Roguelike

While new releases like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Helldivers 2 may have received all of the attention from the gaming media, more and more people are starting to talk about a roguelike poker game called Balatro. Launching around a month ago on all major platforms, Balatro was developed by just one person. Despite its modest beginnings, the game has already managed to sell over a million copies, benefiting from a word of mouth campaign among fans. If you can't get enough of the poker-style roguelike, then developer…

Good Shepard Entertainment Who would have thought that 2024 would be the year of the monster-collecting game? While several have tried (and often struggled) to recapture the joys of Pokémon, this year’s Palworld is perhaps the first game that’s ever truly been able to pull it off. Granted, it did that by trading in finely tuned RPG combat for Ark-like survival crafting that makes it an entirely different game, but a win’s a win. While Palworld has broken records on Steam, its early access nature means you can hit its…

Boomer shooters, retro FPS games, whatever you want to call them. They’re popular on Steam, and for a good reason: they’re loads of fun. But what if you stepped back into a classic ’80s and early ’90s anime, with big guns and an even bigger need for speed? In Mullet Mad Jack, the gunplay will feel familiar but other mechanics are very unique. Hammer95 Studios’ heart-pounding and action-packed roguelike shooter had a demo as a part of Steam Next Fest, and it catapulted its way into my heart and onto my wishlist. The…

SpellRogue, a deckbuilding roguelike that’s being published by Deep Rock Galactic developer Ghost Ship Games, is coming to Steam Early Access next month. Today (January 30), Ghost Ship Publishing confirmed that SpellRogue will launch on February 12 via Steam Early Access. Across the course of three acts, players will be tasked with using magic to defeat invading Voidwalkers. As detailed on Steam, this will involve choosing between three different types of magic (Water, Earth and Fire), which can be used to create more…

Combat in The Last of Us Part 2 creates a pretty specific feeling. It's often slow and heavy, providing a weight to every interaction that demonstrates just how tough it is to kill someone and how quickly things can go wrong. At the same time, it relies heavily on improvisation as you vault over objects, smash people with bricks, and bury machetes in guts--or just silently open someone's jugular with your knife as you clamp a hand over their mouth.Despite having a certain clunkiness, there's an intensity…

Sony and developer Naughty Dog got an earful back in 2022 when they announced The Last of Us Part I, a ground-up PS5 remake of the 2013 title that was originally released on the PS3 (and then remastered a year later for the just-launched PS4). Most of that came down to the $70 price tag. Yes, the game looked incredible, there were some new modes added for super-fans and enemy AI had been upgraded, but the level design and gameplay were identical to the original. Plenty of people fairly called it a money grab. The good…

I’m probably not alone when I say that I can’t get enough Dead Cells. The excellent roguelike has been a mainstay on my PC and Switch since it released. I even have an arcade cabinet in my apartment that runs it. Whether I’m jumping in for a random run or checking out its excellent Return to Castlevania DLC, I’m always down for more of its 2D action formula. Of course, there’s only so much of it I can play, especially as developer Motion Twin gets to work on its next game, Windblown. Luckily, there’s an easy way to…

OD - The Game Awards 2023 Teaser Trailer - 4KPerpetual Game Awards fave Hideo Kojima revealed his next game coming exclusively to Xbox, OD, a horror game intended to show players what it’s like to overdose on fear itself. No real details were revealed, but Kojima is working with director Jordan Peele on the game, which will star characters played by Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schaeffer, and Udo Kier. OD - The Game Awards 2023 Teaser Trailer - 4KPerpetual Game Awards fave Hideo Kojima revealed his next game coming…

Dead Cells developer Motion Twin dropped one of the first eye-popping trailers of the Game Awards 2023 (in the pre-show, no less). The visually striking Windblown is billed as “a lightning-fast action roguelike,” bringing “a whole new level of speed to the action rogue-like genre.”Windblown takes place in The Ark, a floating village in the sky, full of “innocent souls.” It orbits the deadly Vortex with its army of Sentinels, as they threaten to “devour” the protagonists’ aerial home. Playing solo or multiplayer, you’ll…

It’s time to put the words of Savage Starlight to the test. Naughty Dog and PlayStation have released a new trailer for The Last of Us Part II Remastered, previewing the newest mode: No Return. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQaceGrFIok The mode, announced alongside the remaster’s reveal, features roguelike mechanics within the world and gameplay of The Last of Us. Players will endure and survive different stages full of various enemies like clickers, soldiers, and even that disgusting Rat King from the Sewers level.…