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Favorite Roguelikes

jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
in Off-Topic
Here's a genre that doesn't get talked about alot here, but are probably the most pure form of RPG out there. I've recently been trying my hand at Tales of Maj'eyal, and I find it to be absolutely stellar in every regard. I've also heard great things about Ancient Domains of Mystery and Stone Soup. Clearly Angband and Nethack are of the more hardcore and old-school variety. I generally prefer ones that have decent looking graphical tile-sets, as the idea of staring at calculator symbols for hours on end doesn't appeal to me. But what are some of the favorites around here?? Has anyone ever beaten any of the more notorious ones??

Comments

  • StefanOStefanO Member Posts: 346
    edited November 2016
    I've spend almost 15 years in nethack dungeons. I don't claim to be a nethack expert, but I've beaten the game maybe 8-10 times. And suffered zillions of YASDs (yet another stupid deads).
  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308
    i've mostly played TOME, transcendence (space trader / roguelike) and helherron
    also tried dungeons of dredmor, wasn't bad

    i haven't beaten any tho, mostly because of boredom
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    TOME is great, its very much the gateway roguelike. Sword of the Stars:The Pit is a pretty good scifi themed one as well. Space Food Truck is a recent one I've gotten into. Its 1-4 player co op card based food delivery in a universe that wants you dead.
  • AlexeiPepersAlexeiPepers Member Posts: 23
    Nethack is my favourite, and if you download it for Windows there's actually a windowed version with a decent looking tileset that you can play with instead of having to deal with the ASCII. I think it's also an option on Mac though I'm less certain. Sad to say I've never beat it, despite having played it on and off for most of my life. But to me beating it isn't really the point, just exploring it and appreciating the depth and complexity it has to offer is fun.

    Crypt of the Necrodancer is an amazing roguelike with a twist on the formula that I like a whole lot and would recommend. Brogue is another interesting newer roguelike in a more classic style that I haven't played myself but have heard a lot of good things about. And to my mind, Dwarf Fortress is one of the best games ever and fits fairly well into the roguelike genre (especially in adventure mode) but at least in its default mode it definitely falls into staring at calculator symbols.
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155
    I'm an Angband fan (the port runs everywhere, has graphics and everything), though I have more time spent on NetHack because it has a mobile version for iPhone which is really good (bad part is that it only work up to iOS 6 since it didn't get updated in years).
    AlexeiPepers said:

    I think it's also an option on Mac though I'm less certain.

    For 10.7+ there's only the command line option (IMO the best way to play the game).
  • smeagolheartsmeagolheart Member Posts: 7,963
    I started playing Rogue Legacy again. It's a lot of fun. A platformer that lets you get gold for upgrades to pass on to your descendants.
  • VallmyrVallmyr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,459
    Not sure of these count but I've been playing a lot of Darkest Dungeon and Dungeon Hack. The former being a super RNG-based dungeon crawl with a party where sanity is one of the biggest mechanics and the latter being an first person AD&D randomly generated rogue-like game.
  • jjstraka34jjstraka34 Member Posts: 9,850
    Vallmyr said:

    Not sure of these count but I've been playing a lot of Darkest Dungeon and Dungeon Hack. The former being a super RNG-based dungeon crawl with a party where sanity is one of the biggest mechanics and the latter being an first person AD&D randomly generated rogue-like game.

    I'd say they both count. Darkest Dungeon is a modern take with alot of other stuff going on, but members of your team absolutely suffer one death and there is no coming back. Dungeon Hack, to my understanding, was SSI simply taking the Eye of the Beholder engine, removing the party element, and making it a random blobber. In fact, it's the only roguelike I know of that uses the Dungeon Master template.

    Roguelike elements have been creeping into games for a long time. They were obviously the inspiration for hardcore mode in Diablo 2. Dark Souls certainly implements the no-save element. Darkest Dungeon and Sunless Sea let you continue but only with new characters or a later relative, respectively.

    When you think about it, MOST old RPGs were, in fact, one death and it was all over. I've never once taken the death penalty in say, Might and Magic VI, which drops you back in New Sorpigal with almost nothing to your name. People load saves, unless they are doing a no-reload run. And no-reload runs are nothing more than trying to enforce roguelike rules on yourself that the game doesn't.
  • VallmyrVallmyr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,459
    If Dungeon Hack had a party system I'd love it much more I think but it's fun as is. I'm particularly fond of a half-elf Bard I made that actually made it pretty far before dying lol
  • TeflonTeflon Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 515
    Enter the gungeon is the most recently played one. :*
    But sadly there is no favorite of mine, since its hardcore-nature forbids me love "roguelike".
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    @Teflon Have you played tome? It lets you choose your difficulty level and even penalty upon death if you wish.
  • TeflonTeflon Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 515
    :o@ThacoBell https://te4.org this one? Not yet but I will. Looks cool! thanks :D
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Yup, thats the one :smile:
  • SouthpawSouthpaw Member Posts: 2,026
    If Darkest Dungeon is a roguelike (perma-death, procedurally-generated, turn-based) ... then that one - and a great one to boot!
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