The Desolate Hope

The Desolate Hope mixes several gameplay styles. On the station and in the simulations, the game is a platformer. You shoot enemies, collect powerups and bits (money), and improve yourself and your virtual fighters. When you enter a mini-simulation (the old arcade screens), the game becomes an 8-bit overhead dungeon crawler. There you can farm money and get options to customize your combat experience. When you encounter a virus boss, the game switches to a JRPG-style battle where you have to use the mouse to choose from different options to defeat your opponent. Outside of these battles, almost everything revolves around improving your abilities and increasing your stats for these battles - they are the game's true challenge.