After being in the works for more than a decade, unique roguelite, space shooter and action RPG blend Nova Drift has finally launched in full on Steam, and its dev says it “doesn’t even seem ‘real’ to say that the game is done.”
There’s a very interesting concept at the heart of Nova Drift, as it blends together arcade-style, roguelite space shooter goodness with “modern” action RPG elements – putting a focus on customization and build-crafting for each quick run. Developed by mostly solo dev Jeffrey “Chimeric” Nielson, it was first pitched all the way back in 2013 and released into Steam early access in 2019, but this week, its 1.0 version finally launched, complete with a final boss and a new Endless Mode.
With almost 500 ‘Very Positive’ recent Steam reviews contributing to Nova Drift having an overall ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ score, it’s safe to say that it could be a contender for one of the best roguelikes available to play at the moment, and certainly one of the best Steam games that’s launched recently. Reflecting on the game’s launch after all this time, Nielson writes in a blog post that it’s “been a long road.”
Nova Drift has been in the works for so long, in fact, that Nielson says it “existed in early access long enough to witness the resurgence and fall of its own genre.” The dev adds: “Now that it’s complete, it doesn’t even seem ‘real’ to say that the game is done. I’ve been doing this for so long that I feel like I am a different person now than when I started, and I haven’t dared to imagine a version of myself that wasn’t entrenched in the project. I’m deeply appreciative that it all happened, and I am quite proud of it, but I am so, so ready to take a break and do something else. It was just all-consuming.”
Even so, Nielson isn’t entirely done with the game, noting that if the launch goes well, mobile and major console ports will be considered, as well as major DLC or a big update. On top of that, Nielson “won’t dismiss the possibility of a sequel one day.” For the time being, though, the dev is just thankful to all the people who’ve supported Nova Drift so far, as it “wouldn’t be half the game it has become without its community, and I thank you for the opportunity to do what I love for a living.
For more games like Nova Drift, be sure to check out our roundup of the best PC games.
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