As its name suggests, the roguelike finds its origin in the game Rogue, released in 1980. The principle of the venerable title was to embody a character without equipment, who would gain power in a dungeon full of enemies and of procedurally generated traps. Death resulted in the pure and simple loss of all equipment and required restarting a “run”.
The roguelite takes more or less the same concept, but each run allows us to keep elements that will improve our chances of succeeding in the next attempts. Much more permissive and less intimidating, this variation has gradually taken over from pure roguelikes, which is why we find more roguelites in our selection. Without further ado, here are, in our opinion, the pearls of this very popular genre!
The Binding of Isaac: Repentance - Poo and Tears
9
The Binding of Isaac: Repentance
- Gameplay as complex as it is fun
- Depth of synergies unmatched in the genre
- Infinite replayability
- Inimitable art direction
Initially a simple draft in Flash format imagined in a few days after a certain Super Meat Boy par Edmund McMillan, The Binding of Issac had an unexpected success. Three expansions and eleven years later, the dungeon-inspired roguelite of A Link to the Past has more or less become THE benchmark in its field.
Isaac, an unhappy young child from a believing family, tries to escape from his daily life thanks to his overflowing imagination (and because of his mother who tries to kill him following an intervention of the Lord). Only, the tortured imagination of our tearful protagonist leads us through dungeons populated by grotesque creatures, angels, demons… and poo!
Today with an indecent amount of objects and synergies to make each run unique, many playable characters, many purposes and more or less hidden secrets, The Binding of Isaac is an essential roguelite. Thanks to its delirious gameplay and its unique universe, this title is likely to grab you for hundreds of hours with an ever-renewed pleasure.
Hades: An Infernally Divine Odyssey
9
See the priceSee the testHades
- Ultra nervous, precise and varied gameplay
- Solid replayability
- An indecent artistic direction
- A challenge suitable for all players
- Quality voice acting and writing
Impossible to offer a selection of the best roguelikes and roguelites without mentioning the new Apollo of the genre, courtesy of Supergiant Games. Coming out of nowhere in Early Access four years ago, the paternal feud between Zagreus and Hades quickly rose to a pure masterpiece.
The impetuous Zagreus dreams of adventures and is bored in his native home, the Underworld. Aspiring to freedom and to find his mother on the surface, our charismatic demi-god intends to brave his father's traps to discover the truth about his origins, even if it means asking his distant family from Olympus to help him in his company. The (sumptuous) setting is set for a captivating story enhanced by gameplay… from hell!
In addition to a narration brilliantly intertwined in the very concept of roguelite, Hades also shines with dantesque fights. The title also makes wonderful use of the concept of a dungeon with several branches to make our character more powerful in order to complete a run. This coupled with divine art direction and soundtrack, and you have one of the best roguelites ever.
Darkest Dungeon : « And Now, the True Test ! Hold Fast… or Expire ! »
9
Darkest Dungeon
- Great mix between management and roguelike
- Challenging but oh so satisfying fights
- Deliciously oppressive art direction
- The Narrator's voice...
If they are becoming rarer, roguelikes have not said their last word, and one of its best representatives is none other than a title in which the concept of dungeon is at its heart: Darkest Dungeon. Despite its relentless difficulty, the title from Red Hook Studios has definitely marked fans of the genre with a red iron.
Ruin has fallen on your family. Last heir of the sinister Darkest Dungeon, your duty is to uproot its corruption in order to rekindle the flame of hope in a land populated by brigands and abject creatures. For this, you will have to manage your hamlet and mercenary troops, at the risk of the world being eternally plunged into the darkness of the Abyss. An intriguing story, told by a divinely sinister-voiced Narrator without whom the game clearly wouldn't have been so tasty to play through.
Skilfully combining management and dungeon crawler, Darkest Dungeon stood out above all for its deliciously oppressive artistic direction and its fights requiring as much tactical sense as hardened steel will. Every dungeon excursion is an ordeal, but conquering the Darkest Dungeon brings a thrill that few games can provide. While waiting for a radically different second opus, the title from Red Hook Studios must be in the library of all fans of the roguelike genre.
Dead Cells: Death by decapitation is just one more run
9
See priceDead Cells
- Clever mix between roguelite and metroidvania
- Varied, fluid and nervous gameplay
- Well-balanced difficulty
- Pixel-art sublime
In the fiercely competitive roguelite arena, Spanish indie studio Motion Twin has turned heads by adding to Dead Cells one aspect Metroidvania who hit the bull's eye. Already very solid when it was released, the title has been further improved thanks to the release of ever more ambitious and content-rich expansions.
You died following a condemnation by decapitation. But a strange substance taking possession of your carcass offers you a second life and a chance to escape from your jails. The adventure told through superb pixel-art will not be easy, and your headless body is not likely to be the last to litter this unique universe.
Roguelite and metroidvania are two genres that go together wonderfully, yet we had to wait for the Spanish from Motion Twin to offer us a successful alchemy. In addition to its original concept, Dead Cells stands out thanks to its demanding fights that give pride of place to equipment synergies and skill, all punctuated by epic bosses and high-level artistic direction. A one-of-a-kind title that will make you come back to the chopping block with joy.
