So yesterday, I talked a bit about cRPGs/dRPGs. Another sub-genre of a RPG popular back in the 80's is roguelike. Unlike cRPGs where the player builds a party of 3-6 characters traveling through labyrinths in a first-person perspective and going into random battles for combat, Roguelikes are generally characterized by its top-down perspective view on randomly generated levels, permanent death, and turn-based movements. The player would take control of one character and build them in numerous ways if the game allows it. Some games will have set classes for the player to choose from, or they'll have different skills to pick to make their own class, or they won't have anything at all and become whatever they do more of (melee attacks, ranged attacks, spell casting, etc.). Similar to cRPGs, Roguelikes never did die out throughout the decades and has always attracted a niche group of gamers. Also similar to cRPGs is the fact that most Roguelikes are unforgiving with a very steep learning curve along with risk-reward mechanics that often leads to death and starting over a real drag for those unfamiliar with the genre. Those familiar with the genre often find themselves enjoying the game for its infinite amount of replay value in randomly generated levels, high risk-reward satisfaction, tactical and strategic know-how to conquer stick situations, and the sheer amount of content it provides the player to experiment with. Lastly, another similar trait cRPGs share with Roguelikes is its popularity in Japan.
Roguelike Games in the West
Source: Youtube Channel IGN
Rarely do I ever see a Western developed rogue-like in this day and age. I did see a few throughout high school and early college made by fans as mods or original ideas they were working on, but they never see the light of day or evolve into much past hitting a few enemies and dying in some way. And then all of a sudden, in the past two years, we get Dungeons of Dredmor, The Binding of Isaac, FTL: Faster Than Light, and Sword of the Stars: The Pit. Despite all of them being indie developed, these games have the heart and concept of rogue-likes that reawakens the interests of fans of the genre and captures the attention of gamers of the new era. Although these games are a bit more talked about in the gaming community, they're still pretty niche. Honestly, it's very difficult to portray why a rogue-like is so much fun in a video (although the Japanese developed ones seems to be able to do so).
The first time I saw Dungeons of Dredmor, I thought it looked really boring. It looked slow, shallow, and boring. But it had a sale and I didn't mind spending $2.49 just to see what this game was all about. I played the demo and was thinking that there were way too many things going on and the tutorial music was starting to annoy me. So to finalize trying out the game, I decided to play on the hardest difficulty and leave permadeath on since I didn't think I'd play the game for very long anyways. To my surprise, the game was incredible! Rather than choosing one class, the player was able to select various skills to match the play style that they wanted, and each skill provided abilities and perks to make their character stronger. Unlike the tutorial music, the in-game music is unique, somewhat atmospheric, and quite memorable. As I collected more items, got stronger, killed various enemies, I started appreciating all the spontaneous and random events that could happen with every step and behind every door. The humor also made for a light-hearted adventure rather than a dark and serious one that most western developed dungeon crawlers seem to have. After about 5 hours of playing and eventually dying, I played another round. Needless to say, I really enjoyed the game and tried my best to let my friends know how great of a game it was. Unfortunately, not everyone that tried it enjoyed it, but roguelikes are like that: you love 'em or hate 'em (or just not care too much for them).
The Binding of Isaac isn't strictly a rogue-like, but it has many elements to the genre. The game utilizes permadeath and cannot be saved mid-game and must be completed in one run. Levels, rooms, and items and randomized every playthrough, so all sorts of events can happen throughout each playthrough. The player's character gradually becomes stronger by acquire different items, buffs, and companions. Combat and gameplay is not turn-based, but rather action-based and played like a twin-stick shooter (like Robotron 2084 or Geometry Wars). The game contains a lot of crude humor, lots of poop, and a nasty difficulty curve. But the game usually doesn't take up more than one hour per playthrough which makes it a great game for those looking for instant gratification as most rogue-likes do take a decent amount of planning and preparation. Another roguelike that doesn't take too much time to play is FTL: Faster Than Light. This game is also not strictly a rogue-like, but has many elements of one. Lastly, Sword of the Stars: The Pit is currently being developed and is set to launch on the Steam platform. All of these great games can be found on Steam.
