Zenodeath

I can't say the game is bad, but there are so many better shooters that go on sale, I can't recommend this unless someone wants another mediocre shooter that offers nothing innovative or interesting and gets tedious quickly. At least it was just $5+ tax and I've had bad food at restaurants that cost me more money.

Really cool shmup, probably the best in the Zeno series for sure! I also was pleasantly surprised about the top down ground sections, those were really fun. It should get it's own game. It took a minute to get used to the controls on those but no big deal. Awesome soundtrack, colorful pixel art, 2 difficulty settings, and customizable bullet colors are a huge plus too.

Zenodeath is a retro-inspired action shooter that serves as the concluding entry in Team Grybanser Fox’s long-running Zeno series. Developed and published by Team Grybanser Fox, the game embraces the spirit of classic arcade shooters while introducing enough variety to distinguish itself from many modern indie releases. Rather than relying solely on traditional scrolling shoot-'em-up gameplay, Zenodeath attempts to combine different styles of action into a single package, creating an experience that feels both nostalgic and surprisingly experimental. One of the game’s defining features is its alternating gameplay structure. Throughout its campaign, players switch between fast-paced aerial shooting stages and top-down run-and-gun missions. The airborne segments deliver the familiar excitement of dodging waves of enemy fire, destroying mechanical foes, and navigating increasingly challenging encounters. In contrast, the ground-based levels focus more heavily on movement, positioning, and directional attacks. This constant shift in perspective prevents the adventure from becoming repetitive and gives each stage its own identity. While some players may prefer one style over the other,…

The ground stages are jankky and visibility seems actively hostile, but the music rips, the bomb looks sick, and it's pretty damn fun

Interesting shmup but not without some flaws. There are 2 kinds of levels, vertical classic shmups and topdown run n gun levels. Both with pros and cons. The music is ok and probablt the best of the series. the controls are precise and spot on. It has modern convinineces like autofire button, focus button and small hitbox. The graphics are below average, but still an improvment over the other games in the series. The excessive color palette and bad drawing affect a bit the bullet visibility and is not suited for long playing sessions (my eyes start to hurt with that brightness). Those issues are most notable in the run n gun levels where is hard to distinguish areas where you can walk from areas of the background making travel worst than it should be. , but eventually you will get used after a few plays. The audio is good. Now about the 2 styles of levels. The vertical shmup is fun. It is a classic shooter of early 90´s with simple but fast bullet patterns.a bit generic, but solid. The run and gun levels are ok , but less interesting, but i do apreciate them because at least they try to do something uncommon as they mix elements of run n gun with shmup. You have a small labyrin…

Zenodeath is a combination shoot 'em up and top down run 'n gun alternating between the two genres. It does an adequate job with both. Though, I think the shmup is better while the run 'n gun is a tad easier. Zenodeath the shmup is about as basic as the genre gets. Which as someone that likes basic STGs, is no bad thing in itself. The player has the choice of pilot which changes some aspects like shot type. The player has a main shot, and a secondary shot type with slower movement and limited bullet canceling/invisibility frames bombs. I actually like the pace of the this game, as it the bullets are aren't so fast that it's an exercise in memorization of positioning. But not so slow that ones reflexes aren't tested a bit. Many of the enemy attacks are well-trod in the world of shmups. So, if the player has mastered them in other games, it would take long to solve them here either. Which can be an issue, but I personally like having some of my skills transfer well to other games. As well as being punished for the ones I haven't completely mastered yet (tracking bullets with slow-fast movement to create a gap). My biggest complaint is the color palette. Especially the …