By Izzy Harper
Video Games Editor
The Roguelike/Roguelite genre has seen a sharp increase in popularity among the gaming community, and it may owe its success to people who are looking for a convenient, perpetual gaming experience that doesn’t completely lose its value after the final boss or the final, extremely obscure secret collectible.
A Roguelike or Roguelite game is one in which the player burns through a relatively short burst of levels or challenges (usually with the occasional shop or storefront to assist them), to reach an arduous test of a final challenge. But fail once, and you’re sent all the way back to the beginning and forced to start from scratch. What sets a Roguelike and a Roguelite apart is that the latter option provides, regardless if you fail or succeed, upgrades that persist across runs to help lower the difficulty.
Here are a few games that I’ve played that fall under this category of games, and if they just might pique your interest.
Hades
In Hades, you are Zagreus, son of Nyx and Hades, god of the dead, on a self-employed mission to escape the realm of your father and reach the surface, after an alarming revelation regarding your family. With a legendary selection of weapons, you’ll fight through the wretches of Tartarus, the Bloodless of Asphodel, the exalted of Elysium, and more, climbing from the very house of Hades to the doorway that Cerberus guards.
Hades’ presentation and story (if you couldn’t tell already) is heavily inspired by Greek mythology, featuring characters like Sisyphus, Achilles, Orpheus and Eurydice, and most prominently, the Gods of Olympus: Zagreus’ relatives and providers of boons, benefits that will assist you as you continue your run. Generally, they all enhance your attack power, but all gods offer unique boons to suit your situation. You can find permanent upgrades before you begin your run at the Mirror of Night, using darkness to gain upgrades like an extra dash, dealing increased damage when attacking the backs of enemies, an increased chance of better boons, and more.
The games’ graphics aren’t very resource intensive, but not to its deficit; they’re quite beautiful! Stunning character portraits and design, room design, and UI design – reminiscent of what you’d see in a graphic novel. And not to mention the music: Darren Korb (who voices THREE characters, by the way!) delivers on a phenomenal soundtrack combining a traditional Greek style and intense rock to accentuate the intensity of your constant uphill battle.
Hades offers a great deal of difficulty and some mechanics may be unforgiving – but the great unraveling of its surprisingly robust story makes the struggle all worth it.
Splatoon 3: Side Order
Side Order is a DLC expansion for Splatoon 3 and Nintendo’s first venture into the Rougelite genre – which is a bold choice to attach to its IP where online multiplayer is at the forefront. In it, Agent Eight (who would, now, prefer to be referred to as simply Eight) returns as the protagonist and playable character of the story, ascending the Tower of Order in a strange, Inkopolis-resembling land. You ascend each floor of the tower individually, completing various objectives to continue and growing stronger as you climb.
Your genre-mandatory upgrades here come in the form of Color Chips, colorful squares that attach to a Launchpad-like “Palette” and increase certain attributes. They come in a wide variety; some chips increase your damage at closer or longer ranges, others increase the spawn-rate of items from enemies – one even turns your usually defensive Squid Roll into an upgradable attack.
Succeeding and even failing yields currency that can be used to purchase cosmetic items in the main game, but also some permanent upgrades. These, however, differ a bit from Hades in that enough of these upgrades begin to almost trivialize the game. There’s one that allows you to weaken enemies on earlier floors of the tower, one that guarantees shops appearing on certain floors, and another that simply allows you to deal more damage. Perhaps the design philosophy for these was to allow struggling players to get an edge – but it takes away from a bit of the nuance that the roguelite cycle employs. The permanent upgrades in Hades give you an edge, sure, but they don’t nearly guarantee victory the same way Side Order does.
The expansion’s presentation, however, is simply exceptional. Sound design is crisp and satisfying, from navigating menus to swimming through your ink. A purely electronic experimental soundtrack accents the sterile, brutalist tower you climb – the art direction makes this monochromatic aesthetic anything but boring.
WINDOWKILL
This game is much different than the other two in that it is a Roguelike, meaning it has no permanent upgrades besides unlockable player characters — but what sets it apart from many other games is that it takes place on your desktop!
The game plays a lot like an arcade shooter, as you control a tiny protagonist fending off against an onslaught of enemies – however, to move about your screen, you must shoot the borders of your window to push it onward and extend your view.
Among the constant swarming of enemies, bosses, housed in windows of their own, appear at increasingly frequent intervals of time the longer you survive. If you’re playing on “timed” mode, you won’t have to worry about too many bosses, as the game will be stopped after a certain amount of time. But in “endless” mode, prepare for a screen filled with huge enemies!
About preparing… your in-run upgrades come from a shop that you can open at any time, that pauses the game. It stocks three randomly-chosen upgrades, bought from currency gained from defeating enemies. They’re very simple, but such is the nature of the game – the complexity comes from what upgrades to buy and when. (You can also get a bonus discount if the shop stocks three of the same upgrade!)
WINDOWKILL’s soundtrack is sparse, but catchy, and the game has a very satisfying sound design direction to balance it out. Its simple, geometric aesthetic is easy to digest and appealing to the eyes, but it’s hard to lose your focus on gameplay.
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