Vagante is a cute retro styled roguelike that came out in 2014 apparently. I never heard of it until a couple days ago randomly but the game is pretty impressive so far for being released almost 10 years ago now.
I googled it and apparently Shovel Knight and Binding of Isaac rebirth came out that same year so it is no wonder it didn't get more publicity.
I find that some roguelikes are better about making you feel like you're making progress while dying over and over and this one does a pretty good job in my opinion.
The pixel art is the biggest draw for me - and I think the art here is very nice overall.
Anyway, it is wild to me that this game is almost 10 years old and I never heard of it. We are at a point where Steam contains hidden gems like it's a classic console.
Also the game is mad cheap I got a key on g2a for like 2 dollars.
I've had it for a bit (~55 hours of playtime and a disclaimer of not being good enough to finish the 3rd region of the game) and while i really, really want to love the game based on what you mention (thematic dark fantasy pixel art + ambient music) as an action roguelike (as compared to text+tile based roguelikes) i feel it unfortunately falls short compared to others in the genre in what I'll explain further:
Action roguelikes are well known for progress between runs usually through the form of unlockables that are revealed as progress/achievements are hit on certain runs, unlocking content for future runs. However, in terms of Vagante's unlockable progression, you see unlocks in terms of the 5x5 single-pick modifier that occurs during character creation (which is the same between classes), as well as the classes of
Classes
Wildling and Hound Master
Minor unlocks includes new alternate music and I believe a hard mode if you complete the game once (again i'm bad so i haven't achieved the last unlock) Compared to games such as of course Binding of Isaac, Noita, or Enter the Gungeon (the last game which I have my own quibbles with) gameplay between runs and unlockables are somewhat minor and unsatisfying. I can't fault the devs for programming less than the above games, but run progressions between games seem almost meh outside of the new classes.
(this may be subjective based on personal skill but this is my analysis playing between the different characters) Within the classes, while there are definite differences between them, and through their leveling progression, to make them unique and allow for class-unique builds, boss difficulty between the classes vary greatly and are more tedious with some classes than others (unless you cheese)
cheese and boss details
the fireball dodge game with the dragon in Caves for melee focused characters can be completely cheesed by chilling in deep water and letting the dragon follow you: fireballs immediately sputter out in water and you can just punch or stab it to death, the Golem in Woods is completely fucked up for melee builds because the thing can one-shot you with its slam attack
Here's some of the positives I like about the game though
- Co-op with friends is extremely fun
- The randgen modifiers on weapons and armor are very cool and classic to the text and tile/ascii based genre. The different angles of attack: overhead to forward attack arc for things like axes, clubs, knight-upgraded swords, as opposed to stabs with unclassed swords or daggers, makes the use of weapons and their characteristics unique rather than more damage/different stats
- Also the unidentified potions and scrolls mechanic also harkens back to text and tile/ascii roguelikes and adds a novel element between playthroughs (Make sure what you're drinking is a health/stat up potion rather than a poison/stat down potion!)
- artstyle, soundwork, and music really gets the dark fantasy mood down-pat, the character select screen outside the dungeon with the crackling fire during the middle of the night is definitely dungeon-crawl-cozy vibes
- class builds and upgrades when leveling are small little mechanics that twist the character's playstyle in such a way that each upgrade alters the way you play and interact with the mechanics of the game without getting too wild as to undercut the existing mechanics of the game: mage doing self-enchantment with spells or mix potions, knight upgrading sword techniques to have an overhead to foward slash/Link-esque downward aerial sword attack or being able to block/riposte attacks, rogue with stealth mode, throwing knives, angling bow attacks that ricochet
While Vagante certainly isn't a bad game and in fact bridges the gap between text roguelikes and action roguelikes and is an occasional download and replay on my library, due to design constraints and better execution of action roguelike elements in other action roguelike games, Vagante is a charming if overshadowed addition to the genre that is an extremely enjoyable game especially with friends, if somewhat unmemorable.
(Yeah if its like 3 bucks its worth it compared to base price of 15 bucks, which i guess this off-the-cuff review is more appropriate for lmao)
Man I wanted to like Noita but it felt too cryptic to me and the controls didn't feel fun or satisfying to me for some reason. I never really felt like I was getting better when I was playing it. I'm sure I was probably just taking the wrong lessons from the game but yeah. I much prefer the controls of Vagante. Noita is such a thicc game that I'm sad I couldn't get into it though.
Yeah I really like the controls to Vagante, it's like one of the few action roguelikes that i can think of that promotes slow and methodical play (descending down gaps by ledgegrabbing, stab and dodge back-and-forth against the lil goblins, throwing objects at arrowtraps before proceeding onward) i think it has a lot of potential (if they ever decide to do updates or even community mods) if there were more unlockables or an increase/class unique traits in the 5x5 tile trait list, it has the gameplay down pat but there's little in the sense of progression outside of the 5x5 trait tiles or unlockable classes. It's still a very fun game though and I hope that community modders will pick up the game to give it a little further polish.
Its really fun, I like the game a lot!
Thank being said, like a lot of games of its genre, it is hard, and a particular type of unforgiving; Its almost like Spelunky in that way, where you can make one lil slip and instantly die, run gone.
Yeah I'd say its slightly better than spelunky but I did just get owned by spikes like 10 times in a row.
Its a good game but iirc its very difficult. Worth 2 bucks tho
