Okay, so, time for a more positive topic than my last one.
Today, I want to share one of my interests with you gamers out there, as I've never seen this one discussed here, and I think there's a lot to gain by trying these out. I hadnt known that this genre even existed until just a few years ago, and then it became THE main type of game I played.
I am talking about roguelikes. Sometimes called rogueLITES depending on the exact mechanics, and because people are pedantic little snots.
The idea of this genre is simple, and it tends to contain a few concepts that are easy enough to understand, yet that provide a VERY different experience than many "big" games out there.
Some of these concepts:
1. Permadeath. If you get all murderized by something in many games, you'll go back to a checkpoint. If you get destroyed in a roguelike... that's IT. No checkpoint, no reloading a save, because the save just erased itself. Back to the beginning with ye! Now, some roguelikes will have "meta progression" between runs (such as unlocking new content that may appear) but for the most part, your character's death is permanent and you're knocked back to the start.
2. Procedural elements. No two runs are the same. The dungeon/world/whatever has no set structure and is newly generated each time you play. The items, monsters, traps, whatever are also chosen randomly. Just because you found the Toothbrush of Destiny in the last run sure doesnt mean it'll show up now.
3. Incredibly high difficulty. You're going to die. A LOT. You think Dark Souls is hard? Hah! This genre makes Dark Souls look like Animal Crossing. Though it's not as brutal as bullet hell games. Unless it's a bullet hell roguelike, which is a thing that exists.
4. High learning curve, but also high freedom. These are DEEP games and can be approached in MANY ways.
5. Replay value is absurd. Not uncommon for someone to get a couple thousand hours out of one of these.
Now I could ramble on about the specifics more, but... I want to just give some examples of games in it. Let people maybe try some for themselves instead of just listening to me too much. So, let's get to some of them:
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
An action roguelike, this is actually my choice for not only the best in the genre, but the single best game ever made. This game was one of those that warped the bloody landscape upon releasing... the indie side of gaming would never be the same after THIS came out. It is full of action, with lots of crazy mechanics, items, monsters, and for some reason poop. It's made by the guy who did Super Meat Boy. This one has a lot of sentimental value to me. I've mentioned my game-dev experience before... well, if Isaac had never been made, that old dream of mine would have gone unfulfilled. My game existed because this one does.
Tales of Maj'Eyal (TOME)
One of the HUGE ones. This is an exceedingly deep game, and an example of why I play stuff like this instead of JRPGs. I always loved the IDEA of JRPGs... tactical turn based combat with interesting choices to make? Sure! But most of them are braindead easy. All those cool buffs/debuffs you get? Hah! Just attack over and over. But not in a roguelike! Even basic monsters can completely mangle you if you dont know what you're doing. That enormous menagerie of spells and abilities exists for a reason, and you'll be using ALL of them. This is a turn-based game.
Approaching Infinity
Another turn-based one, but more accessible than TOME. This one is space themed! If you've ever heard of Starflight (a very old EA game) this is that, except turn based and with more eyeballs. A fast paced game that is big on exploration. I love this one.
A Robot Named Fight
Okay it should be obvious just looking at it as to what THIS is. Basically Super Metroid, but with all the roguelike elements. It even controls/feels *exactly* like that old game. But there's far more to explore here. Also more horrible meat monsters. This one is loads of fun.
Metallic Child
So, imagine Megaman, but as a beat-em-up. The screenshot is from a side view, but that's just that one boss; most of the time it is an isometric view. Excellent combat system that feels great, with an anime-style aesthetic and cutscenes, and some very unique mechanics.
Ring of Pain
Another turn-based game, and one of the stranger ones you'll find. Also one of the creepiest. Captain Nightmare Fuel there is one of the final bosses, and this strange scene is his arena. It LOOKS like a card game, but it isnt... rather, the true focus is your equipment at the bottom. This is a game all about difficult decisions and creating wild character builds. Very, very hard, and one of the most unique ones I've ever seen. Also music is amazing.
Golden Light
A screenshot wont do for this one. This is a horror game, and if you like the genre at all... particularly the weirder ones... then definitely have a look here, it's a short video. I've played MANY horror games. Only two of them have ever caused me to have a genuine panic moment. This is one of them (and you can see it happen in the video). Very bizarre game, as you can probably tell when I eat the shield covered in eyeballs.
