Sektori Review & Thoughts

5 STARS

Sektori is a joy-stick, rogue-lite shooter from Kimmo Factor Oy, a new studio that creates this fun and challenging shooter. From the likes of shooters like Geometry Wars and other retro and classic joy-stick shooters, Sektori encapsulates its immerse gameplay and world that feels nostalgic in its own right. It engages every player to seek the high score within every playthrough, making it competitive and the sheer sense of victory. 

What’s rogue-lite about this game being a joy-stick shooter, is not only having one life and a couple of shields each time you’ve been hit but after each level, you are rewarded with cards that impact your playstyle whether its improving your shields, giving more power to your shots and such and such. 

The gameplay aspect engages players to reach another level with an array of difficulties. The mobs spawn within each level varies and challenges the player to think on the spot and strategically combat the mobs throughout the level. The constant barrage of attacks to evade and maneuver are so out there and it pushes you to the edge of your seat. There are power-ups every level, whether it's to an area of effect explosive charge that destroys everything in its radius or charges you at the enemy, hopping throughout the map, it intensifies the game to a new level. Speaking of charging, you have a charging attack that can devastate enemies or if you are in a pinch of trouble, although it’s only one charge, the cooldown for it doesn’t take much long to utilize it again. There are more permanent powerups that affect your starship, whether its speed, power and other qualifying straits, it impacts your playthroughs.  

Each boss offers differential varieties without them, there’s no repeats every time you die or respawn. After each incredible ordeal, you face a boss that is distinct and unique at its own kind. Every boss though has weaknesses, indicated with each weakness penned, blue crystals that is the most vulnerable spot to shoot  Bosses tend to have obsoletes to overcome like other mobs spawned to prevent you from striking weak spots, giving some peril in challenges throughout these fights. Each run rotates different bosses giving you the variety from repetition and engages the player to keep at their toes, bend over backwards to solidify your position that intrudes every playthrough. 

The seamless transition within every level is just mindblowing, every time you beat the level, there are no loading screens or pause. This seamless transition to the relenting joy-stick shooting is just immense signaling the just cause for the beat of the game. In fact, with each transition after whether fighting a boss or completing a level, grants no pause just in the moment of fun and challenges to face ahead. Each level along with the transition changes, with them warning you where to be in place before changing the level, even with bosses, whether it's rhythmically advantageous to your perspective or not, it elevates the playing field.     

The music is what really shines throughout this game, the techno, Daft Punk-like tunes encapsulates you throughout each run. The beats are insatiably in rhythm with the beat and it feels like the beating heart of the game. Within each boss, it feels maniac and intense whilst dodging shots and other obsoletes that fling towards you. The beat never stops, just loops even at the pause menu, giving immersive qualities to the world that you are playing.  

In the end, Sektori just mixes brand new elements with retro-like qualities of a fun joystick shooter alongside with rogue-lite aspects that is evident throughout the game. This new studio Kimmo just made a sleeper hit of 2025 and it’s just fantastic. It’s nostalgic and reminisces the past of other known joy-stick shooters that encapsulates a strong and relenting punch to other shooters.