Genre Roguelikes

The Roguelite! Or Roguelike? Rogue? I don't care and I'm probably going to say all three, so if that's going to drive you crazy, I suggest you click away now!

The first strand-type - sorry, Rogue-type game came out quite a long time ago in video game years - and also regular years, actually - but its presence is still felt to this day. I've actually barely played the original Rogue because when I was a kid my tastes were irrevocably influenced by JRPGs, so if it didn't have an anime guy on the cover I simply did not care!

Thus did I first get my taste of the Rogue when I bought a copy of The Nightmare of Druaga: Fushigi no Dungeon at a GameStop. And when I say "I bought," I mean my mom bought it for me. Thanks mom!

Anyways, I don't really remember much of this game but apparently it was made by Chunsoft and...shuffles papers...uh, Arika? Oh. Okay. Sure. It was my first "Mystery Dungeon" game, a series of games that are credited by its creator - and co-creator of Dragon Quest! - Koichi Nakamura as being directly inspired by Rogue itself.

If the name "Mystery Dungeon" sounds familiar to you then you're probably thinking of the best Pokemon games ever made right now, bar none, don't @ me. There's also Shiren the Wanderer, which is probably the most popular Mystery Dungeon game that doesn't have Pikachu slapped onto the cover.

All of these games are very similar to Rogue - they involve exploring randomly generated dungeons in a turn-based manner, fighting enemies and progressing floor-by-floor. If you die, depending on the title, you either got sent back to the beginning with half, or all of your stuff gone.

It's good stuff! These are very crunchy, mechanically-driven games, with a loop that lets you get in the zone and grind while you listen to a podcast, or even this very video - I know you have me on your second screen right now, and I forgive you.

That said, that's Rogue. Now let's talk about Roguelikes.

Roguelikes

The definition of a roguelike has been up to furious debate by nerds with way too much free time. I do not care nearly as much, so here's my definition for the purposes of this video:

To me a roguelike's two main factors are procedural generation and permadeath. Okay? Cool? Cool.

The "like" part in a rougelike relates to the differences in genre, which is the part that I'm most excited to talk about!

See, I like me some Fushigi no Dungeon quite a lot, but the turn-based, grid-based format can get a little stale. And since the genre's creation, there have been some hella interesting games that take the procedual generation and permadeath to some really interesting places by switching the genre up!

Now I'm not gonna hit you with the obvious stuff (Spelunky, FTL, Binding of Isaac, Slay the Spire). You know those. So let me give you a quick rundown of some of the most interesting Genre Roguelikes I've found lately.

Whisker Squadron

Whisker Squadron has two things going for it: the first are the character designs. Don't really have anything to say here, just gonna put the picture up on screen and let you soak it in. Feel me? Alright, bet.

The SECOND thing that Whisker Squadron has going for it is the fact that it's a roguelite crossed with Star Fox. This pairing works really well for me because I think Star Fox is kinda boring after you've played it once - I'd apologize for this take, but the Star Fox fans have already been eroded into dust by Nintendo's mismanaging of that IP. Sorry!

Whisker Squadron staves off some of the boredom I have replaying Star Fox thanks to the constantly shifting levels, power-ups, gradually increasing difficulty, and meta-progression. It's a perfect fit, because you can't really change the core of Star Fox outside of these aspects. Star Fox is about a ship that zooms around and does barrel rolls. Whisker Squadron takes that and asks, "what if your barrel roll could reload your missiles?"

It's still in early access, but I've already had a ton of fun with it, so definitely check it out.

30XX

I never played 20XX, and I'm also not the world's biggest Mega Man fan, unless you add "Battle Network" to the end of that name. But I picked up 30XX on a whim and dumped like 20 hours into it in the span of a week. It's very good, is what I'm saying.

This game is Mega Man X, but with randomly generated levels and power-ups and bosses. The best part about 30XX is that it controls like goddamn butter. This game is about as smooth as Luther Vandross. Dashin, jumpin and shootin and/or slashin feels fantastic. On top of that, build synergy doesn't require you to have a galactic-sized brain, which is great, because the only thing in MY brain is a Jolly Chimp.

You can run builds that give you little robot friends to help you do damage, or builds that make you more powerful every time you dash, or builds that make you so fast you can barely control your character.