Hyperrogue
Turn-based, this one takes place in an infinite world of hyperbolic, non euclidean geometry, represented as well as it can be in our 3D world. Again, VERY unique game, and my favorite of the turn-based ones. This one has a very unique property that I've never seen anywhere else. For some players, they cannot look at this one when it is in motion (movement is smooth). It can cause dizziness and nausea just to watch it. Our brains are NOT meant to handle what's going on here; the bizarro geometry causes the world in the game to twist and warp as you move through it. Fortunately there's an option to turn off the smooth movement for those affected by that. Things get wild here, in a world where parallel lines can diverge and circles get weird. Incidentally, this can be played in VR from a first-person perspective. Uh... I do NOT recommend this unless you are *entirely* immune to side effects. Just trust me on this.
Streets of Rogue
My 2nd favorite behind Isaac. Ever played Deux Ex? That was an incredible game... there were a million solutions to each challenge, violent or non-violent, sneaky or manipulative, tons of ways to combine cool items and use creativity to overcome things. This is basically that, plus some DNA from Grand Theft Auto, with some comedy thrown in, in a game focused on emergent gameplay. There are no monsters or pure bad guys here (except the Mayor). It's not you VS the world... every NPC has their own agenda and they will interact not just with you, but with each other, often in surprising ways. You have 3 missions to do in each zone, but HOW you do it is up to you. In this screenshot, I used a holographic gorilla to start a fight between the mob and the cops, so that an assassination target would get killed in the crossfire. It makes sense in context. Brilliantly varied game that continues to surprise me even after a few hundred hours. This is also the only game to include such character classes as comedian (tells jokes to get people to loyally follow orders and do his dirty work for him) or investment banker (rich guy who takes all the drugs, providing powerful buffs to get things done, but has to deal with withdrawal and debt ninjas... again, makes sense in context). This is a VERY high quality game, even when compared against the demanding standards of everything else in the genre.
And I think that's good enough for now.
Games like these are the reason why I play indie titles instead of AAA games (well, that and AAA games tend to be predatory), and I just wanted to share them with others who may be interested in trying them out. There's certainly more that I could show. And I do have one other similar post I want to make of a subset of these that stands out on their own... but that'll wait until next time.
Today, I want to share one of my interests with you gamers out there, as I've never seen this one discussed here, and I think there's a lot to gain by trying these out. I hadnt known that this genre even existed until just a few years ago, and then it became THE main type of game I played.
I am talking about roguelikes. Sometimes called rogueLITES depending on the exact mechanics, and because people are pedantic little snots.
The idea of this genre is simple, and it tends to contain a few concepts that are easy enough to understand, yet that provide a VERY different experience than many "big" games out there.
Some of these concepts:
1. Permadeath. If you get all murderized by something in many games, you'll go back to a checkpoint. If you get destroyed in a roguelike... that's IT. No checkpoint, no reloading a save, because the save just erased itself. Back to the beginning with ye! Now, some roguelikes will have "meta progression" between runs (such as unlocking new content that may appear) but for the most part, your character's death is permanent and you're knocked back to the start.
2. Procedural elements. No two runs are the same. The dungeon/world/whatever has no set structure and is newly generated each time you play. The items, monsters, traps, whatever are also chosen randomly. Just because you found the Toothbrush of Destiny in the last run sure doesnt mean it'll show up now.
3. Incredibly high difficulty. You're going to die. A LOT. You think Dark Souls is hard? Hah! This genre makes Dark Souls look like Animal Crossing. Though it's not as brutal as bullet hell games. Unless it's a bullet hell roguelike, which is a thing that exists.
4. High learning curve, but also high freedom. These are DEEP games and can be approached in MANY ways.
5. Replay value is absurd. Not uncommon for someone to get a couple thousand hours out of one of these.
Now I could ramble on about the specifics more, but... I want to just give some examples of games in it. Let people maybe try some for themselves instead of just listening to me too much. So, let's get to some of them:
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
An action roguelike, this is actually my choice for not only the best in the genre, but the single best game ever made. This game was one of those that warped the bloody landscape upon releasing... the indie side of gaming would never be the same after THIS came out. It is full of action, with lots of crazy mechanics, items, monsters, and for some reason poop. It's made by the guy who did Super Meat Boy. This one has a lot of sentimental value to me. I've mentioned my game-dev experience before... well, if Isaac had never been made, that old dream of mine would have gone unfulfilled. My game existed because this one does.
