Roguecraft DX Review: Release The Badger!
What have you got locked up in your dungeon, Mr Lovecraft?
Filling a tombola with words such as ‘Amiga’, ‘Lovecraft’, ‘rogue-like’ and ‘tits’, then revealing each one at a time will have any old school gamer falling to their knees. ‘Tits’ is omitted from this line-up, but Badger Punch Games’ new title, Roguecraft DX, boasts all of the above and will have you Gen-X’s and appreciators of retro wiggling their finger at newer games.
This isn’t a reimagining or paying homage to a particular genre or game, and instead draws upon some of those glorious 16-bit isometric visuals you might see in something like Hero Quest, but with a rhythm, and not exclusively for those who’s favourite yoga pose is sedentary solitude, while necking energy drinks. It’s a fun pick-up-and-play rogue-like that is alarmingly welcoming.
Rogue-likes are no longer for die-hard bastards or masochists that throw peripherals, but borderline mainstream. I have no facts to support this comment. Most indie games I cover these days are either a rogue-like or have those qualities, and quite frankly, I really enjoy them. The key thing to a good rogue-like is the loop of wanting to play and progress, and whether you want to commit to the grind. Roguecraft DX is a teeny bit different to most.
Selecting from three classes, the third is not immediately available until a run or two, the goal is to complete 15 levels of procedurally generated dungeon crawling, encountering Lovecraft mainstays such as tentacles and killer chickens, and drinking ominous and copious amounts of fluids that would make an OF content creator gush.
Roguecraft DX is presented in an isometric style, moving your character in one of four directions on a tile-based design. However, this isn’t turn-based or locked into action points. Playing this on my AYN Thor (plug, plug, plug), either the d-pad or analogue stick could be used for controls, with the former being the most accurate.
Combat is automated by walking into the enemies. There are no additional commands such as blocking, though adopting a hit and run approach is a good strategy for survival, as well as using environmental hazards to fry the chickens. Or Cthulhu wannabees if you’d prefer something cosmic with a rubbery texture.
With the first two characters, a warrior and a rogue, combat is easier, though the wizard is a bit of a wet fish. They can do greater damage, at the caveat of getting a sprained ankle should someone sneeze. Those ominous fluids mentioned earlier can counter any temporal weaknesses as potions can grant elemental damage, increase speed, or get you pissed. Aside from the green potions that award health, all the other colours change per run, so you insert your Forrest Gump quote now.
When there are enemies in a room, our heroes can only move one space at a time, though clearing it removes that restriction as there’s a bit of backtracking through rooms as it’s a requirement to find a key to unlock then next floor to progress. Besides that, you’ll want to explore every room as Roguecraft DX is enjoyable.
The difficulty balance is quite good and runs are relatively generous. Killing a series of enemies will award gems that increase health and strength, though one of the main incentives aside from completing all floors is getting on the leaderboards. Additionally, there are two modes under the classic mode which is Endless and, erm… Chicken Run? The latter you play a chicken with only two health points. Insert your own chicken joke.
Roguecraft DX is a really cool game on a number of levels. Visually, it’s great, coming from an Amiga background, I love the aesthetic. The music is on par and everything just works. There were no problems with me running this on my lil’ handheld, the Steam Deck, or fridge, and based on how easy it is to get into this, I have no complaints. But…
While I love the presentation, really, I do, it’s very hard to see some artefacts. Granted, Muggins here was using a smaller screen most of the time, but even projecting this at our local cinema, some tile artefacts merge and one can miss the odd gem or two. If you can watch any of the GIFs on the Steam page without having an eyeball explosion, you’ll be fine and I suggest you get yo’ ass in the dungeon.
If you want bonus points, you can actually play this on the Amiga, like KABOOMANIA! Don’t ask me how, but it’s legit and doesn’t include the line ‘backup copies’. Check out the dev’s website.
