by I struggled with where I should put this game. From my hour of play, it didn’t seem to be anything special – simply another roguelite set in a Spelunky-esque environment. I died a few times – sometimes to spikes (an aggravating insta-kill – the only one in the game), sometimes to gigantic monsters, and sometimes due to my own ineptitude. But while this has the usual trappings of a roguelike – e.g. Permadeath, constant danger, and randomly generated levels -it doesn’t have the same feel as you get from, say, Golden Krone Hotel. I haven’t played enough to confirm this, but at a glance I would say that Vagante doesn’t have the same meaningful choices a roguelike needs to remain entertaining. I was ready to put this into Tier Three, since I didn’t feel much motivation to continue to play this game.
Two things stopped me: First, this is an Early Access title. I read some of the Steam reviews, and one fellow had over 1,000 hours into Vagante, proclaiming it one of the best roguelikes ever. But near the end of his review, there was a note that it had changed since the time he had put in his time – mellowing it out and taking some of the special-ness from it, but making it more accessible. That saddens me, but it also means that it’s possible it will improve just as much before it leaves Early Access – so it might be worth waiting.
Secondly, it seems to be a Co-op focused title. My experiences were below par, but part of that may have been playing solo. If you have a solo mode, good co-op isn’t an excuse for poor solo play – but it’s enough to make me want to revisit this sometime.