There is one other rogue-like that I have played in the past 2 years called "Hack, Slash, Loot (HSL)", but it is one game I cannot recommend even to the most hardcore of fans. Roguelikes are known for their difficulty because of how random some events, enemies and levels can be, but they still require skill to play. And a skilled player can turn situations around in a rogue-like. In "Hack, Slash, Loot"; however, everything is based on luck. True, other roguelikes require a fair amount of luck for item drops, enemy engagement, and crits, but combat shouldn't be such a hassle. HSL is solely based on luck. If you can't find the equipment to improve your character, you will die. If you happen to run into the wrong enemy right around the corner, you will die. These sound pretty common. But the fact that your character will have a low rate of landing an attack? That's just absurd! Nearly every character/class I played had difficulty killing enemies because they almost always miss their attacks. The only class that I had somewhat of a chance with was the Amazon as her default bow allows her to build up hit chance % for each kill. And even then, enemies would still randomly kill her in 1-3 hits. The only way to get the other classes was by dying, a lot. For a game to revolve its content and gameplay around dying and luck shouldn't considered to be a game much less a roguelike. I was sorely disappointed with HSL. This is not to be mistaken for Hack Slash Crawl. It's a diablo-esque dungeon crawler with many roguelike features played in Flash. THAT game is just amazing, and free for the most part.
Roguelike Games in Japan
Source: Youtube Channel AtlusUSA
I'm not certain what was my first rogue-like game I've played, but one of the games I first noticed for its unique game mechanics was Izuna: The Unemployed Ninja. At first, I was sad to find out that the game wasn't an Action-RPG. Everything getting one turn per action meant getting hit multiple times per movement or attack. Dying meant losing all items that I had equipped and found. It was a daunting experience and I didn't play it after the first 30 minutes. But one night when I wasn't able to sleep, I tried playing it again and somehow found the flow of the game and how it worked. Being somewhat more forgiving than most Roguelikes, Izuna didn't have permadeath. Losing all your HP in a dungeon means getting knocked out and having people from the village carry you all the way back into town but can't carry all your items along with you back out. Unlike most Rogue-likes where the player has to focus on stats, classes, feats and such, Izuna focuses on character level only and equipment acquisition. This allows the player to focus more on items and combat and not have to worry about builds, class types, preparation, stat balance and losing absolutely everything when they die. Still, the game was really tough and how I mainly played the game was always carrying a teleportation scroll (Kikan I think it was called) and advancing into a dungeon as far as I can before warping out when things got too difficult so that I would ensure getting money, good items and levels out of the run through the dungeon. I'm still currently playing the 2nd one whenever I'm not playing my other handheld games and it's somewhat easier than the first one with a lot more content, but still puts up a tough challenge.
The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon spin-off series takes many aspects of Rogue-likes, but are not nearly as difficult. One Japanese developed Roguelike I really enjoyed was ClaDun: This is an RPG. The player could create and customize their own characters and combine them with other characters to enhance a stat to ridiculous proportions. It gets to a point where a character can one shot enemies, zoom past them at incredible speed, or cast a spell so devastating that a boss wouldn't be able to take a hit. It took out turn-based movement and battle for an Action-orientated combat mechanic but kept difficulty, randomness and high risk-reward aspects to the game for all sorts of shenanigans. ClaDun 2 was eventually released both for PSP and even for PC on Steam, which I have bought but have yet to find the time to play. Another Action-orientated Rogue-like I sadly never got to try is Baroque. It was originally launched for the PS2 but has also been released for the Nintendo Wii and Apple iOS iPad. Like many roguelikes, it's unforgiving and causes the player to start over if they die. Strange enough, I heard that some events can only be triggered by dying. Although roguelike games aren't made very often, there's one on its way to America this year.
Source: Youtube Channel MMediaEntertainment
Supposedly a spiritual successor to "Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger VS Darkdeath Evilman" for the PSP, The Guided Fate Paradox will be a Roguelike RPG with a vast amount of customization, content, and craziness. Being developed by the team who worked on Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, you can expect the skill animations to be flashy, colorful, and totally over-the-top. The game should be out sometime this Fall, but delays can happen.
