Deflector

About

Deflector is a high-octane bullet hell roguelite set in a deadly world. Upgrade your characters with the DNA you find, evolve them further during your runs and explore the farthest reaches of this microcosm… or die trying.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

+11

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 200 reviews

gameplay35 positive mentions

grinding13 negative mentions

The gameplay is fun, challenging, and addictive, with a unique deflection mechanic that adds depth to combat.
The art style is visually appealing, and the soundtrack enhances the overall experience.
There is a good variety of characters, each offering different playstyles, which keeps the gameplay fresh.

The game can feel repetitive quickly due to limited enemy variety and similar level designs across runs.
Unlocking new characters and upgrades can be frustratingly grindy, with some challenges feeling overly punishing.
The controls can be unresponsive at times, and some mechanics, like healing, are limited, which can detract from the overall experience.

gameplay
84 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
54%
4%
The gameplay is characterized by its fun, challenging, and addictive nature, featuring a well-implemented deflection mechanic that adds depth to combat. While the core mechanics are polished and engaging, some players feel that the variation in levels and character classes could be improved, and the upgrade system lacks meaningful modifications. Overall, the combination of hack-and-slash, bullet-hell, and roguelite elements creates a unique and immersive experience, though some aspects may feel repetitive over time.
- “The gameplay is fun, challenging, and addictive.”
- “The mix of hack-and-slash, bullet-hell, and roguelite gameplay elements make for a unique and engaging experience.”
- “The gameplay is addictive, the fluidity and frenzy in combat immerses you in a dizzying experience.”
- “So with how limited the variation in levels/gameplay is with the same shell, the lame perm upgrades, the super specific unlikely-to-get shell progressions, and the excessive bullet-hell feel, there are better roguelikes out there.”
- “The difficulty of the bosses is truly absurd, with you being showered in projectiles that you can't deflect, and you are perpetually being hit by stuff with zero warning and zero projection which to me is just not enjoyable.”
- “It looks pretty and flashy, but the gameplay simply doesn't hold up for repeated play and the charm quickly wears off as frustration starts setting in from the questionable at best, downright stupid at worst decisions the development team has made up to the release of the game.”
music
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
68%
25%
7%
The music in the game has received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many users praising its high quality, immersive nature, and ability to enhance the gameplay experience. The soundtrack features a mix of metalcore and varied themes that fit well with the game's aesthetic, contributing significantly to the atmosphere and intensity of combat. While there are a few criticisms regarding specific tracks, the general consensus is that the music is a standout feature that adds considerable personality to the game.
- “The soundtrack is full of metalcore bangers that wouldn't sound out of place on an After the Burial or Unearth album.”
- “The music fits the levels flawlessly and only serves to enhance the gameplay; if you're normally someone that would turn it off, I'd recommend leaving it on for a few runs just to experience it and how it changes from area to area.”
- “The music is fantastic and gives the game so much more personality.”
- “The music in the robot zone was so bad that it made me want to uninstall, but I can just mute it and listen to Spotify, so that's okay.”
- “Muting the soundtrack feels like neutering the game entirely.”
- “-bad music”
graphics
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
38%
8%
The game's graphics are widely praised for their unique and stylish art style, blending biopunk and monster horror aesthetics, complemented by an engaging soundtrack. While many appreciate the vibrant visuals and variety, some note that the graphics can become cluttered and may hinder gameplay clarity, particularly during intense moments. Overall, the visuals are considered a strong point, enhancing the immersive experience despite occasional concerns about their impact on gameplay.
- “The game looks great: the aesthetic style is very cool, being part biopunk and part monster horror, and the soundtrack is full of metalcore bangers that wouldn't sound out of place on an After the Burial or Unearth album.”
- “The aesthetics speak for themselves - I love when an indie game does something different than just pixel art, plus the clearly stylized design helps with readability, which is always a plus in such a hectic game.”
- “Graphics are stellar, no question there.”
- “The art style is really chromatically aggressive, which works in its favor visually, but not at all mechanically.”
- “However, the visuals do grow stale quickly, as there isn’t much variety in each biome.”
- “The visuals are clearly more important to the devs than the play, and yet both visuals and audio seem like they were designed to annoy and obstruct--boring would be an improvement.”
