[played on Steam Deck]

Let's get one thing out of the way: The Ascent is buggy at times. I did not encounter any bug that destroyed my progress. On the Steam Deck, even though it is marked verified, it often hangs on startup (right before the main menu is loaded) or when taking a lift. (Fix: verify integrity of files) Some of the later missions may also end up in a buggy state. I had main mission enemies not appear, or one enemy turn invisible while he kept screaming as if I kept hitting him. (Fix: quit to main menu and load your last save again) These bugs even appeared after the patch that came out with the Cyber Heist DLC.

Despite the above, would I recommend it? Absolutely. This game very much delivers what is promised in the trailer and description, so if that is even remotely to your liking, you'll have a good time.

What stood out to me is how they've brought the Cyberpunk atmosphere to life. The visuals, the soundtrack, the art direction, all impeccable. Map design is really good. The cities feel alive through thousands of inhabitants. I am genuinely impressed here.

The action is very satisfying, it controls like a twin stick shooter and you have a wide range of weaponry to choose from (very diverse!), and equipment to help you in battle. Mind you, there's a lot of backtracking, especially if you take on the side quests, and as you traverse the map, you will have a lot of repeating battles. I didn't mind this because the core gameplay really feels great.

The voice acting is hit & miss. Some characters sound downright terrible, as if a really bad placeholder was forgotten and not replaced. One character (Korg) changed voices during 1 dialog, went from English to I assume some alien language and back. This just feels sloppy and can be jarring. A lot of the voice acting is done really well however, some so good they really give personality to the characters.

I played single player and am in the middle of a 4 player coop run. Gotta say, it's well received on our game nights, we're having a lot of fun in this game, but to me it's well worth playing as a single player game too. I just get so soaked up into the atmosphere.

All in all, despite some less than stellar things, there's so much done right, so definitely recommended!

EDIT: the startup hangups haven't occurred since writing this review. I don't know if it's related to the latest game patch or Proton update, but I almost consider the game verified again (if only it wouldn't default to ultra settings on a first install on Steam Deck).

[Played on Steam Deck]

This DLC hit just as I was completing my first singeplayer run. Even though I'm also in the middle of a 4p co-op run, I found myself wanting more endgame content, and that's exactly what you get here. Bought it at 25% off and I do not regret it.

Basically, it's just more of the same. The latest patch added 1 melee weapon to the main game, and the DLC adds a few more (shown in trailer). Besides that, there an entire new map with new art and assets that fit perfectly within the style of the main game, as well as quite some indoor areas and a few side quests. Entry to the DLC content is given via a main mission that follows up on the last main game main mission, so it integrates well and does not feel disconnected as is sometimes the case with DLC, except for the fact that all its missions are entirely contained within the map. Still, it's an entire map, a good chunk of extra endgame content. I was lvl 30 when entering it, enemies are lvl 30+ for me, so do not expect a cakewalk.

If you had enough of The Ascent after the main game playthrough, this DLC is not for you as it will not offer you anything substantially new. But if like me you wanted more, this is well worth it.