Hades was my first introduction to the roguelike genre of games. Taking the game up on a suggestion from a friend, I was instantly captivated by what was to me a totally new and insanely creative form of game design. Since my time with Hades, I’ve noticed what appears to be a huge surge in new titles for what I thought was a niche genre. Whether the success of Hades inspired a genre boom or my newfound awareness made them easier to spot, what I once thought a new and exciting style of the game quickly became to feel like a saturated genre full of titles that struggled to stand out from each other. With one or two exceptions, I quickly found myself growing tired of the genre as a whole.
I’m thrilled to say that Ember Knights has renewed my interest, and has taken the crown as my favorite roguelike title.
Since I have a feeling this game will attract fans who have never touched a roguelike before, I thought it would be worth taking a moment to explain what the genre is. “Roguelike” is a genre of games that is characterized by procedurally generated levels, permadeath (meaning that when your character dies, you have to start over from the beginning), and a high level of difficulty. These games often also feature randomized powerups and gear that you find during your runs, and allow you to permanently increase your stats over time to help you eventually beat the increasingly difficult levels, and rush through areas you’ve already cleared much faster each run. The term “roguelike” originated from the 1980 game Rogue, which set the foundation for the genre.
Understanding the staples of the roguelike genre is important because Ember Knights doesn’t really stray far from the formula at all. In fact, strictly in terms of game design, you can easily say that Ember Knights follows the formula to the letter. It’s in the subtle and creative decisions made by the developers where Ember Knights really stands above a lot of the other roguelikes I’ve played.
Right off the bat, the biggest difference Ember Knights has and what is arguably its main selling point is the fact that you can play the game co-op. While so many roguelike titles are strictly a single-player experience, and while Ember Knights can certainly be played alone, the game gives you the option of taking on the villain Praxis with up to four players. Playing the game in a party of two to four creates unique interactions with the questions of resource management and builds that the genre is famous for. Asking you to decide who gets which buffs and how much of the healing you’re willing to share, with the trade-off being synergy and combined strength when facing off against the bosses and myriad of levels.
The game isn’t afraid of letting you be OP, either, and doesn’t expect you to work very hard to start unlocking some of the more fun skills and relics. Some builds are going to feel stronger than others, and you’re going to quickly find yourself with a preference for which relics, skills, and weapons you take each round, but nothing feels considerably weaker than anything else. I found myself enjoying armor and skill damage builds, but wasn’t disappointed or bored when the RNG didn’t let me make my builds work.
Variety is most certainly the spice of life in Ember Knights. There are about 90 unique enemies in the game, scattered over five zones with unique hazards and looks, with more coming at the time of writing. These enemies all have unique attack patterns and stats, and thankfully you have a wealth of customization of your own to take them on.
I loved figuring out new builds in Ember Knights. One of my favorites was a poison-fire-magic combo I picked up in my 10th or 12th run. For this build, I picked up a spell that created an auto-turret ballista and a relic that added poison damage to my spells. I also picked up a relic that added fire damage to my attacks after using a skill. Using the mage staff weapon, which has a big AOE attack, I was able to rack up poison on enemies with my ballista and then inflict burning on all of them with one attack. Effectively, I was able to watch a whole room of foes tick down to nothing as I kited them, too fast to catch any damage.
In another run, I took my trusty sword weapon, a charge-attack skill, and an augment that gave me armor by perfectly timing the charge-up animations of my spells. By getting the timing just right, I was able to charge into an enemy, gain a stack of damage-soaking armor, and unleash a flurry of attacks before backing up and doing it again.
The possibilities for builds truly feels endless, thanks in no small part to the fact that every relic and skill feels viable. You won’t find yourself in a bad run because you couldn’t get the four or five meta abilities like you might in other roguelike titles. I must have put writing this review off by two or three extra hours because I wanted to keep trying new builds, each time I died saying “just one more run wouldn’t hurt.”
One comparison I want to make between Ember Knights and Hades, my introduction to the genre, is the character writing. The characters in Ember Knights are written far more subtly, and while they don’t lack in personality, they didn’t have any real compelling stories or dialogue to keep me talking with them each time they showed up.
Praxis, who is set to destroy the universe and is the reason you were summoned in the first place, is written and presented in such a way to really build that nemesis relationship. Praxis is huge, intimidating, solely responsible for all of the conflict in the game, and never has anything nice to say to you. Every time he shows up, his presence feels intense, and you almost wish he’d acknowledged your strength after countless battles fought to catch up to him. You feel an even greater desire to kick his non-existent teeth in when he randomly shows up in a level just to taunt and berate you. Ooooh, I love to hate this guy.
The Final Word
I absolutely adore this game. While faithful to the genre, Ember Knights make some solid creative decisions and implement quality-of-life fixes that many roguelikes desperately need, and opens the genre up to a multiplayer experience. Unafraid to make players feel powerful while still presenting a real challenge, Ember Knights is a game that feels like it was designed to have fun, favoring fun builds and creative interactions with the world over any artificial difficulty, providing a genuine challenge that’s no less fun for players alone or with a group of friends.
Try Hard Guides was provided with a PC review copy of this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website! Ember Knights is available on Steam.
Comments