Source: Youtube Channel Ew Ae
The game I want to talk about most, and the game responsible for spurring the idea of writing this post, is a Japanese indie developed game called "Elona". Most people are probably familiar with the popular flash game "Elona Shooter" which was developed by the same person to promote "Elona". The game had been released back in 2007 as a freeware game and I had known about the game but did not try it. As my friends and I were talking about Roguelikes, one of them mentioned Elona and I had remembered the game mostly because you can be a Pianist as a class in the game. He described his experience with the game and highly encouraged me to try it out. So I eventually did and was already enraptured by the game through its character creation. There's a wide selection of races, classes, builds, perks, appearances, nicknames, and equipment quality that the player can roll for. Once the game starts, everything is up to the player. The game is open-world rather than being dungeon-only levels but still randomly generate levels inside caves and buildings. Hunger, thirst, fatigue, backpack weight, diseases and curses all play part in the adventure. The player doesn't lose their characters after dying, but rather lose some money, drop some items, and reawaken back at their home. When a player dies, they can leave a message that is sent out to the text feed of other players playing the game that announces where they died, who killed them, and their message. Does this sound familiar? It reminded me of Demon's Souls where players don't directly interact with each other (although they can in Demon's Souls when summoned) but can leave messages and blood stains when they die to warn other players. It also kind of gives it an involving feeling when you see messages of other players deaths and realize that you're not the only one getting killed and having struggles. Despite not being able to see and play with other players, players can make Moon Gates which is a rift that the player can go through to go to other player's houses. Some may contain riches and items that can help the player while others may be a sick joke by the player where it's ridden with high level monsters everywhere. The game is progressive and does have a story. And with the amount of content is provides, I imagine this game can last a very long time.
Roguelikes have a unique charm to them that no other genre really has. But they attract a niche group of gamers and are not widely popular as other RPG genres in the market. Even turn-based JRPGs are starting to become a niche in the RPG sector as Action-RPGs become more popular. It can be difficult for newcomers to get into Roguelikes, and there aren't that many easy ones to get into. If you are new to Roguelikes and want to try to get into it, I would recommend Dungeons of Dredmor above all the other ones I've mentioned as it is the easiest to pick up.
Showing posts with label The Binding of Isaac. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Binding of Isaac. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
GameLight Review - The Binding of Isaac
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/113200/
Source: Youtube Channel iamjamesid
Developer: Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl
Publisher: Edmund McMillen
Platforms: PC/Mac
Release Date: September 28, 2011
Genre: Action-RPG
Pros:
-Simple, short and challenging each playthrough
-Randomly generated dungeons, items, and enemies make for a unique experience each time
-The difficulty, grotesque art style, and mood setting music creates quite the atmosphere
Cons:
-The game does require a bit of luck in order to get through to the end
-The game doesn't have much left to offer after all items and characters are acquired unless they update
-Some room designs make it impossible to avoid getting hit or killed
The Binding of Isaac is an enticing and provocative Action game with elements of RPG and Rogue-like games that keep things fresh each time the player decides to play it. Referencing to the biblical story "Binding of Isaac" in title and plot, the protagonist escapes his mother as she seeked to sacrifice him in the name of the Lord himself. The player will traverse through the winding basements fighting off various enemies and lost brothers and sisters in a Robotron or Geometry Wars kind of control scheme. The player will acquire equipment, gain health, and purchase items like in an RPG while the levels are designed like a rogue like game where each room that the player goes into is a risk or reward as well as the enemies that attack the player. It's a challenging game and very difficult, but very much possible to beat almost every time as long as the player is cautious and makes wise decisions. The game is definitely not for everyone, but those who enjoy a challenge will find the entertainment value of this game to be quite satisfying.
