So I realised there are three different kinds of roguelites:
1. Games like Balatro or Slay the Spire that start easy and unlock the next difficulty tier every time you beat a run (on the hardest difficulty you've unlocked).
2. Games like Rogue Legacy that start hard and let you upgrade your character to make the game easier.
3. Games like Don't Starve that have a static difficulty and only let you unlock different characters/builds that provide different game mechanics.
I also realised I don't really like the first and the second category. The first category feels like a linear game, like for example Half-Life, but when you beat a section of the game instead of getting a new section, the game just puts you back to the beginning, takes away all of your weapons, tells you the enemies now do 50% more damage and shuffles the layout of the level around a bit.
The second category feels like an open-world game, like Elden Ring for example, where most of the world is too high level to go to when you just start. So you have to clear the low-level areas first, then return to the nearest safe place to sell your loot, upgrade or buy better equipment and level up your character. However, there is only one safe place in the entire world and while you can return there whenever you want, there is no fast travel back to where you came from. You will have to walk back to where you came from after every single time you upgrade your character.
The third category is similar to the second, but you aren't forced to return to the safe place because you wandered into an area you're too low level for. You can just get stronger by staying out in the world. You only get sent back if you make a fatal mistake, at which point the game tells you that it has a new way to experience the game if you're interested.
Now the first and second category often let you unlock different characters/classes/builds as well, but in my experience these are less diverse than those from the third category.
EDIT: I realised this turned out to be more of a rant, but what are your thoughts about the different kinds of roguelite progressions? How they are better or worse than other types of games? Or share anything about your preferences about progression in games in general.
1. Games like Balatro or Slay the Spire that start easy and unlock the next difficulty tier every time you beat a run (on the hardest difficulty you've unlocked).
2. Games like Rogue Legacy that start hard and let you upgrade your character to make the game easier.
3. Games like Don't Starve that have a static difficulty and only let you unlock different characters/builds that provide different game mechanics.
I also realised I don't really like the first and the second category. The first category feels like a linear game, like for example Half-Life, but when you beat a section of the game instead of getting a new section, the game just puts you back to the beginning, takes away all of your weapons, tells you the enemies now do 50% more damage and shuffles the layout of the level around a bit.
The second category feels like an open-world game, like Elden Ring for example, where most of the world is too high level to go to when you just start. So you have to clear the low-level areas first, then return to the nearest safe place to sell your loot, upgrade or buy better equipment and level up your character. However, there is only one safe place in the entire world and while you can return there whenever you want, there is no fast travel back to where you came from. You will have to walk back to where you came from after every single time you upgrade your character.
The third category is similar to the second, but you aren't forced to return to the safe place because you wandered into an area you're too low level for. You can just get stronger by staying out in the world. You only get sent back if you make a fatal mistake, at which point the game tells you that it has a new way to experience the game if you're interested.
Now the first and second category often let you unlock different characters/classes/builds as well, but in my experience these are less diverse than those from the third category.
EDIT: I realised this turned out to be more of a rant, but what are your thoughts about the different kinds of roguelite progressions? How they are better or worse than other types of games? Or share anything about your preferences about progression in games in general.
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