The first game. My thoughts:
Wellllll...it was interesting. I'm sure that though (by default) this is the first time you hear me say that, it certainly won't be the last.
The Layout:
This game is a top-down Rogue-like dungeon crawler. It's got the staples...mobs of monsters, seemingly hopeless situations (wait, most of them are ACTUALLY hopeless situations), tons of loot (most of which is totally unusable), and of course we can't forget about the permadeath.
The Pros:
Quick play: if you decide you wanna play a round, you're probably going to be dead within the first few minutes. Most of the missions start you in a room that you can't get out of without dying. Since death is a permanent affliction, you start a new one. But the game doesn't bother with any frills about it...you die, you start another...it doesn't even ask if you'd like to continue playing. If you DO manage to get through the first few rooms, and collect enough loot that you can start hitting things a little easier, you might make it all the way through in about a half-hour. Beware though, if you do win, you're going to just start another one right away, as if you'd died.
Challenging:
The first time I made it through, I was really happy because most of the time the game feels fracking impossible. But as you collect more, you start to feel god-like. Since the game only lasts about a half-hour, that is a pretty satisfying dynamic shift. You can go from pitiful to awesome in a matter of 30 minutes. If you can make it through the first three.
Lots of content:
Kinda. There are 32 classes...or so I've heard. I've put about 10 hours into this game so far and I think I have 8 of them unlocked. Apparently you get more by dying. I haven't looked into how this works out, but I do have one more show up here and there. The missions all have a type of map associated with them, but they're always laid out differently, and the loot and monsters are never the same. There also appear to be special monsters which don't always show up...so it keeps you going. The gear all has different stats, so you can have all sorts of different buffs/resistances/vulnerabilities.
The Cons:
Those damned first rooms:
I swear...as much fun as it is when you finally get out of them, those first few rooms are rough! Until you unlock some more classes, it seems like it's just an instant death fest. I have found that there is one mission that you can do that only has rats unless you search tombs, so that's a good one for beginners.
The resolution:
This game is a 9 MB download. Sweet! Wait. That means it's tiny. Damn. The game has a lot packed into it, and I'm always a fan of the 8-bit look...but it just doesn't feel right. Walking one tiny square at a time, and if you misclick, you're bound to take extra hits. Yet if you zoom in, it becomes so big and awful that you can't see enemies attacking you.
No real perks for winning:
You don't unlock classes by winning with them. You get a little screen when you win saying good job, then another game just starts right up. I want those fireworks from the end of the Mario levels. I want a cool piece of loot to start my next game with. I want to unlock classes when I beat it was other classes. I want SOMETHING to say "Good Jorb, you just beat this game!". But...nothing. I don't know why. Design choice, but a strange one for sure.
The Final Thoughs:
Imma keep playing this. I have a few more achievements to get...and about 25 more classes to unlock. It'll probably drive me mad. But it's great for a lil bit here and there. Hopefully we'll see a bug patch from the developers eventually to take care of a couple small things. No matter what, I see myself returning to this little gem every now and again over the next few months.
The Next Game:
Whatever sits in the 9th slot in my Steam library!
Also: I did a bad thing. I picked up the Gothic collection. So, I have 6 more games to deal with, in the time that I played one. Whoops!