Graphics
The first and last impression of the game's art style is that it's grotesque, freaky, and down-right disgusting. What's funny is that it works. The obscure looking enemies, eerie corridors of each room and bloody effects from the defeated enemies places the player in an uncomfortable environment and leaves quite an impression even after retiring from play. What I find surprising is that despite the muddy dark colors of each level and objects, the environment, enemies and players are easily distinguishable which is very important when the fighting gets really messy. The user interface is a reference to (if not direct copy as an homage) The Legend of Zelda as well as the way the dungeon are set up. With the game's levels set up as a room to room design, navigation is extremely easy while creating randomly generated contents for each play through is much more effective in creating a new experience each time the players stats a new game. The only complaint I have about the graphics is that it's difficult to determine the trajectory of some of the enemies bullets when they're tossed into the air. Graphics: 9/10
Audio
I've taken quite a liking to Danny Baranowsky's style of music from Super Meat Boy and now in The Binding of Isaac. SMB was a lot of exciting and upbeat tracks, but in order for The Binding of Isaac to get the darker and almost horror-like feel, the music is a lot more subtle. Lower tones, dissonance, and a bit of rushing makes for a tense and frantic feel for the level and gameplay. It's a lot less synthetic than SMB and has a lot of those low strings and trickling piano that you hear used in thriller or horror movies. The sound effects works really well as each enemy has their own unique cry or moan. The sfx's association with the enemies' look and action are like signifier of what to watch out for. One example is the enemy "Gluttony" and its similar counter-parts where they rip open their rip-cages and shoot a long stream of blood at the player. The first time that happened, it freaked me out. That sound was so prominent that I always become very cautious whenever I see one of them (which usually turns out to be six of them in one room). Some of the best audio has to be the voice of the mother. It is pretty dang scary hearing her call out Isaac and have her foot stomp on the player. Audio: 10/10
Gameplay
The Binding of Isaac isn't one of those games that I want to continuously keep playing and keep coming back to day after day like with Super Meat Boy. The challenge is opposite of what the developers did for Super Meat Boy in that in SMB, you memorize and get used to the level that you're playing and race for the fastest time possible. In The Binding of Isaac, the player will want to slow everything down and take on each room carefully with a clear mind. Fast reflexes and reactions to each situation is needed to fight off all the unique enemies within the game in order to survive. And since the game randomly generates everything each playthrough, there's no way to memorize any of the levels and each room is an unexpected surprise (be they good or bad). I've already gotten all the characters and half of the items in the game already after beating the game several times. Each time I thought I was going to lose, I was able to pull through as long as I never got over-confident and was conscious of everything around me. It truly delivered a different experience each time as each character has their own starting statistics, abilities, and each playthrough will give different power-ups. The game does require a bit of luck as certain items can help or hurt a player in sticky situations that they can't get out of. A player could walk into a very narrow corridor in a room and get attacked from a distance right from the get-go or be charged at by and enemy with no where to escape. Getting a special item, a certain card/pill, or even half a heart for health can be the difference between victory or death. I think once the player has discovered every item, enemy, and character in the game, the replay value will rely solely on the player's desire to play through it again and not to find anymore content. It'd be great if the developers continued to add more like they did for the Halloween special, but that''ll depend on the developers. As I've said in the beginning, it's not a game I'd play continuously, but rather play once in a while as a break in-between my other games. It takes me about an hour for each successful playthrough, and there's no save function. Still, I had fun each time I played through it and will probably continue to play in the future until I've collected everything. Gameplay: 8/10
Overall
For a game I paid less than a dollar for (I got it during the Humble Voxatron Debut), it was well worth it. I've already played it more than I did for some of the retail games I've bought. I like how I can quickly start it up and play through it and (hopefully) get a satisfactory playthrough it as many big names games require the player to sit through long dialogues and tutorials (which is okay if it's what you want at that moment) or that a game is too simple and feels like an on-going monotonous action. It can be frustrating because sometimes things happen when you least expect it and end up having to start all over. But I think that's what makes it so satisfying if you can get through it all the way to the end. I'm not sure who to recommend it to since it's so weird and freaky looking, but I suppose I would tell anyone who's remotely interested to get it since it's only $5 on steam. I'm looking forward to what Edmund McMillen has in store for the future. Overall: 9/10
Source: Youtube Channel iamjamesid
Developer: Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl
Publisher: Edmund McMillen
Platforms: PC/Mac
Release Date: September 28, 2011
Genre: Action-RPG
Pros:
-Simple, short and challenging each playthrough
-Randomly generated dungeons, items, and enemies make for a unique experience each time
-The difficulty, grotesque art style, and mood setting music creates quite the atmosphere
Cons:
-The game does require a bit of luck in order to get through to the end
-The game doesn't have much left to offer after all items and characters are acquired unless they update
-Some room designs make it impossible to avoid getting hit or killed
The Binding of Isaac is an enticing and provocative Action game with elements of RPG and Rogue-like games that keep things fresh each time the player decides to play it. Referencing to the biblical story "Binding of Isaac" in title and plot, the protagonist escapes his mother as she seeked to sacrifice him in the name of the Lord himself. The player will traverse through the winding basements fighting off various enemies and lost brothers and sisters in a Robotron or Geometry Wars kind of control scheme. The player will acquire equipment, gain health, and purchase items like in an RPG while the levels are designed like a rogue like game where each room that the player goes into is a risk or reward as well as the enemies that attack the player. It's a challenging game and very difficult, but very much possible to beat almost every time as long as the player is cautious and makes wise decisions. The game is definitely not for everyone, but those who enjoy a challenge will find the entertainment value of this game to be quite satisfying.
