Cloudbuilt (v2024.08.04 & ALL DLC)

A rocket-powered suit turns a shattered world above the clouds into a blisteringly fast obstacle course. Cloudbuilt follows Demi, a wounded veteran who awakens in an unfamiliar skybound realm and pushes through its hostile architecture while confronting uncertainty about her past and future. The mood balances lonely science-fiction introspection with arcade intensity: one moment feels like a quiet traversal of floating ruins, the next demands split-second reactions at terrifying speed. It is a precision action-platformer built around movement mastery rather than simple sightseeing.

Demi runs along vertical surfaces, launches across huge gaps, air-dashes around hazards, and uses her suit’s boost to preserve momentum through demanding routes. Robot enemies can be blasted apart, but combat rarely lets players slow down; the best runs weave shooting, dodging, and traversal into one uninterrupted flow. More than forty stages offer alternate paths, secrets, medals, and optional challenges, encouraging repeated attempts to improve times and execution. Difficulty rises sharply as levels introduce tighter landings, deadlier defenses, and routes that require careful boost management, though the quick-restart structure keeps failure from becoming a long interruption.

Cloudbuilt stands apart through its blend of third-person shooting and parkour speedrunning, with a sense of aerial freedom that recalls Mirror’s Edge filtered through demanding time-trial platformers. Its clean, stylized environments make dangerous routes readable even when Demi is ricocheting between walls at high velocity, while the varied themes prevent the floating setting from feeling visually flat. The updated versions of the core stages provide a smoother, more balanced campaign, while the original 2014 layouts remain available for players who want the older challenge; the Defiance content and dozens of unlockable costumes add further reasons to return. Anyone who enjoys chasing perfect routes, shaving seconds off runs, and learning difficult movement systems should find plenty to love, but players seeking a relaxed action adventure may find its steep skill curve unforgiving.