I was reminded that an action game isn’t a roguelike in the roguelike thread. And I agree! I find useful the distinction between ‘roguelike’ and ‘roguelite’ that represents all those games that got popular in the last years, usually action games with roguelike elements added. So here it’s at thread for them!
What games are for this thread?
Dead Cells, Hades, Children of Morta, Rogue Legacy, Binding of Isaac, Wizard of Legend, Noita, Risk of Rain 2, Moonlighter, Synthethik, Enter the Gungeon, Immortal Redneck, Spelunky, Nuclear Throne, etc.
Notice that I’m not including Monster Train, Invisible Inc, or others that are not “action based”.
(well, obviously posts about games with their own thread like Dead Cell s or Hades still should go to their own thread).
edit:
List of unreleased game mentioned in the thread, easier to review this way:
I liked it, but it was pretty hard. Need to go back, it is on gamepass for console, too
Wait, isn’t it more of a tower defense game? Weren’t there roguelite elements in it? Probably I am in the wrong thread, sorry.
Dungeon of the Endless is the oddball in the Endless game series by Amplitude (Endless Legend, Endless Space). I don’t think it belongs in this thread but it’s a strategic roguelite with tower defence and light RPG elements that sees you commanding a squad of survivors that have crash landed and plunged deep into the bowels of an alien dungeon. Your job is to get them out of there by protecting and escorting a crystal which powers rooms, resource structures, defences and ultimately the numerous elevators that will carry you all to the surface. Levels are procedurally generated, death is permanent, and the difficulty comes in two flavours: Easy and Too Easy, which is misleading because Easy is very hard.
What makes Dungeon of the Endless tick is its unrelenting stream of interesting, exciting, terrifying and important decisions to make. This isn’t a game that bogs you down with direct control, targeting and micromanagement, you simply worry about the bigger things: which rooms your heroes should be in, what they should be equipped with, what structures should go where, what should be researched, which rooms should be powered up to prevent monsters from spawning, what resources to prioritise and ultimately what door to open next…
Dungeon of the Endless is turn-based so the game only progresses when you open a door and doors can have all sorts of surprises behind them. As you ascend through the dungeon’s many floors it becomes a survival horror of sorts with every door potentially being your demise, and with each run taking anything from five to eight hours the stakes get higher and higher as you get closer to the surface. It’s exhilarating stuff that demands players use their head, keep their cool and stay focussed.
All this is wrapped in a very neat package: numerous characters to choose from, each with their own abilities, strengths, weaknesses and synergies with others; different shuttles to crash land in that determine how you play; amusing dialogue; a refreshingly clean UI; an evocative ambient score; online co-op multiplayer; lovely 2D art and animations mixed with surprisingly effective use of real-time lighting and shadow. At £10, it’s a steal.
More games. All of them are ‘Very positive’ or better reviews in Steam, if they are released or in EA already.
Some original ones:
“Automatic Bullet Hell” roguelite, wtith this I mean the character fires automatically at the enemies. That means you can focus on avoiding enemy fire
Arcade-like where you balance a seed in a platform??
Platform/action games, runs limited to 18 minutes as your hearts explodes in that time
And upcoming games:
Unique and weird scifi art style. It has a demo.
Change your head and gain new powers. In EA.
Hipster looking? It looks original. Also with demo.
This is is a very interesting mix of action and strategy? Inspired on Megaman Battle Network series which I have no idea of what it means, with deckbuilding on top of it.
To be released next month. Focus on action/shooter with a bit of bullet hell and item synergies. It has a demo.
I haven’t played the first one but people seems hyped. A focus on overworld exploration and wonder, apart from all the action. They also mention having to plan the journey.
Action in dream worlds. Literally in your dreams. Focus on skillful hack & slash combat.
Hades-like exploring an Aztec temple, with a darker edge
“Adore is a monster taming action roguelite where the main character, Lukha, is able to summon and control creatures to fight by his side in a simple and innovative way.”
Relating to the topic though: I’d like to add Atomicrops to this. Available on PC (Epic only, Steam September), Switch, Xbox and PS4.
It’s Nuclear Throne meets… Stardew Valley? It’s not chill at all.
Here’s the fun intro:
Yep, it’s a post-apocalyptic rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ farmin’ game. During the day you clear the mutant-filled wilds surrounding your patch of land, gather seeds and other resources, then try and get back to your plot in time to sow and grow them before morning. Unfortunately night time beasties will try to eat your crops so you’ve got to protect them. If you survive till morning you’ll be lifted out of there to sell any produce you were able to harvest for cashews, which you can spend at the market on more seeds, pickaxes to expand your plot, scarecrows, farm animals to help you nurture your crops, better weapons etc. and even give roses over to potential partners to help you out.
I must iterate: it looks and sounds so sweet but it’s brutal and ramps up quickly. It’s not a sim either, it’s pure arcade action, and once you die you start again. There are some persistent meta-progression elements but I’ve not managed to secure many of those yet. The seasonal loops with boss battles at the end of spring, summer, fall, winter etc. are fun bookends with some really lovely ‘festivals’ to reward you for overall success. I’ve been having a blast with this.
The pixel art and animation is by the fantastic Toby Dixon who worked on Nidhogg 2.
This genre has definitely exploded, and I’m so happy about it. Neon Chrome also belongs here. I think we need a non-action roguelite thread as well: games like FTL that apply roguelike sensibilities to non-roguelike games.
Wow, that’s a lot of games I’ve never heard of (except Dead Cells, which I love, and Spelunky, that I hate, Hades, that I own, and Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon that I own but couldn’t get into).
Anyway, I’ve been playing West of Dead, which is both on PC and Xbox as part of game pass, and it belongs in this genre as well, and I’ve been enjoying it a lot.
I meant to say that I did not get on with Tumbleseed. Gorgeous presentation and a lovely idea/theme but I couldn’t even get past the scripted tutorial hills that ‘ease’ you into the main proc. gen. mountain to climb. I felt as though most of the specials just weren’t that special and, if anything, tended to kill me because they were so finicky or situational. Some power-ups just seemed infinitely more useful and easier to use than others. Don’t be fooled by this game: it’s absolutely brutal. It’s games like this (and Teleglitch) that make me hate the whole ‘It’s the Dark Souls of…’ thing to imply that something is tough, because Dark Souls nor Demon’s Souls were ever this difficult! I want to see ‘It’s the Tumbleseed of…’!
Oh, hey! Teleglitch. Hard as nails but great. 75% off right now.
I think Spelunky, Binding of Isaac and Dead Cells are the popular darlings but I could never get into the first two. I much prefer Nuclear Throne to Gungeon as well!
Edit: Risk of Rain 2, despite being in Early Access, is fantastic as well. That’s third-person :-P
Tastes varies, of course. I didn’t click with Enter the Gungeon but it’s super popular, instead I loved Dead Cells. Hades has one of the highest user ratings in all Steam. Like top 0.02%.
Risk of Rain 2 is also highly rated, but it shines on coop if that’s your thing.
Another game with ‘overwhelming positive’ ratings, this time a top down arcade space shooter with over 200 modular upgrades allowing all types of crazy builds.