Graphics
The first and last impression of the game's art style is that it's grotesque, freaky, and down-right disgusting. What's funny is that it works. The obscure looking enemies, eerie corridors of each room and bloody effects from the defeated enemies places the player in an uncomfortable environment and leaves quite an impression even after retiring from play. What I find surprising is that despite the muddy dark colors of each level and objects, the environment, enemies and players are easily distinguishable which is very important when the fighting gets really messy. The user interface is a reference to (if not direct copy as an homage) The Legend of Zelda as well as the way the dungeon are set up. With the game's levels set up as a room to room design, navigation is extremely easy while creating randomly generated contents for each play through is much more effective in creating a new experience each time the players stats a new game. The only complaint I have about the graphics is that it's difficult to determine the trajectory of some of the enemies bullets when they're tossed into the air. Graphics: 9/10
Audio
I've taken quite a liking to Danny Baranowsky's style of music from Super Meat Boy and now in The Binding of Isaac. SMB was a lot of exciting and upbeat tracks, but in order for The Binding of Isaac to get the darker and almost horror-like feel, the music is a lot more subtle. Lower tones, dissonance, and a bit of rushing makes for a tense and frantic feel for the level and gameplay. It's a lot less synthetic than SMB and has a lot of those low strings and trickling piano that you hear used in thriller or horror movies. The sound effects works really well as each enemy has their own unique cry or moan. The sfx's association with the enemies' look and action are like signifier of what to watch out for. One example is the enemy "Gluttony" and its similar counter-parts where they rip open their rip-cages and shoot a long stream of blood at the player. The first time that happened, it freaked me out. That sound was so prominent that I always become very cautious whenever I see one of them (which usually turns out to be six of them in one room). Some of the best audio has to be the voice of the mother. It is pretty dang scary hearing her call out Isaac and have her foot stomp on the player. Audio: 10/10
Gameplay
The Binding of Isaac isn't one of those games that I want to continuously keep playing and keep coming back to day after day like with Super Meat Boy. The challenge is opposite of what the developers did for Super Meat Boy in that in SMB, you memorize and get used to the level that you're playing and race for the fastest time possible. In The Binding of Isaac, the player will want to slow everything down and take on each room carefully with a clear mind. Fast reflexes and reactions to each situation is needed to fight off all the unique enemies within the game in order to survive. And since the game randomly generates everything each playthrough, there's no way to memorize any of the levels and each room is an unexpected surprise (be they good or bad). I've already gotten all the characters and half of the items in the game already after beating the game several times. Each time I thought I was going to lose, I was able to pull through as long as I never got over-confident and was conscious of everything around me. It truly delivered a different experience each time as each character has their own starting statistics, abilities, and each playthrough will give different power-ups. The game does require a bit of luck as certain items can help or hurt a player in sticky situations that they can't get out of. A player could walk into a very narrow corridor in a room and get attacked from a distance right from the get-go or be charged at by and enemy with no where to escape. Getting a special item, a certain card/pill, or even half a heart for health can be the difference between victory or death. I think once the player has discovered every item, enemy, and character in the game, the replay value will rely solely on the player's desire to play through it again and not to find anymore content. It'd be great if the developers continued to add more like they did for the Halloween special, but that''ll depend on the developers. As I've said in the beginning, it's not a game I'd play continuously, but rather play once in a while as a break in-between my other games. It takes me about an hour for each successful playthrough, and there's no save function. Still, I had fun each time I played through it and will probably continue to play in the future until I've collected everything. Gameplay: 8/10