There are two characters you can use (so far), and you can even play it in multiplayer, if you enjoy chaos. AND if you're already tired of the world's greatest game of chance, i.e. your own reality, you can just play 30XX in "classic mode," which generates a single world seed that you can run over and over again instead of playing it as a roguelike. Neat!

Robodunk

"Is dunk the meaning of life?" This is the question Robodunk posits - although of course the answer is a resounding "yes."

This game is, if I understand correctly, a first of its kind: it's a basketball rougelite. It's a 2v2 clash of robots, NBA Jam style. You get permanent upgrades for your robots during a run, as well as power-ups between rounds during a match. From ramming robots out of the way to more quickly generating ammo for your weapons, it's a slightly chaotic but highly entertaining mess - especially if you deign to dunk with a buddy in its local co-op mode.

On that note, the dunking is divine. Really the game is super easy to pick up, but with just enough depth for interesting and complex plays. From jump passes to strong builds for your robots, I've really enjoyed my time with Robodunk. I encourage you to also find the meaning behind the dunk.

Blazblue: Entropy Effect

There's a running joke that I've been carrying: it would be very silly if the last Blazblue title isn't a fighting game, but a 2D side-scrolling action roguelike. But if it IS, at least that 2D side-scrolling action roguelike is pretty good.

Blazblue Entropy Effect makes my brain hum in a good way because even if your build is trash or you don't really want to engage with the buffing aspect between stages, you can power through it on pure, raw skill. All you need is the ability to dodge right and combo right. It isn't exactly a fighting game, but it does allow close to that level of combat expressiveness, letting you chain abilities and juggle enemies Platinum-style. It also oozes style, with a silky-smooth user interface. And the game's been regularly getting quality of life updates and new characters since it launched in Early Access.

Now, is this game just taking an IP and using it to make something that people will recognize based on the name? Basically, yeah. As far as I can tell it barely has anything to do with Blazblue's canon. And maybe that'll change in the future! But even if it doesn't, at least it's fun as hell.

Helskate

Okay this next one is kind of cheating because it's not out yet, but I've never wishlisted anything as quickly as I have Helskate. It's a rogue-type game crossed with a skateboarding game. Doing tricks before you hit an enemy increases damage and procs specific skills. That's just cool as hell to be honest.

Helskate in particular is interesting to me because its meta-progression gets a fresh coat of paint by attaching it to skate-themed stuff. Your board is a weapon, you upgrade it by slapping stickers on the bottom, and your permanent upgrades are tattoos, because what's more permanent than that? It's not techncially any different from what you see in other rougelikes, but it owns. Really hoping it lives up to its promise when it drops next year.

One Way Heroics Plus

One Way Heroics Plus is not a game I've played myself, but resident little guy and great friend Ghost brought it up and now I'm itching to try it because it looks down-right weird.

It's a forced side-scrolling RPG, where you need to go right to kill the Demon Lord by going right. All the while, darkness encroaches on the left. So while One Way Heroics technically follows the same structure as a traditional rogue, it streamlines things by only letting you go one direction - you know, Right - while also ramping up the pressure. You have to be very particular with every move, because the darkness is always there, running behind you.

Again I haven't played One Way Heroics yet but it's like $3 on Steam and I've spent way more on way worse, so I'm definitely gonna grab it. It has big Half-Minute Hero energy, so I'm very intrigued. Thanks for the recommendation Ghost! Make sure to go follow them.

Why Roguelikes?

It could be argued that none of the games I mentioned in this video need to be roguelikes. And that's somewhat fair - it's a genre that feels a little oversaturated at times. But I'm happy they are for two major reasons:

The first is that roguelikes are easier to make when you're a small dev. If you didn't notice, every game I mentioned is being made by indie developers, and that tracks. Rougelikes let you create variation not by creating tons of new assets and areas and cutscenes, but by introducing new mechanical wrinkles without breaking the bank at the same time.

The second reason I'm happy about it is that roguelikes are perfect for my rotted brain, which needs to delve into gameplay as quickly as possible. Rogue-styled games are, like I mentioned, deeply mechanically-driven and great when you don't have much time to play a game - and because I'm chained to capitalism, that really works in my favor!

But yeah, that's all for now! Thanks for watching, hit me up on Cohost if you have any other out-there roguelikes that you think I might be interested in. Catch ya!