Ascend to Zero Review (Xbox Series X/S & PC)

Ah, yes. The age-old question: would you rather go back in time and change the past or travel to the future? It’s one of those timeless “what ifs” that never seems to lose its charm. As kids, we imagined fixing mistakes or witnessing history unfold. As adults, the question carries a little more weight. I’d still choose the past, not to undo my choices, but to satisfy my curiosity about the roads I never took. 

Flyway Games taps into that familiar fantasy with Ascend to Zero, a sci-fi action roguelike built around time travel. While roguelikes are certainly not for everyone, Ascend to Zero does a few things to twist your arm. It uses a cute chibi and voxel art style to reel you into its sci-fi universe. You then use time-travel to stop an impending apocalypse that threatens to wipe out humanity. But the time-traveling concepts used here aren’t your usual gamified tropes. Instead, you only have 30 seconds to spare before your time-traveling abilities disappear. 

Well, tag along for a more comprehensive Ascend to Zero review that should leave you certain about whether it’s the right game for you. 

The Last Survivor

When a robot invasion nearly wipes out all of humanity, you become humanity’s last hope for survival. The solution is to hop into a time-traveling machine and change the past. However, the time-traveling machine has a caveat. It can only function for 30 seconds before you have to regroup. You do so at the hub, where you’ll gradually level up with survivors you rescue on your runs. 

You’ll also collect resources and upgrades on your runs. These are wide-ranging, from weapons to gear, equipment slots, upgrades to your base stats, modifiers for your next run, and more. It ensures that you’re better prepared before heading out to the past to risk your life again. With better resources and gear, the hope is that you’ll finally be able to stop the apocalypse and save the world. 

Therein lies the roguelike loop Ascend to Zero needs to make sense of its re-runs. A trial-and-error loop where you try, fail, and return stronger than before. Over time, you’ll unlock higher levels, which bring on stronger enemies. But so do they stock far better resources and upgrades. And the cycle goes on and on until you reach the end. 

What Makes Ascend to Zero Different

You’ve heard this cycle before, though. In a different setting, with a different purpose and mission. Games like Hades craft such compelling narratives with rich lore and multi-woven characters. In that regard, Ascend to Zero falls farther back. Sure, there’s a time-traveling story with sci-fi elements. Robots have invaded Earth, wiping out most of the human population. 

To match, you enjoy a synthwave soundtrack that switches up to gentler tunes and more upbeat punk and rock during more intense battles. On the visual side, you marvel at a futuristic art style that impressively mixes a chibi and voxel art style. Even with the disparate vibe between chibi anime characters and a post-apocalyptic world, the message still lands. One of survival and last chances. 

Hence, Ascend to Zero nails a survival-like roguelike system. Every run is risky. It can easily end in failure just as much as you might escape death by the whiskers. It’s not necessarily a tough-as-nails combat system to master. It’s an auto-battler, after all. However, there is a learning curve, especially with the time limit.

Freeze the Moment

It isn’t a lot of time at all. Mere seconds to wipe out waves of robots and some spiders. At any moment, you might have hordes of enemies closing in on you. Automatic firing does help. Ascend to Zero will automatically aim and fire on enemies. And the explosions and particle effects are glorious. Still, it doesn’t leave you completely idle.

You control the movement of your character, helping them dodge out of the way of incoming fire. However, you also help them navigate the levels, exploring for valuable items. One of the ways Ascend to Zero stands out is in the ability to stop time. It’s a powerful ability you have to be mindful of because you can’t dodge incoming attacks in this state. 

Instead, you’ll want to freeze time when enemies are down. That way, you can collect the items and resources they drop. You’ll move around the screen, picking up goodies. But at the same time, you can use this ability to reposition your character ahead of oncoming danger. Otherwise, your other prime focus will be on managing your time limit.

Clock is Ticking

The seconds run out so fast during a run. And that’s a pretty solid move by the devs, so that runs don’t last longer than they need to. Open-world RPG and adventure games that go on for tens of hours are one thing. But roguelikes thrive on short and sweet bursts of fun. The runs are so fast that you’ll soon hit Level 20,000 in one sitting. 

It never gets boring, either, because every run has a strict time limit that never ceases to put pressure on you. The clock is always ticking, reminding you to beat the levels as fast as possible or risk redoing them. But even more exciting is the ability to manipulate the time limit. You can extend the time limit during your run or increase the 30-second cap for all future runs. 

The easiest way is to stop time and re-strategize, which you can do for as long as you want. It’s a pretty neat move because you can be moving around, collecting resources that level up your stats in time to deal with stronger enemies and the boss at the end of the level. There are also tech chips you can collect during runs, which can extend the time limit.

Even before starting a new run, you can use your resources and upgrades to extend your time limit. And so, resource management proves to be an important aspect of Ascend to Zero’s gameplay. 

Level Up

Defeating enemies levels up your character. However, you can curate a specific build that speaks to your playstyle and taste. This is done at the hub, where you dive deep into resource management and character builds. You can go through your base stats and see which ones need buffing. Perhaps you need passive stats to take down a challenging boss that’s got you stuck. 

It’s pretty cool how Ascend to Zero constantly and consistently drip-feeds you. At any moment, you’ll always have resources and upgrades to spare. And they serve a purpose, too, whether in curating a swordmaster, gunsmith, or pirate-like character. These are unlocked via avatars that you rescue on your missions, and become playable characters with distinct roles. 

These are perhaps the other significant story arcs you’ll unlock, where you save people who would have otherwise died during the apocalypse. Although their characters still don’t have deep enough exposition or personalities to become endearing favorites you’ll long remember. The story, in general, is merely a serviceable one to give you a reason to head back on consecutive runs. Even the time-traveling aspect of it ultimately plays a serviceable role to jumpstart the premise.

Verdict

But that’s fine. Having a barebones story is forgivable when the gameplay is fun to play. In the roguelike genre, you’re looking for games you can quickly jump into for a few minutes of fun without it getting boring. And Ascend to Zero is exactly that. It only takes a few seconds to clear out levels. And within those few seconds, you’ll be seeing notable progress.

Climbing the levels is feasible without breaking a sweat. You’re always receiving a consistent supply of rewards, so no run ever feels like a waste of time. And those rewards play a significant role in making your character stronger. You’re going to need all the strength you can get to take on stronger enemies at higher levels. 

Perhaps some players may take issue with the auto-battling system if you prefer to do the aiming and shooting yourself. There’s the option to free aim, but it’s hardly anything skilled or precise. All you do is aim in the general direction of enemies, and that should get the job done.

I’d argue, though, that you spend enough time planning the best strategy. Soon, the 30-second limit proves not nearly enough to save the world. And so, your effort starts to go toward extending that time limit during your runs and overall. That takes leveling up, which is another strategic layer. 

It’s not just about slapping the next shiny thing onto your character’s build. You have to find synergy in your weapons, abilities, base stats, and gadgets. Avatars give you a variety of builds you can experiment with. And soon, your preferred way to clear the levels in Ascend to Zero will begin to take shape. A fun time, I’d say, for players with limited gaming time and an inclination to explosive, fast-paced, survival-like roguelikes.