After having the game for a while now I still haven't gotten around to playing it in local multiplayer, but I still wanted to give some feedback based on the Survival mode.
I like how weighty the shots feel. It feels a lot like punches being thrown back and forth. Also the limited range of them is a great idea, so it's not possible to spam each other or the AI from across the screen. You have to get in each other's proximity and that's where the great battles happen.
Another cool thing is that you're able to change the charge up for the shot into a boost dodge when you need to get out in a pinch. It's things like that that add way more depth to the game than it would have had otherwise.
I really like the new additions in the latest patch. Names for the player ships, the functioning war ship. Really cool to be able to use the war ship to lure AI opponents into their striking zone.
One thing that I'd love to see is damage by incoming meteor showers. That they're able to take down your shield for example. Afaik that's not happening now, right?
Someone talked about powerups and that definitely can be a cool thing. The way I see it could be that it's optional for local multiplayer, so that you're able to play the game as is or add powerups to the mix by having it as a selection in the menu. For powerups themselves I was thinking like a shockwave that takes out enemy bullets in its proximity and either blows up/takes down the shield of a very closeby enemy ship or pushes them away. Maybe a double or triple shot (either in a spread out pattern or two/three shots in very quick succession)? A hyperdrive powerup that transports the player to a random location on the screen. Temporary buff to the shield that makes it take two hits before going down? I can probably come up with a bunch more, but this is off the top of my head.
Again, I'm reaaaaaally enjoying the game <3