Exit the Gungeon

Exit The Gungeon is a a game that I can’t say would keep me coming back for more. I absolutely love how creative the guns and bosses in the game can be, but I can’t see myself coming back to play it over and over again. It’s not a dungeon crawler anymore, your just fighting enemies in an elevator shaft. While the fun is immediate in the beginning, after a couple of runs it is sure to die down.

A decade ago, that might’ve made Exit the Gungeon‘s strength it’s portability as a mobile title. Today, that comes with an asterisk as the Nintendo Switch has a great selection of similar rogue-like titles available for essentially the same price. I guess if your only gaming system is a mobile device Exit the Gungeon could be a great game for you, but otherwise, I don’t see it being worth most people’s time, especially when compared to other games in this saturated genre.

Exit the Gungeon is a lot of fun to play, especially if you liked Enter the Gungeon. It is noticeably streamlined, which may hint at its mobile origins, but it's still a frantic and skillful bullet hell experience. It makes a few choices that don't fully pay off, such as its randomized guns arsenal that often feels like gambling. I'm not fully on board with the tight spaces restricting movement, and the new jump-dodge did not click for me in the same way as the trusty old dodge-roll.

Exit the Gungeon is much smaller game and is more focused on platforming action that disregards much of what made Enter the Gungeon so excellent. It is still a fun game, but one that I doubt many people will play to completion.

Exit the Gungeon is ultimately neither a good bullet hell game, nor a particularly fun experience. All in all, it’s a pretty bite size offering that lacks the variety one would expect from a full PC title. The lack of a twin stick control scheme, combined with the gun blessing sweepstakes and the requirement for constant jumping and dodging, means aiming at enemies isn’t fluid.

Exit the Gungeon is a refreshing next step for the franchise. The smaller scale comes with certain drawbacks, but it’s nonetheless a worthwhile experience, even if it’s not to the same standard as the original.