The Ascent (Cyberpunk ARPG)

^^ This is more or less my take on the game and I'm someone that typically doesn't go for isometric games.

I like it. $24 out of pocket thanks to GMG made it even more of a "why the hell not" decision. I have an RTX 3080 and I'm here to tell you this thing is a demanding son of a gun. I dropped from 4k down to 1440P and it was a night and day difference in terms of how hard the GPU was working and how much heat it was putting out so be warned there are some "optimization refinements" that likely need to happen here. Update your drivers first and foremost if you haven't already.

DX12 has too many stability issues at present. Don't bother. DLSS at balanced helps. Drop shadows to high. Medium is worthless. Low is for serious hardware challenges. Vsync...it's blasphemy but you might have to use it. Use your best judgment.

I agree with this reviewer and others that it probably needed just a little more work to really put some things over the top. As it stands I can see 1-2 nice patches having that effect.

At this price point, there is a lot that's easily forgivable and there is a lot this game does that frankly shows up games that cost twice as much. There is plenty of shooting but it isn't just a mindless shooter. Not at all.

I'm running at 3440x1440 on a lowly 3060 12GB version, with DLSS on Quality, in DX-12 with VSync off (adaptive enabled on my monitor/driver). So far it's smooth as silk, and no issues to speak of. Granted I've only played it for maybe an hour or two, but the experience so far has been flawless. I haven't updated my drivers in maybe three weeks or so, (not sure which version I'm on) but maybe there's something in that. It's also a brand new, clean build (the PC) so maybe that's part of it as well. The only things installed are Steam, Doom Eternal, this, and a few shootemups. I'm running the Steam version if that makes any difference.

I agree completely that it's not a mindless shooter. It's simplistic, but not mindless. There is plenty of action, a bit of strategy, and light RPG elements. It's really good for the style of game they went for. I'm impressed, and the price is great!

It's kind of got Syndicate-isms, but with full action/twin-stick control. That's excellent in my view.
 
I'm running at 3440x1440 on a lowly 3060 12GB version, with DLSS on Quality, in DX-12 with VSync off (adaptive enabled on my monitor/driver). So far it's smooth as silk, and no issues to speak of. Granted I've only played it for maybe an hour or two, but the experience so far has been flawless. I haven't updated my drivers in maybe three weeks or so, (not sure which version I'm on) but maybe there's something in that. It's also a brand new, clean build (the PC) so maybe that's part of it as well. The only things installed are Steam, Doom Eternal, this, and a few shootemups. I'm running the Steam version if that makes any difference.

I agree completely that it's not a mindless shooter. It's simplistic, but not mindless. There is plenty of action, a bit of strategy, and light RPG elements. It's really good for the style of game they went for. I'm impressed, and the price is great!

It's kind of got Syndicate-isms, but with full action/twin-stick control. That's excellent in my view.

Agreed.

I've seen people discuss Steam vs GamePass and issues. I'm on Steam. The performance is good... I just felt like things were running a bit hard and hot, though. This was at 4k/120. Nothing I was alarmed about. I'm still fiddling around.
 
Agreed.

I've seen people discuss Steam vs GamePass and issues. I'm on Steam. The performance is good... I just felt like things were running a bit hard and hot, though. This was at 4k/120. Nothing I was alarmed about. I'm still fiddling around.

Ah, I may have missed the 120FPS part. Makes sense. My monitor is only 75 + adaptive.
 
Agreed.

I've seen people discuss Steam vs GamePass and issues. I'm on Steam. The performance is good... I just felt like things were running a bit hard and hot, though. This was at 4k/120. Nothing I was alarmed about. I'm still fiddling around.
Yeah last night I bought the game and tried it out for 4k/120hz gaming. Seemed to get between 95-119fps (I cap my FPS). All maxed out it runs buttery smooth with DLSS on Quality and RT turned on. The attention to detail is just amazing in the game. The 3090 stays around 52-53c on hybrid cooling.

My only issue it I keep trying to play the game like Diablo....and it throws me off sometimes. Might give my PS5 controller a go and see how it does.
 
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Yeah last night I bought the game and tried it out for 4k/120hz gaming. Seemed to get between 95-119fps (I cap my FPS). All maxed out it runs buttery smooth with DLSS on Quality and RT turned on. The attention to detail is just amazing in the game. The 3090 stays around 52-53c on hybrid cooling.

My only issue it I keep trying to play the game like Diablo....and it throws me off sometimes. Might give my PS5 controller a go and see how it does.

