The Roguelike Enthusiast Describes Their First Soulsbourne Experience

One of the first games I ever reviewed for this site was Subset Game’s Into the Breach, the follow up to their first foray into the game development, FTL: Faster Than Light. Both of these games are self-described by the developer as roguelike-likes. If the term sounds unfamiliar, the abbreviated history is that an ASCII game called Rogue was released and the game was characterized by its procedurally generated levels, high degree of difficulty, and dying meant you had to start the whole run over from scratch. No save states, no progression carried over, nothing.

And this game inspired an entire genre of games just like including the infamous NetHack. Over time, the genre expanded in scope and function resulting in the broad label of “roguelike-likes,” which includes pretty much my entire gaming catalog. Top contenders for my roguelike resume include 1000+ hours in Slay the Spire, 100+ hours in Hades and Dead Cells a piece, about ~100 hours between both of Subset Games’ although the number is going up with the Advanced Edition of Into the Breach now available via Netflix on Mobile and all the usual platforms. Oaken, Despot’s Game, Castle Morihisa, Evertried, Griftlands, and about a half a dozen other games of various degrees of roguelike.

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I live for the endless cycle of living, learning, dying, and repeating. I love the slow mastery that comes from incessant experimentation,…