At the time of me writing this review, it's been 1 week since the game released to Early Acces.
For now the game is mostly a driving/walking simulator, with beautifully designed places to visit and wonderful background music (Synthwave and Vaporwave) to accompany you wherever you go. Unfortunately, said places can only offer their looks for now (with a few NPC conversations sprinkled around the world being an exception).
But... I have some suggestions for the developers. I look forward to a potential future version of the game where the:

• -VHS stores will have purchasable films to watch
  
• -Diners and Pubs will have consumable food and drinks
  
• -Party places and Discos will have dancing/vibing (maybe even relationship/friendship?) options
  
• -Arcades will have playable games* and maybe even unique rewards exchangable for tokens (earned from arcade games)
  
• -The player will have a basic home but has the option to buy better homes for money earned from all kinds of sources (the game already seems to offer various methods for earning easy money, so that's a good start!)
  
• -There will be car customization options such as painting them, and maybe there could even be races against NPCs**

These are just suggestions, but I hope the developers can take inspiration from them, and will listen to feedback from many other players! I'm not very experienced at reviewing games, so I wonder how many people will agree with what I write here.
Retrowave World is still a newborn in the world of videogames, and I think words (feedback, suggestions) could influence it's future in a large scale. That is, if the developers truly listen.

I will edit this review in the future, based on how the game will change and evolve!
Thank you for reading.

*Edit 1: Arcades DO have playable games now, however there is still no real incentive to spend much time on them. It doesn't feel rewarding. A few of them seem bugged too. The plinko-like ball dropper game is not counting the score properly, so it is nearly impossible to win.
**Edit 2: The game now allows you to customize your cars, although, annoyingly, you are NOT allowed to customize your starter car, which means you first have to save up thousands of dollars to buy a customizable car, and then save up an extra pile of dosh to pay for said customizations (if you don't want your car to look boring).
The game now also lets you race other players and win money, but I personally think that the race pathway in Ocean City is quite the pain to drive through. (I've also experienced an annoying phenomenon, where I raced another player, and they rammed my car from behind which caused them to jump over me and get an advantage while my car was knocked over. That doesn't seem very fair to me.)

I've decided to play and test the game again after the latest update (Update Number 4). I wanted to make sure that my feedback is accurate and up to date. I will strike out features I've listed below that have been fixed/added by the developers, but I will leave untouched the ones that are either still in/missing from the game, or I wasn't able to test due to the lack of other players in multiplayer:

• -If a player Respawns their car, every player's car is respawned, which means that your race / pizza delivery / taxi ride missions can easily get disrupted by your car randomly teleporting to mid-air and completely halting.
  
• -Activating voicechat causes your FPS to instantly drop to 0, and it stays there for a few seconds. This happens on every activation. Fixed/Removed
  
• -The new japan-themed "Island of Rising Sun" map does not have a Map to navigate with, and you are also unable to respawn your car if it gets stuck in the densely forested terrain, or if you lose it somehow. Respawn Bug Fixed/Removed, but the lack of a Map remains.
  
• -There seems to be an "exploit" in the Real Estate feature. If you enter the Real Estate Agency and buy a property, then exit the real estate agency building, then re-enter the building, you will be able to claim all your daily earnings without cooldown. This can be repeated every time you re-enter the building. Fixed/Removed
  
• -The new japan-themed "Island of Rising Sun" map has a lot of off-branch roads that lead nowhere, and are partially blocked off either by an actual blockade, an invisible wall, or a PNG of trees/bushes/terrain.
  
• -Custom button assignments get deleted once you exit the game. This is a huge negative in terms of Player comfort.
  
• -You cannot change your car or player model, without exiting to the main menu.

Step into the basement.. the abyss awaits you.

A very good, underrated doom-style shooter horror game with seriously good and fitting soundtrack, paired with a thick dark atmosphere and deep, mysterious, intriguing lore.

It can be played solo or multiplayer, but I recommend playing it with a close friend or a loved one. Make sure you have voicechat or live communication though, it is deadly to stand in one place just to use the chat in this game.

This game deserves more attention and updates, however it is very well-balanced in its current state, and it still shines like an unpolished gem.
It is quite unfortunate that developer doesn't have enough funds and free time to continue working on this game.. for now...

This game has a very unique feel/vibe to it.. not many other games have an aura like this.. the only other one I can think of would be Cry of Fear.
It's quite artistic, and it leaves a lot up for personal interpretation.. maybe that's what makes it so special.

Make sure to try it, and don't be surprised if it's difficult. Everything in this game will try to kill you, and it often won't be easy to survive, but it is possible. You can overcome the endless hordes of monsters and demons, but only if you put in the effort, and only if you stay alert at all times.. as the monsters in this game can literally appear right behind/infront of/next to you in less than a second.

Either way, I recommend it.
Thank you Paul Schneider, for an amazing game.



I can smell the sleeping gods of this place as I descend... I'm finally home...

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Soundtrack and sound design: 9/10
Graphics: 6/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Lore: 8/10 (but there isn't much)
Controls: 7/10

It could use some QOL changes but it's still very good.