Review of Nightmare Reaper: Retro Madness

Blazing Bit Games created and released Nightmare Reaper, a throwback shooter that blends classic design with exciting gunplay and action.

Blazing Bit Games created and released Nightmare Reaper, a 2.5-D retro-shooter roguelite game. While the aesthetics and gameplay features of the game may take some getting accustomed to for FPS enthusiasts, the end result is a chaotically exciting, layered shooter experience. Nightmare Reaper’s ability to keep its aspirations in check avoids the game from being overly ambitious and continuously bringing its best aspects to the fore. Unfortunately, the plot is lacking, and visually challenged players may get headaches from the visuals since the first-person action isn’t the smoothest.

Players handle a patient in a psychiatric facility in Nightmare Reaper, diving into her dreams and overcoming waves of adversaries in procedurally created stages. Players must finish three unique episodes, each with rising difficulty levels as the tale develops. Each level is evocative of the original DOOM, with each death spawning additional levels and creature combinations to confront. As a result, gamers will be able to play the game indefinitely with an unlimited weapon and adversary combinations.

Players are given a maximum of three weapons with which to fight zombies, demons, and other horrific adversaries as they begin their assault. In a looter-shooter type, defeated foes drop money, valuables, and gibs, which are used to improve player skills. Chests strewed across the level provide extra possibilities to harvest additional treasures, money, and weaponry. Weapons are rated from Common to Legendary based on the number of attachments and qualities available. Players can find a variety of weaponry, from simple shotguns to flame-throwing bazookas, but they can only keep one weapon after each level, and the others convert to money.

The gunplay in Nightmare Reaper is one of the game’s strongest features, correctly portraying damage with appealing graphics and sound effects. While the stages grow more difficult as time goes on, players may also level up in the menu to gain more strength. Nightmare Reaper makes the game industry’s most banal aspects (such skill trees, playstyles, and inventories) fun and nostalgic, accompanied with wonderfully cute side-scrolling adventures. Unfortunately, the charming platformer on the menu can be frustratingly inconsistent, leaving players to rely on unreliable pixels to determine their minigame survival. Furthermore, several of the obtained skills seldom make a significant difference in gameplay.

Nightmare Reaper is a one-of-a-kind indie game with polished retro graphics and a deep story. Unfortunately, like with other 2.5D games, players may struggle to judge distance and paths at times. Players may struggle to determine distance and identify angles on the ground amid the pixels, and those who aren’t used to retro shooters may experience motion nausea. For example, being caught in a corner while stepping on an elevated platform might lead to a frustrating death versus the nightmare hordes. These minor obstacles, however, can be overcome over time and are outweighed by the game’s numerous successful features and twisted storyline between levels.

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