Overall
For a game I paid less than a dollar for (I got it during the Humble Voxatron Debut), it was well worth it. I've already played it more than I did for some of the retail games I've bought. I like how I can quickly start it up and play through it and (hopefully) get a satisfactory playthrough it as many big names games require the player to sit through long dialogues and tutorials (which is okay if it's what you want at that moment) or that a game is too simple and feels like an on-going monotonous action. It can be frustrating because sometimes things happen when you least expect it and end up having to start all over. But I think that's what makes it so satisfying if you can get through it all the way to the end. I'm not sure who to recommend it to since it's so weird and freaky looking, but I suppose I would tell anyone who's remotely interested to get it since it's only $5 on steam. I'm looking forward to what Edmund McMillen has in store for the future. Overall: 9/10
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
NewNews - The Binding of Isaac is out on Steam
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/113200/
Source: Youtube Channel iamjamesid
The Binding of Isaac is a randomly generated dungeon crawler with action/RPG elements created by Team Meat (creators of Super Meat Boy). It is now available on Steam for a measly $5 ($4.49 right now until Oct. 5th). As you can see, the art style is rather dark and grotesque as opposed to their previous style in Super Meat Boy of being odd but somewhat cutesy. The game has a keen resemblance to the original Legend of Zelda when going through a dungeon. I hear that the game is very challenging and has a lot of replay value. I'm probably going to hold off for now (even though it's just $4.49) since I'm struggling to finish up games (or even start) ones that I've bought from the beginning of summer. But once I feel ready, I'm definitely going to purchase The Binding of Isaac.
Source: Youtube Channel iamjamesid
The Binding of Isaac is a randomly generated dungeon crawler with action/RPG elements created by Team Meat (creators of Super Meat Boy). It is now available on Steam for a measly $5 ($4.49 right now until Oct. 5th). As you can see, the art style is rather dark and grotesque as opposed to their previous style in Super Meat Boy of being odd but somewhat cutesy. The game has a keen resemblance to the original Legend of Zelda when going through a dungeon. I hear that the game is very challenging and has a lot of replay value. I'm probably going to hold off for now (even though it's just $4.49) since I'm struggling to finish up games (or even start) ones that I've bought from the beginning of summer. But once I feel ready, I'm definitely going to purchase The Binding of Isaac.
Monday, August 29, 2011
GameLight - The Binding of Isaac
From the creators of Super Meat Boy comes a hardcore dungeon crawler:
Source: Youtube Channel iamjamesid
While the trailer is rather disturbing, the game does look interesting. From the Steam page: "The Binding of Isaac is a randomly generated action RPG shooter with heavy Rogue-like elements." It's definitely a reminiscence of "The Legend of Zelda" when going into a dungeon. The graphics are obscure, grotesque, and down-right odd, which makes it difficult to decide whether that's a good choice to look unique or an uncomfortable one. I really liked Super Meat Boy a lot, and I'm very excited to see what Team Meat will do for this game. The game will release on Steam for $5 in September. You can check it out on:
-Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/113200/?snr=1_4_4__13
Source: Youtube Channel iamjamesid
While the trailer is rather disturbing, the game does look interesting. From the Steam page: "The Binding of Isaac is a randomly generated action RPG shooter with heavy Rogue-like elements." It's definitely a reminiscence of "The Legend of Zelda" when going into a dungeon. The graphics are obscure, grotesque, and down-right odd, which makes it difficult to decide whether that's a good choice to look unique or an uncomfortable one. I really liked Super Meat Boy a lot, and I'm very excited to see what Team Meat will do for this game. The game will release on Steam for $5 in September. You can check it out on:
-Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/113200/?snr=1_4_4__13
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