Mystic Gate

Developer: Zoo Corporation | Publisher: Zoo Corporation | Release Date: 2023 | Genre: Action / Roguelite / Twin-Stick Shooter | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Zoo Corporation is best known for its long-running Pretty Girls series, which has seen anime girls paired with everything from Mahjong and Solitaire to Breakout and poker. Mystic Gate is something completely different, though, as it trades card tables and tile-matching for procedurally generated dungeons, bullet-hell combat, and a whole lot of firearms. It is still a relatively small and straightforward game, but it is also one of the more ambitious titles from the developer.

Mystic Gate opens with the appearance of a mysterious gate created by the gods. Beyond this gate lies danger, treasure, and the promise of a wish for anyone brave enough to survive what waits on the other side. Players take on the role of an adventurer who enters the gate in search of this prize, only to find themselves battling through a series of monster-filled dungeons. The story is extremely thin and mostly serves as an excuse to send players through the portal, but this is not the type of game that really needs a complicated narrative.

The game is best described as a twin-stick roguelite shooter with dungeon-crawling elements. Comparisons to Enter the Gungeon are unavoidable, as Mystic Gate uses a similar room-by-room structure where players clear enemies, collect items, find keys, and eventually face bosses. It doesn’t have the same personality, polish, or absurd variety as Dodge Roll’s classic, but it does manage to carve out some of its own appeal thanks to its simple progression and large arsenal of weapons.

Players begin in a small hub area, which serves as a safe place between runs. From here, they can enter the gate, check their progress, buy skills, and interact with NPCs. Once inside the dungeon, the goal is to survive through five increasingly difficult areas. Each run consists of randomized rooms filled with enemies, traps, treasure chests, shops, and locked doors. As expected, rooms with enemies usually lock the exits until everything inside has been defeated.

Combat is fast, simple, and easy to understand. Players move with one stick or keys and aim in another direction while firing at anything hostile. Enemies fill the screen with projectiles, making dodging just as important as shooting. Thankfully, the player has access to a dash move, which is essential for avoiding bullets, escaping danger, and crossing gaps. Pitfalls are present too, so blindly dashing around without paying attention can end a promising run in a very embarrassing fashion.

The weapon variety is one of Mystic Gate’s strongest aspects. There are dozens of weapons to discover, ranging from basic pistols and shotguns to grenade launchers and more unusual firearms. Some weapons are clearly more useful than others, but finding a new one during a run is always exciting. Unlike some roguelites where ammunition scarcity becomes a constant headache, Mystic Gate keeps the focus more on action and survival than forcing players to hoard every bullet.

Along with weapons, players can acquire active and passive skills that help alter their chances of survival. These can provide useful bonuses and give players a sense of progression between runs. This is important because Mystic Gate can be quite challenging at first. Dying sends players back to the hub, but progress is not entirely lost, and permanent upgrades make subsequent attempts a little more manageable. It is a familiar roguelite loop, but it works well enough to keep the game addictive.

The game also includes missions that reward players for completing certain objectives, such as defeating specific enemies. These provide another incentive to keep jumping back into the dungeon and gradually build up resources. There is also an encyclopedia-style system that tracks enemies and weapons discovered, which is a neat touch for completionists.

One of the more interesting features is the local co-op mode. Instead of a second player controlling another full adventurer, they take control of the floating robot companion. This little sidekick accompanies the main character during solo play too, firing at enemies and providing some additional assistance. In co-op, having another player control it makes the experience more interactive, although this is still very much designed around the main player doing most of the heavy lifting. It is a welcome addition, but players expecting a full two-character co-op roguelite may need to temper their expectations.

The enemies in Mystic Gate are varied enough to keep things interesting. Players will face everything from slimes and goblin-like creatures to bomb-dropping birds, tougher monsters, and screen-filling bosses. Some enemies rush straight toward the player, while others fill the room with projectiles. The best moments come when the game throws multiple enemy types together, forcing players to prioritize threats while weaving through bullets.

Boss battles are generally enjoyable and provide a good test of how well players have adapted to the game’s movement and shooting. Some bosses are more memorable than others, but they help break up the regular room-clearing structure. The difficulty does increase sharply in the later areas, so reaching the final stages requires a combination of good weapons, useful skills, and careful dodging.

Visually, Mystic Gate uses a colorful pixel art style that fits its arcade-like gameplay. The character and enemy sprites are simple but readable, which is important in a game where bullets and hazards can quickly fill the screen. The environments are not as detailed or distinctive as the best games in the genre, but they get the job done and provide enough variety between areas. The overall presentation is pleasant, even if it doesn’t quite have the visual personality of something like Enter the Gungeon.

The soundtrack is better than expected and does a good job of matching the pace of the action. The hub music is calmer, while the dungeon tracks are more energetic and help keep players engaged during repeated runs. Sound effects are punchy enough, and weapons generally have a satisfying impact, although the audio is not quite as memorable as the gameplay loop.

Controls are responsive, which is essential for a twin-stick shooter. Playing with a controller feels natural, although some players may prefer the precision of keyboard and mouse. The dash move is easy to use and quickly becomes second nature, while aiming and shooting feel straightforward. The game does not overcomplicate its control scheme, which works in its favor.

As enjoyable as Mystic Gate is, it does have some shortcomings. The biggest issue is that it rarely escapes the shadow of its inspirations. Enter the Gungeon offered more personality, more memorable characters, more creative weapons, and more elaborate room design. Mystic Gate is fun, but it often feels like a simpler and more modest take on the same formula. The story also does very little to make the adventure more compelling, and the hub area could have used more personality or interaction.

The randomized dungeons also mean that some runs feel more exciting than others. A good weapon early on can make a run feel great, while weaker equipment can make progress feel like more of a grind. This is common in the genre, but Mystic Gate doesn’t always have enough variety to completely offset repetition.

Overall, Mystic Gate is a surprisingly solid roguelite shooter from a developer better known for much more casual fare. It may not dethrone Enter the Gungeon or reinvent the genre, but it offers fast-paced combat, plenty of weapons, useful progression systems, and enough challenge to keep players coming back. The local co-op robot mode is a nice bonus, and the game has enough charm to make it easy to recommend to fans of twin-stick shooters looking for something affordable.