Sol Cesto sounds like a resort, a cheap supermarket beer or something you apply to your skin – not a rogue-like. Well, for fellow philistines, there’s more to the title than you think, and for those who also like to praise the Sun, they might find themselves in another bit of a cultish loop, as this peculiar game available on Steam is pretty moreish.
The plot is much more forward than the initial gameplay: the Sun has M.I.A. and has been for ages. Your hero must descend procedurally generated dungeons to locate it. That is, if luck is on their side. Returning to first impressions of the game when it popped up in my inbox, I was lured to the rogue-like aspect, though put off by the gameplay. It was simply too hectic and didn’t make sense. After stewing for a few days, completing some other reviews, I decide to also delve into the dungeon. I’m glad I did.
You begin the game with the jester, who is more or less useless. To begin with, as new skills and tools are unlocked. Each time descending into Sol Cesto’s lower depths, the aim is to unlock enough action points to unlock a doorway to progress forward to locate the Sun. Every movement chips away at the door, so move you must. The problem is, everything is about chance.
The main window depicts 16 tiles to navigate, and when you enter a new room, enemies, traps, and treasure chests will randomly appear. By default, your hero will move left and right, so you pick a tile that appeals and hope you land there. You’ll certainly land in the row you select, though there’s a chance you won’t! Each tile is represented by a percentage – the higher it is, the more likely you will land there. The first time you play, rows are divided equally, though through progression, you can increase and lower the chances of these encounters. We’ll come back to that.
You will click a tile; typically, your choice will be a chest that grants coins for spending at a merchant’s or sending back to your base, or you will hop onto a strawberry for health. Enemies are represented by melee and magic, and to the right of the screen, where you see your health, chance of an ability, and coins, you’ll also see your stats. So, if you have a melee stat of 3 and the enemy is 2, if you land on them, you will defeat them. If they are higher than you, you will lose health. Should you land on the chest or fruit, that will count as an action point, but if you land on an enemy, win or lose, you will still get an action point. The beauty is you don’t have to defeat everything, just enough to open the door. But why settle for that? You’ll need all the money you can get.
Going through Sol Cesto’s doors will launch statues that modify your chances of encountering certain enemies, usually with a debuff that you’re more likely to land on a trap. Other screens include a pool that grants bonuses or a merchant. All of these are very scarce to begin with, as you need to accumulate enough cash to send back through a well. This, in turn, unlocks new characters, options at the vendors, plus character abilities. By the way, if you die without sending the coins back, you lose them. Classic rogue-like, but classic hook as you will head back.
Each character has a chargeable ability that allows you to move vertically as well as horizontally, among others. Even better is an inventory of health and ability restoration, plus items that increase your chance of survival by wiping out a row, column, or reducing so many of the enemies’ stats by one. The amount of modifiers is vast, paired with the procedurally generated aspect, making Sol Cesto very bespoke with each run. As a result, it is quite the grind.
Now, I like a grind as the next pervert, so that isn’t a bad thing. However, I did find Sol Cesto quite arduous in unlocking new things. The way the skill tree develops only mildly increases your odds, and a lot of these rely on you being able to get further in the first place. This isn’t as off-putting as it sounds, as I very much liked dusting myself off and giving it another go once again. Just be aware that there are plenty of runs where you come away with nothing, and that can be slightly demotivating.
With that in mind, Sol Cesto is an excellent example of changing things up. It’s neither a dedicated deck-building nor a conventional dungeon crawler, but something quite unique. The illustrations are unusual, the teeth pulling quite visceral, and the sheer randomness can also be surprisingly refreshing. What am I trying to say? It’s a very good rogue-like that deserves to see the light of day.
