in the two weeks since its april 20 launch sidescrolling roguelike neon echo has racked up over 1800 89 positive steam reviews and after trying it for myself i can see why it plays like chinese electric hades and it positively whipsneon echo is only just starting its early access journey under developer and selfpublisher xinyuan studio but its already a mustplay in my book its hades inspirations are clear in the way you draft abilities choosing between elemental vinyl tracks instead of godly boons and chart a course through branching procedurally generated dungeons assembled from over 400 areas but its got a style all its own and the neurons of my brain can hardly keep up you play as a resonancer in a vibrant pearlescent tech metropolis thats been besieged by monsters of the noise and edm is the only cure beyond the thumping soundtrack electronic music oozes through every facet of the game from combat right down to the menus there are three playable resonancers so far a blademaster gunner and boxer they all have cute little chibi models during gameplay but resonancers and even side characters get stunning anime illustrations for cutscenes ive only tried the blademaster so far but its hard to imagine playing anything else neon echo immediately feels good to play the blademasters got a quick basic attack a dodge that triggers a frenetic counter when you evade at the last second a lowcooldown skill that hits harder when you fire it just on the downbeat of the music and two special attack meters that fill as you deal damageattacks are fast and devastating making short work of most enemies with satisfying splashes of color and sound the blademasters special lets you spam the dodge while dealing heavy damage and her ult summons a massive greatsword to cleave the screen and anything on it into crystalline shards popping your ult also ups the tempo of the music and the resulting audiovisual spectacle is borderline intoxicating this is probably about as close to synesthesia as games can get roguelikes usually live or die on progression for me and by taking notes from hades neon echos cooked up an engrossing system of permanent unlocks its narrative doesnt have the same appeal as supergiants masterwork and an occasionally rough english translation doesnt help though the excellent mandarin voice work gives it some life but the essentials are here you choose different buffs items collectibles and elemental bonuses midrun then take all the currency you earn back to base to power up for future attempts ive only beaten one boss but its already clear to me that you can make some bonkers builds with the right combinations and i cant wait to push this effervescent combat to its limitwe were also quite impressed with the roguelite many fans call hotline miamis cooler older brother