Rogue elements: Hades and Loop Hero manage to draw on the same legacy while having very little in common Greetings, traveller, and welcome back to The Register Plays Games, our monthly gaming column. This edition we are once again sticking with the indie scene as it's genuinely churning out the most interesting stuff as 2021 coughs and splutters along. Two games this time, both based on a "genre" of sorts that is almost as old as …
I only really consider a game to be "roguelike" if it's turn based, perma-death, random-ish dungeons and there's no stacking or anything based on the game you played before.
My first encounter was with Hack on the Atari ST. Had no bloody idea what was going on until it clicked. Then Nethack. Then it was Moria on a mate's Amiga. Angband, multiple others like Dungeon Crawl :Stone Soup much later on. I've not found anything that matches the comedy and insanity of Nethack though. Currently play Shattered Pixel Dungeon on phone. Mostly on t'bog like (it can be sphincter loosening). Simple to play with an oddly good interface for a phone "app".
Anyway, long live the Roguelike!
I heard about Nethack around 3 years ago after it featured in a Reg article, and it's damned-near taken over my life since then. But, blessed relief, I finally ascended for the first time two weekends ago and so now I can finally claim my life back again.
Loop Hero does look tempting though...
"I only really consider a game to be "roguelike" if it's turn based, perma-death, random-ish dungeons and there's no stacking or anything based on the game you played before."
On that last point...
In Nethack your (and others') previous games can produce bones where the perished Player Character waits as a ghost/zombie/slime/vampire/etc (depending on type of death) and also its inventory is there with all the goodies waiting. Of course the monster that killed/transformed the player is there waiting.
For a beginner the bones can be quite deadly since ghosts etc. are hard to kill, and the loot is mostly cursed as well, but they could also easily be misused by deliberately creating a big pile of good stuff...
Going by the numbers :
High factors
Random environment generation - check
Permadeath - there is a Hardcore mode, so check
Turn-based - uh, nope
Grid-based (tiles) - well, somewhat, so check
Non-modal (all actions take place in same mode) - check
Complexity (more than one solution to a given goal) - check
Resource management - check
Hack 'n' slash - check
Exploration and discovery - most definitely check
Low factors
Single player character - check
Monsters are similar to players (they have inventories, use items etc.) - check, even if it's a bit limited
Tactical challenge - check (especially the first time you encounter a Creeper)
ASCII display - nope, but some people would say not far from :)
Dungeons - check (Strongholds in the Overworld, Fortresses in the Nether)
Numbers (hit points, character attributes etc.) - check
So yeah, Minecraft checks almost all the boxes.
Just started playing it yesterday, having a lot of fun! After about 2 1/2 hours of constant dying, managed to break out of Tartarus. The dialogue between the characters helps a lot, some genuinely chuckle-worthy moments. Also comes with a well constructed soundtrack.
Would thoroughly recommend, not a bad game for the price.
"And don't forget to give Cerebus pets. LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of pets. Who's a GOOD hellhound??"
Agreed, I hit that achievement very early on in the game, which probably says more about me and incessant clicking than the game itself. I recently played through Superliminal and there's an appropriately named achievement called "Why are you like this?" for cloning an object too many times in the game. Still had fun with it though.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