Slay the Spire: Reshuffling the cards of the Roguelite genre
9
JVFR
See the priceSlay the Spire
- Perfect marriage between roguelite and deckbuilding
- Different classes with very varied gameplay
- Pleasant brainstorming
- Strong artistic direction
To stay on the mixes that make total sense, Mega Crit Games felt that there was a card to play by combining roguelite and gaming deck building. A definitely winning hand, since Slay the Spire quickly established itself as the best game in a category since often imitated, without ever equaling the original masterpiece.
As the name of the game suggests, your objective is to kill the Spire. Easier said than done, as many dangers await you until the latter. You will have to play all the cards in your sleeve in order to succeed, and each attempt will allow you to reshuffle your deck to finally reach the top.
Taking in its structure a system of branching dungeons similar to that of Hades, Slay the Spire is an invitation to reflection at all times. Optimizing your journey, your characters' deck and the fights will be the key word, in an enjoyable gameplay loop that will reward the finest strategists. If you are a fan of deckbuilding and roguelite, Slay the Spire is hands down the best in its field.
Enter the Gungeon: "Dodge that bullet!" »
9
JVFR
Enter the Gungeon
- Nervous and demanding bullet hell gameplay
- Colossal replayability
- Multitude of ever crazier weapons
- Unique universe that shoots live ammunition
Still on the theme of paying genre mixes, Dodge Roll came up with the idea with Enter the Gungeon to combine roguelite and bullet hell. And we can say that the independent studio has hit the nail on the head with this exceptional title, which despite being released in 2016 remains a cult reference of the genre.
At the time, Enter the Gungeon ignored the canons of roguelite, often mixed with heroic-fantasy, to offer a twist that was as crazy as it was effective. Everything in the Gungeon has something to do with firearms, which no doubt contributed to the explosive success of this title with its unique identity.
In addition to its artistic direction, the game of Dodge Roll can count on a perfectly calibrated gameplay putting your reflexes to the test and concepts of weapons all more barred than each other. Like The Binding of Isaac, Enter the Gungeon is packed with secrets and unlockables that are sure to keep you rolling for hours on end. We hope that the triggers of your controller are well oiled.
Risk of Rain 2: Space Storm Warning
8
JVFR
Risk of Rain 2
- Controlled transition to 3D
- Chaotic but devilishly fun fights
- Multitude of characters with unique gameplay
- Properly galactic soundtrack
Let's take a little air (but still our guns) to tackle another excellent title in the roguelite genre. Originally a 2D game displaying joyful on-screen chaos, Risk of Rain made a masterful transition to 3D with its second opus, without distorting its identity, making it an essential experience today.
As you will have understood, Risk of Rain 2 stands out from the competition by leaving the usual dungeons to which the genre has accustomed us, and also takes advantage of offering third-person shooter gameplay. Another point that makes the game a separate title: no longer a question here of going through different rooms, but rather of visiting different very large biomes and facing torrential waves of opponents.
The game does not usurp its name: as a run progresses, the enemy counter will quickly panic, to the point of damaging your machine, despite a simplistic but effective artistic direction. To overcome these waves of monsters, different objects and characters with unique abilities will provide an addictive gameplay loop, all accompanied by a great alien soundtrack.
Returnal: Selene and the boys (sentients)
8
JVFR
See the priceSee the testReturnal
- Brilliant usage from DualSense
- Nervous and well-paced gameplay
- Perfect progression curve for newcomers
- Weapons with a varied feeling
- A gripping storyline
- Fluid in all circumstances
Let's stay a little longer in space with the only AAA roguelite of this selection. After having distinguished itself in more modest games, the Finnish studio Housemarque has seen the big picture through Sony to offer a far more ambitious title exclusive to the PS5 : return.
Selene is a space explorer who decided to take an interest in a remote and very mysterious planet, emitting a strange signal. Landing in disaster on the surface, our heroine will realize that this planet knows her much better than herself and that this is not her first encounter with the third type. And she'll need whatever alien item she can stumble upon if she wants to get out of this nightmare.
Driven by an ambitious narrative for a roguelite, Returnal shines above all with its third-person shooter gameplay requiring constant attention in combat, and good management of each element that makes up each biome divided into several rooms. Selene's (frequent) death will allow her as much to learn more about herself as it will to gain the skills to leave that sprawling cursed rock. The result is an enjoyable experience that any fan of the genre and owner of a PS5 must acquire.
Gunfire Reborn : Borderlands et Enter the Gungeon Made in China
8
JVFR
Gunfire reborn
- Inventive mix between FPS and roguelite
- Nervous and addictive gameplay
- Many characters with unique synergies
- Art direction largely inspired by Chinese folklore
To close this selection of the best roguelikes and roguelites, our run takes us to China with a game, admittedly still in early access, but which offers an excellent mix with another very popular genre: the FPS. We named Gunfire reborn.
You had to think about it, and it was the Chinese studio Duoyi Interactive Entertainment who managed to pull out of the game by mixing roguelite and FPS. Gunfire Reborn invites us to embody different cute animals with unique character designs and skills and to evolve in different levels clearly inspired by Chinese folklore. In addition to its own artistic touch, Gunfire Reborn offers, despite its early state, gameplay with very well-oiled mechanics that give pride of place to crazy synergies to overcome each run.
Chinese game requires, a certain grind will be necessary to develop its characters and guarantee its chances of success for the next runs. But at a price of only 15 euros, it would be a shame for FPS and roguelite fans to deprive themselves of this little jade gem.
