A bustling, neon-drenched city. An overstimulated society where the megacorporations reign supreme over the disgruntled human workers who keep the machine running. And a lone antihero who’s just trying to survive. This dystopian setting probably makes you think of CD Projekt Red’s 2020 masterpiece, Cyberpunk 2077. But years before the Polish developer managed to redeem its buggy mess of a sci-fi epic, indie developer Neon Giant’s debut game realized this futuristic fantasy better than anyone else.
Neon Giant was just 12 people in 2021 when its first game, The Ascent, came out and pulled off the impossible. It’s a game oozing with atmosphere thanks to its gorgeous setting. It has an interesting story that leans into all the right cyberpunk tropes. And most importantly, it blends an addictive looter-shooter loop with RPG progression mechanics to keep you coming back for more. It’s an underrated gem more people should know about, and now it just hit Xbox Game Pass.
