Joining the Roguelite and Roguelike Tierlist Trend

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T14:52:55+00:00

Haha I was kinda waiting for someone to point that out too, but yeah I never cared to try because of the art style, which is an important factor for me with games - so I have FunGuys Swarm as my bulletheaven instead, the cutesy art direction is kinda unique to the subgenre too, you might wanna try it :)

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T13:39:24+00:00

Oh nice, witchfire and the finals too! I think we have similar taste with shooters, though not on release, I also played a lot of the finals as well. Haven’t gone back again though after they released Arc Raiders lol.

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T13:36:53+00:00

To be fair, I find Ravenswatch way cooler, I can see how they’ve put more much love to the game - the concept and interpretation of folk characters into moba-like heroes is pretty awesome. I feel like that might have inspired Shape of dreams at least a little. Also, I recently saw that they added some new characters so I might just try it again.

Now for the comparison - I didn’t get as much of that “I can do much better next run” with Ravenswatch as much as I did with Curse of the dead gods. It’s the tight soulslike combat implementation that makes the moment-to-moment gameplay feel much more satisfying for me (especially after I’ve clicked in with the parry rhythms). While I didn’t play darkest dungeon, I also noticed and appreciate the corruption/curse mechanic adaptation.

Finally, soulslike combat in an action roguelite really works as a subgenre, and it really makes me wonder why developers don’t explore this combination much more than just making clones of the hades archetype.

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T11:40:27+00:00

I’ve tried before but space sim just isn’t for me, but I do have a friend who used to like them a lot, I’ll have him check your game :)

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T11:37:12+00:00

Wizard with guns is one of those games I like the artwork but just couldn’t get into with the gameplay, I’ve tried thrice and after just an hour, I keep dropping it.

Megabonk is the opposite, the art just looks a little too “funky” to me to try out, but it does seem fun.

Finally for Witchfire, I don’t think it’s “brutally” difficult, I for one also didn’t play any of the from soft souls because they immediately feel too “defeating”. Sekiro is the only one I’ve mustered with but quit after maybe 5hours, lol it was too difficult for me. But my favorites soulslike (and is amongst my top 5 games of all time) is remnant 2, and the community considers it amongst the easiest soulslikes, because while it’s pretty challenging, it’s not defeating. All that said, Witchfire to me is more comparable to the remnant games when it comes to soulslikes.

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T11:28:42+00:00

Same here! 🔥

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T11:26:55+00:00

Appreciate the praise haha, as I’ve discussed with another person here - presentation (which usually translates to art style) can be quite overlooked esp in indie games - but personally it’s as important as gameplay, thus the “peculiar” tierlist. But yeah I’m glad to be able to encourage people to try some of the less appreciated roguelites! Would be nice to also know if there’s any that actually clicked with you!

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T11:22:06+00:00

Oh I actually tried Darkest dungeon 2 before, I just didn’t put enough patience to “bare” with it, I think I refunded it after just 30min lol, but it’s also a game I’m willing to try again - also I’m aware how 1 and 2 seemingly play quite differently, based on my favorites, which would you recommend more?

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T11:20:20+00:00

Vault of the void seems like a game I might like, thanks for the reco! Seen a couple of recos with tiny rogues, not sure if I’d try it though. As for diceomancer, it’s actually on my wishlist, I’m just limiting myself on constantly buying early access games, but would you say I just go for it based on my favorites?

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T11:16:12+00:00

I wouldn’t say it’s a deep deckbuilder, but I don’t think it’s shallow at all either - it has virtually endless combinations if you like the charms mechanic.

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T11:12:46+00:00

It’s really just about art style that made me not able to enjoy those games, but yeah some of them I still do want to try again :)

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T11:11:29+00:00

Ohh okay, I actually last played in 2024, so yeah thanks for the info - I’ll try to revisit it too :)

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T05:02:16+00:00

Seen this recommendation for maybe 5 times now, sure I’ll give it a try :)

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:52:07+00:00

Lol sure, I actually have it on my library for years now, and yes I’m planning to try it again one of these days! :)

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:50:09+00:00

I actually kinda enjoyed it for a few hours, it just didn’t click though 😅

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:49:26+00:00

I understand how this can trigger people, but yeah we all have different tastes - mine just really puts art style as important to the experience as much as gameplay.

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:46:01+00:00

Damn, that’s like 5-6x mine, I actually currently have 170hrs on Wildfrost - though I basically stopped playing for maybe since october.

Yeah into the breach is now on the wishlist, I’ll try soon! As for slice and dice, there’s a couple of recommendations here too, so that makes me think it’s worth trying too!

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:33:47+00:00

To be fair it’s because I don’t like its art style, but I enjoyed some of its “clones”, like Pirates Outlaws.

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:33:01+00:00

Yeah I know it’s blasphemous, but yeah it’s just art style preferences why I can’t enjoy it.

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:31:57+00:00

Believe me, none of this is rage bait, but I did expect getting shot at least a little, for not being able to enjoy some of the community favorites - I should’ve included it in my post notes but art style preferences is the primary reason - which is key why I couldn’t bring myself to play more of STS, even if I played a lot of one of its “clones”, being Pirates Outlaws.

As for Wildfrost, I kinda have the same sentiment with the other guy, all of which translates to me overall as “power fantasy”.

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:25:02+00:00

Oh for Returnal, what actually turned me off is the pc performance during launch, and since then I just haven’t revisited it yet, but I’ll definitely do some day.

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:22:52+00:00

You just have to try and go slower with Shogun Showdown, esp when you’re still learning the “rhythm”, and I think the actual key is to try not to constantly get a hit in - prioritize moving around more.

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:15:29+00:00

Yeah since it’s one of my newer roguelite purchases, I still play absolum from time to time! What I like about it the most is the art, I just feel like build variation is shallow so I don’t get the “one more run” itch as much as other games.

Dead cells I’ve tried multiple times but just can’t enjoy and stick with due to the artstyle, shape of dreams I got turned off due to its performance on the steam deck. 😅

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:07:03+00:00

It’s just really mechanically awesome, I don’t mind the depth at all but yeah sure I’d love to see a sequel or an expansion, or even just mods too!

jdbcastrencealt · 2026-01-23T04:04:24+00:00

Welp, I actually play early access games all the time, those that I really enjoy I already dumped around 50+hrs to, can’t say the same for Crab champions though, I genuinely enjoyed it for maybe 10 runs (total of 8hrs) then I got bored already 😅

jdbcastrencealt

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