I'm playing on an 8BitDo SN30 Pro. It's quite nice with the twin-stick setup. PS5 pad should work great!
 
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Started playing this on Game Pass, lot of stuttering for some reason, it's installed on a NVME PCIe 4.0 drive so no reason for it. Also, the map is totally useless in this game, really hard to navigate around. Looks really gorgeous but at times it's almost overwhelming the amount of shit on the screen.
 
Started playing this on Game Pass, lot of stuttering for some reason, it's installed on a NVME PCIe 4.0 drive so no reason for it. Also, the map is totally useless in this game, really hard to navigate around. Looks really gorgeous but at times it's almost overwhelming the amount of shit on the screen.
My buddies have also talked about a lot of stuttering using the xbox game pass. Makes me wonder if something is up with that version of the game.
 
I'm running an older set up: 2500K, 8GB RAM, GTX 1070, game on SSD on a 26" 1920x1200 display (60Hz). The game came up with all settings on Ultra. I had read about DX12 having some issues, so ran DX11 with VSYNC on, and I am smooth sailing in the game. I do not have the option to select Ray Tracing or DLSS with my card, so these are most likely contributing to issues, if I had to guess.

Also with how detailed the game is, I'd suspect even with a lot of horsepower (as shown Q-BZ and Brackle running higher end cards) systems will get taxed. Good to see some systems that people are running on and what kind of performance they are seeing.

I'm also glad more people are jumping on board to play the game. It has some issues/defects but for a $25-$30 at release I feel you are getting a ton of bang-for-the-buck with this one.
 
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Started playing this on Game Pass, lot of stuttering for some reason, it's installed on a NVME PCIe 4.0 drive so no reason for it. Also, the map is totally useless in this game, really hard to navigate around. Looks really gorgeous but at times it's almost overwhelming the amount of shit on the screen.

I’m getting no stutter at all with my modest card. I wonder if it uses an inordinate amount of VRAM? That is the only good thing about my 3060 is that it has plenty of that.

Otherwise it must be something at a different patch level, of possibly broken on non-Steam version(s).

I suppose it could be other versioning issues like supporting software, drivers, etc. My system was just set up fresh, so everything is clean and/or up to date.
 
My buddies have also talked about a lot of stuttering using the xbox game pass. Makes me wonder if something is up with that version of the game.
May be connected to the missing DLSS and ray tracing. They're working on fixing it, so we'll see what happens.
 
Interesting, I didn't realize DLSS and RT weren't working. Game looks really good regardless.

Anyone else finding the UI to be a bit clunky? I find comparing equipment to be a bit awkward, and it's not clear what a lot of the stats actually do. Like +1 Legs, means...what?
 
Anyone else finding the UI to be a bit clunky? I find comparing equipment to be a bit awkward, and it's not clear what a lot of the stats actually do. Like +1 Legs, means...what?
Press D while in the equipment menus to toggle descriptions on and off. I believe on armor the +1 means it provides slightly more defense against damage of that type over your currently equipped gear. So for eg. +1 in the 'ballistic' section means slightly more defense against physical damage.
For weapons it would be more damage dealt or that damage type.
 
Press D while in the equipment menus to toggle descriptions on and off. I believe on armor the +1 means it provides slightly more defense against damage of that type over your currently equipped gear. So for eg. +1 in the 'ballistic' section means slightly more defense against physical damage.
For weapons it would be more damage dealt or that damage type.
Yeah, from what I can tell it just brings up a single word (Physical, Head, etc) rather than the icon, but not really a description of what is going on. For some things it's somewhat apparent, but for other attributes it seems a bit more vague.
 
This game is like the Shadowrun/Syndicate/Cyberpunk/Smash TV/Diablo crossover I never knew I wanted but am glad I have now. By no stretch is it perfect. It crashes on me too often. Some things get repetitive, but that's a staple of this kind of game, right? I think there's plenty of room to enhance the loot system and skills, but... it's a team of 12. Imagine what these crazy bastards could do if they had a bigger budget and more time.

I'm enjoying the hell out of it, despite some of the shortcomings.
 
fun game but i go form well over 100fps to like .2 secs of sideshow on a 3090/3960 rig when stuff goes boom......kinds feels like a micro freeze or something
 
LOL I see what people mean about potential balancing issues. I'm a level 9 right now for example.

