” Thank you sir may I have another? “


Role-playing survival game is willing to take risks

I believe that inside every gamer there is a pinch of masochism, the part that enjoys to play hard video games. That relishes fighting an incredibly strong boss fight that has instant death powers, or spent a day trying to beat God of War 1’s final boss section on god mode (Right here). Obviously this depends on the player and one person’s impossibly difficult fight is another players cake walk.

This is evident in the genre known as Rogue-Likes. I know fans hate for this genre to be labeled as a RPG, so I’ll refer to it simply as “rogue” for this entry. Rogues are games known for having huge difficulty and a punishing death penalty. In most games when you die you have an option of continuing from a save point, here when you die your done. All items and experience earned are taken away from you and your sent back to the start. So then why the hell do people like to play this genre of deaths and restarts ?

Well because this is one of the most balanced genres I’ve seen in some time. One of my biggest beefs with most RPGS is that rules only apply to you, why am I able to be stoned but that pink rabbit is immune? In rogues everything that can affect you, can affect everything else in the world. Whether it’s a spell that sends you flying backwards, to being turned into a riceball. Rogues also featured some of the most overpowered items in any other genre, which basically gives you a fighting chance here. I’ll discuss the popular elements of this genre a little later.

Last month the game known as Mystery Dungeon Shiren the Wanderer was released over here for the first time. The game itself has been available in Japan since the super Famicom days (or a “free” translated version online). To experts of the genre, Shiren is considered to be the best example of everything right (and wrong to critics) of the genre. In the game you play as of course Shiren who has one goal, to reach the top of Table Mountain (trust me it’s scarier then it sounds), armed with his talking weasel (no I’m not making that up) and a huge hat filled with determination you set off for adventure. Enemies in Shiren come in all types, from slimes that can rust (which weakens) your equipment, to enemies that can turn you into riceballs or throw you into the middle of a room filled with monsters. The game is set up that every action counts as a turn and once you move everyone in the level moves. Making getting surrounded equal to instant death.

Shiren isn’t defenseless however (even though he starts that way), magic staves that can affect any enemy with it’s magic are available, as well as scrolls or as I call them “oh shit!” buttons for when all hell is breaking loose. Storerooms are placed in 3 of the 5 towns that will save any items no matter what. Blacksmiths are on hand to improve your weapons to obscene levels of power and a powerful shield can make life very easy. One of the strategies involve taking one weapon to each blacksmith, stocking it and redoing the process after you die.

As a general rule if you see any reviewer complain that when you die you lose everything, then you know they are not fans of Rogues. Yet this is one of the more popular elements in Rogue games. First we have challenge, you will die in a Rogue game, and you will die often. The odds are pretty much stacked against you and it’s your job to make those odds work. Enemies have some nasty special effects , from knocking away your treasured weapon into oblivion, to the occasional death while being confused. In order to survive your going to need some help.

Which leads us to the next point randomization (there’s that word again). Everything in Rogues with exception to towns are randomize each time. Weapons, maps, and enemy placements will never be the same. You can be lucky and get one of the best weapons on the very first map, or be stuck to the end punching enemies with your fist. This also makes the gameplay tense, as you never known when you stumble on a trap that reduces your health to 1 in the middle of a fight. The randomization also leads me to another great thing.

Item variety and usage, in most RPGS your stuck with the standard laundry list of swords, magic spells, etc. In rogues you have access to items that can erase one enemy type from ever showing up again in that play thru. Swords can attack multiple spaces in front of you, and those lovely scrolls come with all kinds of effects. The one thing that you need to realize is that saving items for a rainy day is a no no. With death and maybe some kind of uber item around the corner you need to live for the now instead of hoarding for a future event. The list of items in Rogues is a bit too long to get into detail about here, but it does help me transition into one of my favorite elements of Rogues.

Strategy and tactics, not something you usually read about in a non strategy title. Yet Rogues require a fair amount of strategy to win. Since the rules apply to everyone , it makes it possible to use these rules to your own advantage and develop tactics to use in grave situations. For example in Shiren you can find a staff that paralyzes any enemy you hit it with. If your being followed down a long passageway by several enemies you can use this to stop the group and force them to find another way to get to you. There are alot of different examples I can use, but it helps to play the game and learn them for yourself.

For the players who can reach the end of a rogue there is still more to do. Rogues are also known for having a great amount of post game content in a form of new dungeons that bend the rules in their own unique way. One dungeon in Shiren allows the player to use all those traps that are found in the game to make it thru the dungeon. Some dungeons require you to bring in your own powered up equipment to stand a chance in them, these aren’t my favorite as your left with very little time playing for the amount of grinding needed to win these. Shiren also features one uber dungeon, a 99 floor dungeon where anything can happen and all the items are unidentified when you enter. I’ve yet to even break into the double digits here. These examples of post game content are designed for the players who already know how to beat the game normally to now try something a bit different.

The problem that I think developers of Rogues have is how to design one, which leads to a catch 22 situation. Either they make a rogue so challenging and requires alot of skill that all the fans will love it , but no one else will even attempt to play this from reviews. Or they make it more casual, keep items after death or statistics which will attract non fans but leave the fans high and dry. Examples of the latter happened last year when Izuna and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon were released, both are examples of Rogues yet made easier to attract more fans.

After trying Baroque out for the Wii, I’m going to have argue keeping Rogues in either 2d and/or turn based. The real time combat makes things a bit to chaotic and being able to run easily eliminates the need for strategy. I can’t tell you how many times the camera ended up facing me to a wall while several enemies slowly surround me. According to people who played all the way thru to the post content, is where things get interesting but the core gameplay isn’t enough for me to run thru so many floors of the main story to get there.

Personality the less punishing elements of Rogues, Balance, randomization, item variety, and strategy I want to see more of in regular RPGS. Maybe a way to make both parties happy is to have difficulty levels that change the content from standard hack and slash all the way up to Rogue level. But I think it’s going to have to be a necessary evil to have a huge difficulty for the rogue experience.

Taking for example Izuna which I just picked up today, the game is indeed a rogue with all the elements in place. With two major differences, first boss encounters which for a nice touch aren’t immune to anything, and the fact that your level stays with you even if you fail. I’m not sure how to respond to this, as I know that hard core rogue players find this as a cop out. This does makes thing a bit easier then Shiren, still for those who want a chance to get into this genre, Shiren is the more complete package in my opinion.

I wonder if there is a way to modernize the genre, making it more accessible to newcomers while still keeping the extreme challenge to provide entertainment for the hard core gamers.

Josh.