Pretty dungeon crawler Tangledeep hits early access this month
Stab stab stab
There's a retro-styled roguelike dungeon crawler (stay with me!) called Tangeledeep [official site] coming to Steam Early Access later this month, and I'm digging my first look at it. Developers Impact Gameworks announced the Steam move this week with a new trailer that features some excellent music and tonnes of character customisation. But it's the combat system that's got me interested.
It's turn-based, but everything happens quickly – by which I mean that you'll be constantly shifting from spot to spot, slashing your sword and activating abilities while trying to react to what enemies are doing during their own, rapid turns, which happen at the same time as yours. At first look the system reminds me of the one in Loot Rascals, which I got on with very well.
Digging into the past dev logs, it looks like the combat is going to rely on skill over random numbers, which is promising, and feature tonnes of different abilities and play styles. Here's what Impact Gameworks said last year:
"Overall I don't want massive variance in combat that is solely due to RNG (Random Number Goddess), unless that's the theme of the class or ability. For example I could see a class that has a lot of luck-based abilities, but you'd be intentionally selected that method of play, as opposed to a more straightforward one."
The dungeons will be randomly generated, and there will be 9 different classes (called 'jobs') to choose from, each of which can be customised by picking up items in the world (of which there are "hundreds", apparently). You can choose between permadeath and...er...not permadeath, and there's a 'banking' system to save some of your progress between characters. So even if you die horribly an hour into a good run, all is not lost.
Here's more on the setting:
"For hundreds of years, people have lived in the safety of underground settlements and villages – where the only route to the surface is 'Tangledeep,' a mysterious and ever-changing labyrinth. With memories of the surface world long forgotten, you set out for the labyrinth to discover what lies above. With each floor – full of magical beasts, ancient automatons, bizarre environments and hybrid biomes – the mystery grows ever deeper..."
The game will be in early access until December, or that's the plan.
Overall I like the art style, the music, and the combat system they're going for. Here's the Steam page if you want to keep an eye on it. And if you really really want to play it right now, there's a pre-alpha version available on the game's website. Whaddya think?