Tales of Maj'Eyal (TOME)
One of the HUGE ones. This is an exceedingly deep game, and an example of why I play stuff like this instead of JRPGs. I always loved the IDEA of JRPGs... tactical turn based combat with interesting choices to make? Sure! But most of them are braindead easy. All those cool buffs/debuffs you get? Hah! Just attack over and over. But not in a roguelike! Even basic monsters can completely mangle you if you dont know what you're doing. That enormous menagerie of spells and abilities exists for a reason, and you'll be using ALL of them. This is a turn-based game.
Approaching Infinity
Another turn-based one, but more accessible than TOME. This one is space themed! If you've ever heard of Starflight (a very old EA game) this is that, except turn based and with more eyeballs. A fast paced game that is big on exploration. I love this one.
A Robot Named Fight
Okay it should be obvious just looking at it as to what THIS is. Basically Super Metroid, but with all the roguelike elements. It even controls/feels *exactly* like that old game. But there's far more to explore here. Also more horrible meat monsters. This one is loads of fun.
Metallic Child
So, imagine Megaman, but as a beat-em-up. The screenshot is from a side view, but that's just that one boss; most of the time it is an isometric view. Excellent combat system that feels great, with an anime-style aesthetic and cutscenes, and some very unique mechanics.
Ring of Pain
Another turn-based game, and one of the stranger ones you'll find. Also one of the creepiest. Captain Nightmare Fuel there is one of the final bosses, and this strange scene is his arena. It LOOKS like a card game, but it isnt... rather, the true focus is your equipment at the bottom. This is a game all about difficult decisions and creating wild character builds. Very, very hard, and one of the most unique ones I've ever seen. Also music is amazing.
Golden Light
A screenshot wont do for this one. This is a horror game, and if you like the genre at all... particularly the weirder ones... then definitely have a look here, it's a short video. I've played MANY horror games. Only two of them have ever caused me to have a genuine panic moment. This is one of them (and you can see it happen in the video). Very bizarre game, as you can probably tell when I eat the shield covered in eyeballs.
Hyperrogue
Turn-based, this one takes place in an infinite world of hyperbolic, non euclidean geometry, represented as well as it can be in our 3D world. Again, VERY unique game, and my favorite of the turn-based ones. This one has a very unique property that I've never seen anywhere else. For some players, they cannot look at this one when it is in motion (movement is smooth). It can cause dizziness and nausea just to watch it. Our brains are NOT meant to handle what's going on here; the bizarro geometry causes the world in the game to twist and warp as you move through it. Fortunately there's an option to turn off the smooth movement for those affected by that. Things get wild here, in a world where parallel lines can diverge and circles get weird. Incidentally, this can be played in VR from a first-person perspective. Uh... I do NOT recommend this unless you are *entirely* immune to side effects. Just trust me on this.
Streets of Rogue
My 2nd favorite behind Isaac. Ever played Deux Ex? That was an incredible game... there were a million solutions to each challenge, violent or non-violent, sneaky or manipulative, tons of ways to combine cool items and use creativity to overcome things. This is basically that, plus some DNA from Grand Theft Auto, with some comedy thrown in, in a game focused on emergent gameplay. There are no monsters or pure bad guys here (except the Mayor). It's not you VS the world... every NPC has their own agenda and they will interact not just with you, but with each other, often in surprising ways. You have 3 missions to do in each zone, but HOW you do it is up to you. In this screenshot, I used a holographic gorilla to start a fight between the mob and the cops, so that an assassination target would get killed in the crossfire. It makes sense in context. Brilliantly varied game that continues to surprise me even after a few hundred hours. This is also the only game to include such character classes as comedian (tells jokes to get people to loyally follow orders and do his dirty work for him) or investment banker (rich guy who takes all the drugs, providing powerful buffs to get things done, but has to deal with withdrawal and debt ninjas... again, makes sense in context). This is a VERY high quality game, even when compared against the demanding standards of everything else in the genre.
And I think that's good enough for now.
Games like these are the reason why I play indie titles instead of AAA games (well, that and AAA games tend to be predatory), and I just wanted to share them with others who may be interested in trying them out. There's certainly more that I could show. And I do have one other similar post I want to make of a subset of these that stands out on their own... but that'll wait until next time.
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