Overhead/isometric rogue like game from Supergiant Games (Bastion, Transistor, Pyre)

This is really good. I'm enjoying this more than I did Dead Cells when I first started to play it. The artstyle is beautiful and it actually has a good storyline. I'm about 20 runs in and I haven't seen any repeated dialogue yet.

even though the weapons are different and have their own movesets i find myself almost always double-dashing and hammering the attack button with the occasional special and cast, irrespective of the enemy type, set of boons, or weapon. there isn't much to the actual gameplay beyond this imo

it also has that weird roguelite inverted difficulty curve where the game gets easier as you unlock more stuff. your ability to complete the game is based less based on your skill at the game and more about how much time you put into it and unlock more abilities that make the game easier to complete, e.g. instant respawns (what's the point of permadeath with this ability?), sustain, stronger weapons, better boons, etc. i had the same problem with rogue legacy. dead cells does this too but the boss cell difficulty levels offsets it a little. my understanding is that hades has a similar adjustable higher difficulty so maybe that's where the real game begins

i do enjoy trying to generate game-breaking boon and weapon combinations. hades does this really well with the how various abilities can be combined via boons, weapon perks, and upgrades. the layering of mechanics and introduction of new enemies as you unlock abilities and weapons is cool as it keeps each run fresh or at least less predictable. the presentation is extremely tight and cohesive across all elements and presents a unified vision of the game. the music, art style, voice acting, and writing all line up to deliver a singular and memorable experience

>my understanding is that hades has a similar
>adjustable higher difficulty so maybe that's where the real
>game begins

Yeah, you unlock these various "heat" levels that make the game a lot more challenging depending on which ones you apply. They also add more mechanics (and dialogue) to boss fights. Very similar to boss cells, although I think Dead Cells is still a more difficult game overall.

has suddenly turned into games of the week

when will it be games of the day?

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

on my 40th or 41st try.

Love the concept of being more powerful after you die and the storyline.