Avenger
    Dec 7, 2017
    5,160
    werezompire said:
    The developer just posted an update saying that originally the game was going to have 13 chapters, but due to various difficulties, they launched with only 6 chapters. However, due to feedback (people liking the game a lot with the biggest complaint being length), he's planning on doing free updates that will add the rest of the chapters. ETA is for chapters 7-9 to be added sometime in August-September, with TBA on chapters 10-13.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    I also contacted him and he's trying to make an account on Era and post here :)
    I hope this OP you did helped him somehow. My little gif has 40k views so that's good haha
     
    OP
    OP
    werezompire

    werezompire

    Zeboyd Games
    Verified
    Oct 26, 2017
    11,636
    Filipus said:
    I also contacted him and he's trying to make an account on Era and post here :)
    I hope this OP you did helped him somehow. My little gif has 40k views so that's good haha
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    He emailed me as well and said that he really appreciated all the positive comments on this thread. Hopefully his account will get approved soon.
     
    scitek

    scitek

    Member
    Oct 27, 2017
    10,206
    Thanks for the recommendation. Just played up to chapter 4. Didn't take long, but it's really fun, very intuitive, and easy to play.
     
    Messofanego

    Messofanego

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    26,579
    UK
    Up to 3-4.

    The presentation is cool. Especially the moment where you dash past a hallway of shooters and then you jump out of a building window, as the camera pans out for a wide shot.

    Anyone else not liking the melee because of how close you have to be to the enemy to register the hit?

    Otherwise really great cold opening, the animations are good, really feels like playing Ruiner again although without the slow-mo. I like how responsive the dash is. You get into the gameplay loop of shooting, throwing the spent weapon, melee, dashing around to flank, get other weapons.

    Not sure I like the female character designs, seems a bit sexualised. Short dress, thigh high boots, catgirl ears, is the creator a fan of Elfen Lied? Lol

    Not a fan of the checkpointing. It's not clear to what level you get kicked back to if you die. Do you get put back to the first of a handful of levels, where the elevator or square is?
     
    spineduke

    spineduke

    Moderator
    Oct 25, 2017
    8,796
    Messofanego said:
    Up to 3-4.

    The presentation is cool. Especially the moment where you dash past a hallway of shooters and then you jump out of a building window, as the camera pans out for a wide shot.

    Anyone else not liking the melee because of how close you have to be to the enemy to register the hit?

    Otherwise really great cold opening, the animations are good, really feels like playing Ruiner again although without the slow-mo. I like how responsive the dash is. You get into the gameplay loop of shooting, throwing the spent weapon, melee, dashing around to flank, get other weapons.

    Not sure I like the female character designs, seems a bit sexualised. Short dress, thigh high boots, catgirl ears, is the creator a fan of Elfen Lied? Lol

    Not a fan of the checkpointing. It's not clear to what level you get kicked back to if you die. Do you get put back to the first of a handful of levels, where the elevator or square is?
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    Yea I was looking at this and the overlap with Ruiner was my first thought. Ruiner was very fun, although the last 1/3 of the game was rushed and half baked (money issues I suppose?). If anyone is looking for a solid twin stick...
     
    theAllseeingEYE

    theAllseeingEYE

    Member
    Apr 4, 2018
    4,590
    Vancouver, BC
    Looks awesome, sign me up.

    It kind of looks like an isometric hotline Miami, gameplay-wise, mixed with Ghost in the shell/cyberpunk, and a cool glass-wall look. Totally my kind of game.
     
    SJRB

    SJRB

    The Fallen
    Oct 28, 2017
    4,861
    Looks cool!

    If you fancy the dashing and frantic combat, I can wholeheartedly recommend Akane on Steam.

     
    Messofanego

    Messofanego

    Member
    Oct 25, 2017
    26,579
    UK
    How many chapters are there? I'm on Chapter 5 now. The train level was silly but fun, and then the saber and javelin enemies were cool because the weapons disappear quickly if not picked up.
     
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