Champion Shift
- December 4, 2023
- Champion Shift
- 20h median play time
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Get on Xbox Games Store"Champion Shift" is an action-packed roguelike game where players fight endless hordes of enemies and traverse branching stages as legendary characters, like Sun Wukong and Athena. The game features unique shift mechanics between vehicle and hero forms, offering diverse playstyles and strategies. Challenge yourself in solo mode or team up with up to 4 players in online co-op play for a massively powered run.
Reviews
- The car transformation mechanic adds a unique and fun twist to the gameplay, allowing for engaging combat and movement.
- The game features a variety of characters and abilities, providing depth and encouraging experimentation with different builds.
- Multiplayer mode enhances the experience, making it enjoyable to play with friends despite some connectivity issues.
- The game suffers from significant bugs, particularly in multiplayer, including frequent desyncs and crashes that disrupt gameplay.
- Gameplay can feel unbalanced, with the car mode being overpowered, making other abilities seem less relevant.
- There are issues with performance and optimization, leading to frame rate drops and other technical problems that detract from the overall experience.
- gameplay41 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a unique car transformation mechanic that adds fun and engagement, particularly in multiplayer settings, while also providing strategic advantages. However, some players feel that this mechanic can overshadow non-car gameplay, making it feel slow or trivial at times. Overall, the game is praised for its innovative mechanics, character variety, and enjoyable combat, though it still requires some refinement and balance.
“One of the best survivor games, and the game has the most unique game mechanics.”
“The car mechanic makes the game much more fun and engaging; it acts like your second HP bar and breathing room, plus it improves pick-up radius so you don't chase those tiny pixels for experience/gold.”
“Turning into a car is just as good as I wanted it to be, and the variety of 'car' vs 'man' in the gameplay and being able to swap between them at will makes for a much more interesting game than most survivor-likes.”
“The only criticism I would give is the overreliance on car mode, which can make non-car gameplay seem slow and irrelevant.”
“A different spin on the bullet heaven genre with a form-shifting mechanic that is way too powerful and trivializes gameplay in human form.”
“It feels slow, the upgrades are uninspired, and the car mechanic does not add a lot to the gameplay.”
- stability17 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game is widely reported to be unstable, with numerous users experiencing random crashes, freezes, and various bugs, such as disappearing UI elements and character glitches. While some players find the gameplay enjoyable despite these issues, many agree that the game feels unfinished and is reminiscent of an early alpha version. Overall, the stability concerns significantly detract from the experience, though there is hope for improvements from the developers.
“I'm also getting a lot of random crashes, freezes, and disconnects while I'm playing with my friend.”
“Most are minor, such as a disappearing minimap or random physics glitches in vehicle form, but quite a few have been game-breaking, including progress regression and crashes.”
“It is at the level of the alpha 0.1 version, which has an infinite number of bugs, freezes, and other problems.”
- graphics13 mentions
- 62 % positive mentions
- 23 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game are widely praised for their high quality and visual appeal, with many users noting the pleasing aesthetics and character designs. However, some players have pointed out a lack of graphics settings and optimization issues that can affect performance. Overall, the visuals contribute positively to the gameplay experience, despite occasional chaos typical of the genre.
“Top notch graphics.”
“Graphically, it looks pleasing and it's surprisingly easy to keep track of your character and what's happening for this kind of game.”
“Absolutely love the graphics and music.”
“Visuals can get a little crazy sometimes, but that's part of the chaos of the survivor genre.”
“Graphics are sick, gameplay's mad innovative, storyline reminds me a bit of Sonic, score slaps, and so many abilities to explore.”
- story12 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game has received mixed feedback, with some players finding the narrative and concept lacking depth, while others appreciate the engaging mission structure and level design. Many users report frustrating desynchronization issues in co-op mode, leading to a disjointed experience where players end up facing different missions and bosses. Overall, while the gameplay mechanics and graphics are praised, the story itself seems to take a backseat to the action and objectives.
“Great to see some actual level design and interesting quest mechanics.”
“I really like the fact that you have missions to do and you know there are certain islands you need to work to progress.”
“Graphics are sick, gameplay's mad innovative, storyline reminds me a bit of Sonic, score slaps, and so many abilities to explore.”
“The story/concept is wack, but who cares?”
“90% of the time you will be desynced from your co-op partners and they'll be on the 'same' map as you, but you'll all actually be playing with bots of yourselves and be on different missions and have different bosses.”
“Like Ravenswatch, it uses mythical hero characters and missions for progression, but significantly less challenging.”
- optimization9 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while it runs smoothly on older hardware and is enjoyable, there are notable issues such as crashes, performance drops, and multiplayer optimization concerns. Players have reported problems with hitboxes and balancing, indicating that further improvements are needed for a more polished experience.
“There is still a little optimization to be done here, but it is enjoyable in its current state.”
“The game runs smoothly.”
“It runs well on an old Core i7-4790K and GTX 1060 machine, so kudos for optimization.”
“This game needs optimization for multiplayer, and it kind of frustrates me how they handle the problem.”
“Optimization and frame rate drops.”
“Performance could be better, and hitboxes are all over the place.”
- music8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players finding it repetitive and lackluster, while others appreciate its contribution to the overall gameplay experience. While some describe the audio as "meh" and occasionally annoying, others enjoy the music, particularly when using a headset, highlighting its positive impact on immersion. Overall, the music seems to be a divisive aspect, with opinions ranging from negative to highly favorable.
“Absolutely love the graphics and music.”
“Really enjoyed playing the game with a headset to listen to the music, it really adds to the overall gameplay.”
“Really good effects, gameplay is very smooth on my rig and the music is killer so far!”
“My only gripe is the music; it's repetitive and really boring, just turn it off.”
“Audio work is fair to middling; critically, the devs did a good job avoiding irritating sounds for the most part, but most of the music is just 'fine' and there aren't many sound effects that really feel punchy or particularly satisfying.”
“Music / sound effects are lackluster and boring.”
- character development3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is generally praised for its thoughtful design and attention to detail, enhancing the overall gameplay experience. However, some players express dissatisfaction with specific character designs, such as Athena, and critique elements like footwear.
“I love the character design.”
“I do not like the character design for Athena, and I do not like anyone's shoes either.”
“It's a pretty straightforward game, but there's a lot of care and attention put into the character designs, the mechanics, and the gameplay.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by the amusing "transform into a car" gimmick and the abundance of enemy types, which adds a comedic element despite their minimal impact on gameplay. However, some players feel that the overall gameplay experience is lacking, overshadowing the humor.
“The 'transform into a car' gimmick is both hilarious and fun.”
“There are lots of enemy types, and frankly, it's hilarious how many there are considering how little relevance it actually has most of the time in gameplay.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players find that while grinding for achievements in this survivor-like game can be tedious, it encourages them to explore and utilize each champion's strengths, ultimately enhancing their enjoyment of the game.
“Most 'survivor-likes' with grindy achievements like this one don't draw me in, but they challenge players to lean into each champion's strengths more, which makes the game even more enjoyable.”
“The grinding in this game feels excessive and detracts from the overall experience, making it hard to stay engaged.”
“I find the grinding aspect tedious and repetitive, which takes away from the fun of exploring the game's mechanics.”
