The Playstation store's specials can be a treasure trove or a trap and most of the time I feel as though someone that pulls in a 50% of sale game can come out on top but in some situations there are games out there where the developers got too delusional about what it is that they are actually capable of and I feel that when that happens games like Vesta are the eventuality. This game is terrible in so many ways and even though I picked it up for the price of a cheeseburger meal at McDonalds, I still feel as though I wasted money.
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Vesta is cutesy and appears to be fun at first as you run around controlling your sci-fi character in 3-d (kinda) as she navigates from one portion of the spaceship to the other.. at first dodging powerful enemies and then eventually, with the help of a Mech of sorts engaging them head on with firepower.
The problems with this game are multiple and it starts basically straight away. The story is stupid and you find yourself immediately skipping all of the cutscenes because you don't care what is going on, you just want to play.
You are almost powerless as just the little girl that is running around trying to collect various power cells in order to progress forward because any interaction with enemies results in you dying immediately.
If i hadn't been only playing the game for 30 minutes or so at that point I probably would have turned it off because the ease in which you are dispatched gets really old, really fast.... then you get a godsend... A powerful robot that will accompany you and serves as your nearly indestructible bodyguard from that point forward. Or so it seems, for about 20 minutes of gameplay or so.
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As it turns out he (it could be a she or a zhe for all i know, it's a robot) has its own limitations which are thrust on you right away, the main thing being that it is too big to fit into places that you would normally go if he wasn't with you at all.... so this just means the the addition of the "mech" hasn't really added anything to our gameplay other than to create additional obstacles, most of which it is not terribly good at resolving.
It's a game, I get it.. They needed to make it more difficult as they went along just like every game is. But this doesn't excuse the near game-breaking deficiencies in the robot's controls excusable.
For most of the game from when you acquire the robot forward, it is necessary for him to shoot "fist missiles" at whatever is in your way... and the only way he can do this is by holding down R1 combined with R2 and a direction.
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This is so frustrating because he can only fire at 45 degree angles and the only way you can change which direction he is facing (with his hand cannon) is by pushing the d-pad and this also just so happens to move the droid as well. In situations like the above first boss fight, there is also a crevice there so you are faced with the insurmountable task of pointing your laser sight to aim your missile, but also don't press it for too long because if you do you will fall into a ditch that immediately kills you.
There is no other way to aim. You must press in a direction to aim the missile but if you do so, you fall into a ditch that kills you.
This brings me to my next point.
In Vesta you have an unlimited number of respawns and this is a good thing because you are going to use a lot of them before you rage-quit the game forever. Unfortunately, this will sometimes bring you back to a point in the game where you have to do a long series of tasks where you are carrying this energy pod this direction and then that direction, for 4-5 minutes at at time, only to fall into an "instant kill" ditch because you are forced to aim with the same buttons that move your unit. It's just stupid.
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I was sucked into this game because where the devs lack abilities in making an actual game they absolutely excel at making a great promo video that convinces potential players into thinking that this will be an interesting sci-fi puzzle game. It very well could be that this was the original intention but the end result is just awful and I am stunned that this game managed to make it to PC, Switch, PS4, and Xbox with reasonably decent sales.
Vesta is likely the most frustrating game that I have had to endure for an hour before deleting it from my PS Pro...ever. The controls don't work and the limitations placed on players as far as the droid "mech" are concerned are unforgivable. This game is awful and that is why it is getting sold for $4 right now, down from the original tag price of $20+.
Dont be a sucker like I was, this game is not worth $4, it is not worth $1. I feel after playing it for an hour that the developers owe me money for being subjected to its awfulness. It will likely disappear from the PS store soon and it should. This game is broken and is an abomination. Stay well away.