izigame.me

Getting straight to it, I love Broodstar.
I'm always searching for those rare gems that have near-infinite replayability, and this game has it. No two runs are ever the same (unless you want that, just enter a seed number) and the strategy of mixing and matching modules gives Broodstar so much depth. Want to upgrade your fire rate to insane speeds? Add a homing missile to your secondary weapon slot? Dash through enemies to kill them and boost your damage output? How about flamethrowers spewing out in 8 directions? You can do all that, provided you get the modules for which you seek. Once you get to the later stages (15 per run), you'll probably start to feel invincible if you picked the right build.
I'm definitely a fan of shmups, so Broodstar needed a good shmup core in order to work. Thankfully it does, as controlling your ship is smooth, the game runs great on pretty much anything, and it just feels satisfying to blast your way through hordes of bugs/flies/eyeballs/worms/etc. Even without all the upgrades and stat mechanics this game would work on its own.
Visually it's nothing that will blow you away, but will give you great 90s arcade nostalgia vibes. The CRT filter is a nice touch too, for that old arcadey feel. At first you may feel cramped with the big panels on the sides taking up your screen space, but it helps the aesthetic of a vertical screen cab. Plus there's a lot of useful data of which to keep track.
Can't talk about this game without mentioning the banger of a soundtrack. Most areas have a different theme and they're all killer tunes. Fits the mood perfectly. I subbed to the YT of the artist for this very reason.
To sum it all up, Broodstar takes the shmup category and turns it up to 11. The sheer variety of builds you can create, permanent upgrades to unlock, and secrets to discover makes it a must-buy. Highly recommended.