Movement shooters are a peculiar bunch of games where liking or even being attracted to them at all is overly reliant on whether or not you could stomach the visuals. There could be instances that the visual clutter gets too much like in the case of titles like Ultrakill or there could even be instances where standing in the wrong spot could have you killed like with Apex Legends. Whatever the case though, movement will always play a factor in the gameplay experience but if you told me that UNYIELDER was a movement shooter that condenses the action while still being unique each and every time, I’d be over the moon as a game that respected my time and skill was finally here.

Watch our Enduins Level One Unyielder Episode here:

The Need for Speed and All Who Inhabit it

Starting out with UNYIELDER, you’re brought straight into the action introducing you to the primary gameplay loop of getting a new gun, fighting a boss, finding loot and progressing further into the game. Similarly, this is what you’d experience with most Roguelite titles where in lieu of bonuses on level up, you receive loot and bonuses only on certain checkpoints.

While the first fight itself is deceptive on the actual difficulty of the game, it’s this frantic gameplay loop dodging and weaving that make a 10 minute session into a full on daily affair. There’s pattern recognition on how enemies would fight, knowing where to aim, knowing where to dodge, knowing when to accept that you just can’t do it. UNYIELDER takes those frustrations and lets you try again and over time, speed becomes your friend. This gets dialed to 11 once you unlock a grappling hook or have a great gun combo perfect for the enemy and the adrenaline kicks in. You’re forced to improvise, adapt and overcome and down the line, you eventually realize that you don’t have to deal with long boss fights and drag on if you’re fast enough.

Gacha in my Gun Game

Going back into the Roguelite aspect of the game, Suits, added a layer of fun and skill expression that made each run different. For example, there’s a perk that gives you faster reload speeds but lowers your magazine size. While lowering the magazine size may seem like a detriment, depending on your choice of weapon, it could actually be a blessing in disguise. A revolver would make good use of this as it could even increase damage output if you’re fast enough because of it’s already low reload time mixed with its high fire rate but a rocket launcher won’t because of it’s high reload time and slow fire rate.

The gacha aspect of perks and weapons force you to think on your feet outside of getting evergreen perks but mixing things up make each run fresh. While bias does become a factor, in your choice for initial perks and weapons, the deeper you get into the game, the better the perks and weapons would become changing your perception on them over time. I wouldn’t imagine myself liking a wingman or revolver in Apex Legends but here in UNYIELDER, it became my favorite weapon. Outside of rocket launchers at least.

It’s Roguelite Not Like

Playing UNYIELDER is like exercising. Strenuous at the beginning, repetitive from time to time, but over time it just gets more satisfying since you could do more. The game is a roguelite for a reason and that’s in your progress actually mattering. Practicing a boss would give you better reflexes but the mastery trees available actually gives more “permanent” perks. Bonuses could be the generic gunplay elements like reload speeds and magazine sizes but what piqued my interest the most were melee augments. Another way to play the game is just staring you down and if you enjoyed the game as a gunner, that melee playstyle might make you enjoy playing UNYIELDER even more.

Getting Good Or Dying Trying

While definitely an inherent taste gameplay wise and even genre wise, UNYIELDER gets a 7/10. The amount of polish that went into making this game clearly showed especially when you look at it through the lens of a movement shooter enjoyer. Variety is king and with the fast paced frantic gameplay in UNYIELDER, there’s fun to be had whether it be a long session or a short one.

It does get tedious when you roll the worst type of weapon against certain bosses and even the grappling hook being hidden behind progress does feel annoying on the initial playthrough but those are problems for when you’re good at the game. Getting good though, that’s a different problem entirely.

Wishlist the game on Steam and check out their website for more details

Official Website: https://shueisha-games.com/en/games/unyielder
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/789940/UNYIELDER
Epic Games Store Page: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/unyielder-175ec8