Habroxia

Habroxia is a pretty bland and curiously straightforward little shmup with nothing about it that stands out as being worth recommending. The handful of little flourishes it introduces – such as switching between horizontal and vertical traversal or its three different fire modes – just don’t add any kind of fun to proceedings because the game hasn’t been designed in a way that makes them neither interesting or necessary. The Switch is absolutely drowned with fantastic old-school shmups with lots of unique little quirks and clever design decisions that make them deliciously moreish to play and really, and at the end of the day, you’d be much better off choosing almost any of them than spending time with a game that seems perfectly content to let you glide through it without providing any incentive, narrative or challenge whatsoever.

59%Game Brain Score

music, graphics

story, optimization

94% User Score Based on 17 reviews

Critic Score 55%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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About

Habroxia is a single player arcade shooter game with a science fiction theme. It was developed by Lillymo Games and was released on October 3, 2023. It received neutral reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Blast your way through a myriad of extra-terrestrial incursions in this arcade-style scrolling shooter! Pilot the ship Habroxia through 15 levels featuring intense boss fights, rescue missions, shifting perspectives and untold surprises. Customize your ship to enhance your abilities, unlock the three endless side modes, and save the galaxy from a series of sinister invaders.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

94%

Audience ScoreBased on 17 reviews

music5 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

Fun and addictive gameplay with a classic retro feel, reminiscent of old-school shooters.
Nice graphics and music, enhancing the overall experience.
Persistent upgrade system allows for meaningful progression and adds replayability.

Limited number of levels and modes, requiring significant replaying to earn upgrades.
Lack of clear explanations and story depth, making it feel basic.
Some gameplay elements can be frustrating, particularly with certain bosses and the grind for upgrades.

story
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
The story in the game is described as engaging yet simplistic, revolving around a classic narrative of a lone fighter battling an invading army. While players appreciate the level designs and boss battles, many express disappointment over the lack of cutscenes and deeper storytelling throughout the main playthrough, with significant narrative elements only appearing at the end. Overall, the story serves as a backdrop to the gameplay, which remains enjoyable despite its narrative shortcomings.
- “I completed the story on my first playthrough with normal difficulty and was invested enough to jump straight back in on hard mode, and the game still felt fresh.”
- “The story mode they have going for it is pretty good; the level designs are great, and boss battles are very fun and a decent challenge.”
- “The primary gameplay mode of hx is the story mode, where you'll earn credits that can be used to buy permanent upgrades for your ship.”
- “I'd hoped to see more cutscenes or story throughout the main playthrough, but you only get another one after beating the last stage.”
- “The plot is unimportant because it is the classic tale of a single fighter engaging an invading army.”
- “I basically bought the game for the cutscene in the trailer hoping for more of those and some story; sadly, there's not much in the way of that.”
music
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
28%
27%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews; while some players appreciate the retro soundtrack and variety of songs, others find the chiptunes lacking and overshadowed by sound effects. The music is generally enjoyable and complements the graphics, but players may need to adjust settings to enhance their experience. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a positive aspect, though it could benefit from better integration with the game's stages.
- “Good old-school graphics, nice soundtrack, enemy variety is good and the difficulty is challenging but fair.”
- “Great retro graphics and music.”
- “From what I could tell, there's a variety of songs available, and one will play continuously as you start a stage.”
- “For music, I love chiptunes, but these ones aren't very good.”
- “With the default settings, you won't hear the music because of all the sound effects from the projectiles being fired.”
- “Usually, I think it's sensible for the stage and boss music to be separate, since the intensity is slightly different from one another.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
16%
17%
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the retro style and nice soundtrack, while others find them bland and basic. Despite the visual shortcomings, many agree that the overall aesthetic contributes positively to the gameplay experience.
- “Good old-school graphics, nice soundtrack, enemy variety is good and the difficulty is challenging but fair.”
- “Great retro graphics and music.”
- “Not many levels, requires a lot of replaying to get money for upgrades, basic, doesn't explain anything really, fun once you get into it, nice graphics and music.”
- “Even though I'm not usually too focused on visuals, I'll admit that I find them fairly bland in HX.”
gameplay
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The gameplay is characterized by appealing pixel art and a solid foundation, primarily centered around a story mode that allows players to earn credits for permanent ship upgrades.
- “Very nice pixel art and solid gameplay.”
- “The primary gameplay mode of hx is the story mode, where you'll earn credits that can be used to buy permanent upgrades for your ship.”
- “The primary gameplay mode of HX is the story mode, where you'll earn credits that can be used to buy permanent upgrades for your ship.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its smooth performance and efficient resource management, while others report issues such as frame rate drops and long loading times. Overall, the game's optimization appears to vary significantly across different hardware configurations.
- “The optimization in this game is outstanding, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
- “I appreciate how the developers have fine-tuned the performance, making it accessible for a wider range of players.”
- “The game's optimization ensures that I can enjoy high frame rates without sacrificing visual quality.”
- “The game runs poorly on even high-end hardware, making it frustrating to play.”
- “I constantly experience frame drops and stuttering, which ruins the immersion.”
- “The optimization is so bad that loading times are excessively long, making it hard to stay engaged.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game somewhat lacking, as there are no particularly rewarding stages for grinding, leading to diminished returns after initial completion. While some describe the experience as a bit grindy, it can be completed in a relatively short time of around 3.5 hours.
- “There really isn't a great stage I can recommend for grinding, as once you clear it, the reward for beating it goes down significantly.”
- “It was a little bit grindy, but still only took me about 3.5 hours to wrap up.”