I'm going along on a mission (you never have to be lost. Set a mission and either hit up on the d pad or I forget which default key and you will have a ping right towards the goal) ... if I go off a little bit and explore you can hit level 21 enemies and be swarmed to death in nanoseconds so explore with caution if you see a chest "nearby" that you want to get to.
 
Its a fun game, not as tacticle as I was hoping from some of the trailers, its straight up a PS3 era twin stick with modern graphics. Frankly I love that era of gaming for couch coop, but its pretty bland solo.

Its amusing to see the better than CP2077, the game is buggy (stutters when loading new shaders frequently), missing rtx at launch on one platform, has zero deviation so far in quest mechanics (go here then shoot x), and so far has no DoT and little for alternative mechanics to shoot things. The enviroments looks amazing, and the sfx are spot on. So its basically indie studio twin stick cp2077.
 
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LOL I see what people mean about potential balancing issues. I'm a level 9 right now for example.

I'm going along on a mission (you never have to be lost. Set a mission and either hit up on the d pad or I forget which default key and you will have a ping right towards the goal) ... if I go off a little bit and explore you can hit level 21 enemies and be swarmed to death in nanoseconds so explore with caution if you see a chest "nearby" that you want to get to.
Had that happen more then a few times before I knew what happened as a guy with a pistol somehow one shots me form outside my viewing range.....
 
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I'm enjoying it so far. It's a little slow at first but I enjoy the setting and there is enough going on for me to keep playing.

Hopefully the fix the stuttering on the Gamepass PC version because it runs well on the Series X. I like the fact my progress is saved between versions.
 
Just completed this game, enjoyed it throughout with the exception of a couple sections where the difficulty spike was just too much (probably tested with co-op rather than single player). The devs nailed the cyberpunk aesthetic, with the futuristic dystopian maze like world.

It is a fairly solid title in all aspects - though the real star of the show is the environment, no doubt it's the most detailed isometric game ever released. Every area of every level has an immense amount of detail with the environments, lighting, models, characters and paraphernalia lying around. One of those games I didn't mind walking around instead of using fast travel.

I would have preferred they gave you more of the high end weapon upgrade materials, so you could upgrade more weapons to +10. Maybe have a vendor sell them, as by end game I had 900k creds and nothing to spend them on.
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They should have also spread out the weapon distribution, too many of the cool weapons drop too late in the game. (also the loot bot augment should have been built into the game by default, not require an augment slot)

Ran into a few easter eggs and call outs to other games/movies, such as this cyberpunk 2077 one.
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The story was fairly straightforward, nothing to write home about, decent enough for a doubleA game giving your character motivation for his journey. If you do all the quests, explore all the optional areas and collect all the rare chests you can get maybe 50 hours from this game, most of it an enjoyable experience - as long as you enjoy the twin stick shooter gameplay.
 
Seems like a good game for me to play during the winter doldrums. Basically something between major/new releases. Hopefully by then all the kinks will be worked out of the Gamepass version.
 
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I've been playing this game on PC Gamepass for the past couple of days. I'm really enjoying it aside from the difficulty spikes, but that could also be because I'm garbage at top down shooters.

The gamer is gorgeous and I love the environment. I'll keep chipping away at it.
 
I sure wish they would change this to a FPS. This video of it running like that is absolutely stunning!

https://www.vg247.com/2021/08/11/the-ascent-first-person-camera-unlock/

That's REALLY cool. If there ends up being a safe and stable way to play the game like this I'll even pay extra for it. That just proves beyond a doubt how well designed the game is and what attention to detail there is.

Like someone else said: The effort is almost wasted on top down/isometric. See for yourselves.
 
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Tried co-op with my bro.....is it normal to not be able to see the quest log or any of the chest on the map unless you are the host?
 
Played this a little bit more, it looks like they fixed RTX on the MS version of the game, but the stuttering is still really bad.
 
It played flawlessly for me aside from the horrible controls. I finally gave up since I couldn't get a grip on the movement and aiming. It's a shame as I really liked the concept and the graphics!
 
Only had a chance to play 20 minutes or so. Sadly the widescreen FOV console edit think does not stick between sessions so just dropped it down to one monitor's resolution. Looks good and thus far has performed well but not a lot going on this early. A few studders when shifting between play and a "cut". Keyboard controls work well for me since I've played other games like this on keyboard and mouse. Looking forward to getting farther in.
 
Does Gsync work with the Gamepass version? I know that seems to be a 50/50 venture with Gamepass games.
 
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