Million Depth: A unique action strategy game.
Cyber Space Biotope, a small independent developer known for taking creative risks with gameplay mechanics and story delivery, has released a new game called Million Depth. Playism released the game.
Playism is a publisher that has become a haven for unique independent projects, helping niche games reach more people. Cyber Space Biotope, unlike bigger companies, loves breaking the rules of its genre, and Million Depth is no different. It’s a 2D adventure roguelike that pushes the limits of how stories are told, how combat works, and what choices players can make.
While the game is inspired by roguelike gameplay, it differs in that it focuses on the story. Most roguelikes focus on repetition and procedural difficulty. Million Depth adds depth, both literally and figuratively, by giving each run various timelines and different outcomes.
With each plunge into the Earth, new storylines are opened up, which are then explored in later runs.
This changes the game so that it’s not so much about brute-force tasks and more about strategy, planning, and finding new things.
At its core, Million Depth is a story about being alone, being determined, and wanting to connect with other people. Moma is the main character. She is a girl from a society that lives in space and orbits a poisoned Earth. At the beginning of the story, she loses touch with a friend from Earth’s underground cities and gets a strange message: “Please.” “Don’t come here.”
Moma chooses to go down into the Earth to find answers and reconnect with her family after a day of worry and thought.
The background of the story is rich and makes you feel things. People have split into two groups: the rich are running away to space, and the rest of us are stuck underground. As Moma goes deeper, players find changed cultures, mutated animals, and hints of the terrible disaster that happened in the surface world.
With lots of random exposition and sci-fi jargon at the beginning, the story might seem hard to follow, but it builds up in a way that keeps you interested.
Moma goes to different layers of Earth, and each one is a mix of danger, wonder, and possible reward. Some fights give you information about the world’s history, others give you tools or better weapons, and still others show you sad parts of the planet’s past.
The use of different times in the game makes the story very interesting. The first run sets up the main plot, but later runs show how things could go in different directions. What you can do on later descents depends on what you did on earlier runs.
This system promotes trying new things, making plans, and playing the game again and again. This adds a level of story complexity to Million Depth that isn’t found in most roguelikes.
Million Depth combines different types of games in a unique but enjoyable way. The main structure is like a roguelike: each entry into Earth is made by a computer program, but some things stay the same. Players choose which floors to go down based on the prizes, enemies they might face, and upgrades they can get.
Levels give Moma more energy, let her improve her Biotope Jammer weapon, let her trade with vendors, or reveal story beats. It’s important to plan ahead because players have to balance managing resources with fighting.
The Biotope Jammer is the most important part of the game.
It can be used as both a weapon and a shield, and parts from enemies and the surroundings can be used to change it. The Jammer can look like a hammer, spear, trident, or even a spiked shield, depending on how the blocks are put together.
Each design choice changes how attacks work, how fast they are, and how well they can defend themselves. One input stick controls Moma, and another controls the Jammer. This allows you to fight as two different characters at once. Time only moves forward when Moma or the Jammer moves, which gives players a “SUPERHOT-like” strategy layer.
The fighting in Million Depth is a mix of real-time strategy and turn-based gameplay. Because enemies only move when the player does, every choice has an effect. Moma can directly attack enemies with her dash, but most of the battle is about where to place the Jammer for the best offense and defense. Players can use the Jammer to chain strikes on enemies, avoid projectiles by timing their jumps just right, and control the Jammer’s energy during battle.
The method is very flexible and strategic, but it can be hard for new users to get the hang of.
The Jammer seems easy at the beginning of the game, and fights can be simple if the right parts or relics are found. As players get more blueprints and customization choices, battles get more difficult and require more planning and skill. Random item drops and relic effects, on the other hand, can sometimes make battles too easy or too hard, which can cause uneven difficulty spikes.
The game also has puzzle-like parts that you can find by exploring. Finding the best path down is like figuring out how to use your resources. You need to consider how much energy you have, what stores you can go to, what upgrades you might purchase, and how hard the foes are. You could feel upset if you don’t prepare ahead, but if you do, the fall will probably be simpler.
In Million Depth, you mostly move forward by upgrading your gear, finding relics, and opening new timelines. With each run, players get materials that can be used to improve the Biotope Jammer. This lets them try out new designs and elemental powers. Also, relics give both passive and active bonuses, and some of them come with costs, like more damage at the cost of life.
The timeline method makes it easy to play again and again; when you do something right, it opens up new storylines and game modes for later runs.
The game doesn’t have a standard experience point system, but you can move forward by learning how to use the game’s mechanics and finding out about its story. This indirect XP system encourages players to think strategically and try new things. It rewards players who carefully plan their routes and build across multiple descents.
Million Depth uses a simple pixel art style that works for the story, but has some problems. Even though the character sprites are unique and expressive, the animations can feel stiff, and the landscapes can look repetitive at times. There are some unique events on some floors that make the fall more interesting, but a lot of it can look the same, which can make long sessions a little boring to look at.
Even with these problems, the design does a great job of capturing the game’s mood. The layers below feel strange and scary, and the monsters are creative and varied. The game’s art style goes well with its story, and there are funny parts, like a small digging robot friend, that break up the grim, post-apocalyptic setting.
The sound design in Million Depth works well, even if it’s not very loud. It’s a good time to explore, and the ambient tracks make Moma feel alone and tense as she goes deeper into Earth. Combat sounds work and let you know when your Jammer hits an enemy or interacts with them.
Where the music falls short is in the voices of the characters or the support of the story. There are times when little speech bubbles show up, but most of the time they don’t add anything important or personal; they feel more like filler than improvement. However, the ambient music, sound effects, and pace work well together to make players feel like they are really in the underground world.
Million Depth is an independent roguelike that is very interesting and pushes the limits of story, gameplay, and strategy. In some ways, the game is buggy, the graphics aren’t uniform, and the systems can be hard to understand. But overall, it’s creative, emotional, and fun. Strategic fighting, weapons that can be changed, and storylines that can take different paths keep players interested across multiple runs.
Even though some early parts may not make sense and randomness can be annoying at times, the story and features are deep enough that exploring them is worth it. The Biotope Jammer, dual-character control, and timeline-based development make this roguelike game playable in a way unlike many others. The story is also interesting enough to keep you going down again and again.
