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The Ascent looks just as good in first-person

Up close and personal.

The recently-released The Ascent is a gorgeous, incredibly-detailed cyberpunk action role-playing game that plays from a fixed, top-down, isometric perspective. But what happens when you unlock the camera?

In the video below spotted by Kotaku, Gaming with Griff Griffin shows us that Neon Giant's The Ascent looks just as good in first-person, with an impressive level of detail on display when you're viewing the world up close. We see detailed character models, environments and even objects in shops (The Ascent's shops are great!). I love the Neuromancer nod, too.

Watch on YouTube

Griff Griffin used a tool called the Universal Unreal Engine 4 Unlocker to move the camera about (details are in the video description). It's a great thing, too because we see The Ascent's compelling cyberpunk world holds up under close scrutiny. That developer Neon Giant is a studio of just 12 people makes this all the more impressive.

The Ascent in first-person reminds me of Cyberpunk 2077. Of course it does - both games have a similar aesthetic. The Ascent is a top-down twin-stick shooter, so in gameplay terms it simply wouldn't work in first-person in its current form, but it's fun to wonder how it would play if Neon Giant went down the Cyberpunk 2077 route.

If you're wondering about The Ascent, check out Edwin's wonderful review.