grinding
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and often unfulfilling, with many upgrades feeling low-impact and not significantly altering gameplay. While some compare it to other games with grinding mechanics, the consensus is that the current metaprogression system lacks meaningful rewards, making the grind feel more like a chore than an engaging challenge. Overall, there is hope that future updates will improve the experience and make the grind more worthwhile.
- “None of it changes your playstyle and it feels like lateral progress. After grinding for 2 hours for currency, you'll unlock a single thing that barely does anything, but you're forced to buy one thing to unlock the ability to buy the next thing.”
- “Metaprogression doesn't feel like it's worth grinding, and bosses are the same at the end of each stage.”
- “Despite the two new game modes, the core gameplay loop remains the same and is just as tedious as it was before release.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
Overall, the game offers a mix of replayability, with many users noting the presence of unique gimmicks and a variety of characters to unlock. However, some players feel it lacks the addictive quality found in other roguelites, citing limited item variation and high difficulty as barriers to enjoying repeated playthroughs. While the controls are easy to learn and there is a substantial amount of content for an early access title, the overall replay value is seen as inconsistent.
- “Fun, replayable, and tons of unique gimmicks to use.”
- “High replay value especially because you need to unlock new characters.”
- “The game has a lot of replay value and the controls are easy to learn.”
- “Replay value is pretty poor; granted there are 6 classes and the game plays great, but other than that, items don't really change the way you play, and you're not going to get any real variations in different runs.”
- “Maybe I'm just malding and I'm not all too good at the game, but it doesn't really feel friendly to new players. I'm having a hard time understanding why they made the difficulty so high for unlocking essential characters that create the replay value this game desperately needs to stay in my library.”
- “There is a mountain of content for an early access title as far as characters and replayability goes.”
story
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The story is described as simple yet engaging, complemented by vibrant visuals and enjoyable combat. However, some players feel that the quest progression is overly punishing, detracting from the overall experience and leaving a sense of something missing in the narrative.
- “Not even 3 hours in and it's a glorious spell of colors, fantastic combat, and an amazing yet simple story, characters, and goals.”
- “I must admit, I am a 'mechanics first' guy and still I felt something's missing in terms of the story.”
- “The devs implemented these wack quests to get new characters, but the progression through these quests is so punishing that I cannot bring myself to set up a run just for it to fall apart in one section.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
150%
Character development in the game is highlighted by its innovative character classes and design, which contribute to a rich gameplay experience. Players appreciate the unique mechanics and engaging combat, suggesting that the character progression is both satisfying and integral to the overall enjoyment of the game.
- “The deflection mindset is further baked into all aspects of the game, including character design -- and deflector might have some of the most interesting character classes in recent memory.”
- “Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys a good roguelike or dungeon crawler, smooth and satisfying combat, good visuals, fantastic soundtrack, great character design, unique mechanics, responsive devs. I can't wait to see what else this game has coming in the future.”
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks meaningful progression, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
- “I was disappointed by the lack of depth in character backstories; they felt generic and uninspired.”
- “The choices I made during character development didn't seem to have any real impact on the story or gameplay.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the game's humor to be promising and entertaining, with one reviewer highlighting its fun mechanics and engaging soundtrack. Overall, the humor contributes positively to the gaming experience.
- “I'm sorry to write this, because the game seems very promising and funny.”
- “Very fun game! The humor in the parry mechanics is hilarious, and the soundtrack is fantastic.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is significantly enhanced by its effective soundtrack, which complements the overall experience and immerses players in the game world.
- “The soundtrack works great for the atmosphere of the game.”

Buy Deflector

3h Median play time

8h Average play time

2-20h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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Deflector

Platforms

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Deflector (PC) - Steam Key - GLOBAL

Deflector XBOX One / Xbox Series X|S CD Key

Deflector

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