Off Topic
Alright, I'll go first. Hopefully I can set the tone of the thread to be more discussion based rather than
yet another dump where people post lists of games nobody really cares about. I suggest you either add a description to each of the games you listed or remove them altogether to have the thread truly revolve around discussion.
Developer: Dodge Roll
Publisher: Revolver Digital
Release date: 2016
Genre: Roguelite bullet-hell dungeon-crawler
Price: $14.99 [Steam]
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Buying Enter the Gungeon has been entirely up to luck, but oh boy am I glad I ended up getting it. I've been eyeing the game for quite a while but it never went on a big sale, so when it did eventually go on a 40%-off deal I asked our Discord bot whether I should buy it, to which it replied with a definitive "Yes". I've been hooked ever since, easily clocking over 50 hours into it and beating the game with half of all characters in the roster.
EtG is a Roguelite dungeon crawler made by Dodge Roll and published by Revolver Digital. Its story tells of the "Gungeon", a giant bullet that fell from the sky and has since been rebuilt into a massive fortress by its unique inhabitants. Many adventurers around the galaxy descended the Gungeon in hopes of finding a gun like no other, the one gun desired by all - the gun that can kill the past. It is now your turn to attempt to do the same, and you do so by taking control of one of 4 characters available to you from the get-go - Convict, Pilot, Marine and Huntress.
I suppose the best comparison to make when talking about EtG is to Binding of Isaac, which is considered by many to be the Roguelite game to rule them all. EtG is like BoI, but with guns instead of tears; it has a random placement of hand-built rooms which in turn generates 5 floors worth of dungeon to explore, each ending in a boss needed to be beaten in order to advance to the next level. Secret floors are a thing, as are secret rooms, discovered by using Blanks - the equivalent of bombs in BoI. Unlike bombs, though, Blanks are extremely rare and 2 of them will always be regenerated on each new floor. As such, using them wisely is crucial to surviving in the depths of the Gungeon, which quickly turns its somewhat-calm environment into an intense twin-stick bullet-hell shooter. Blanks are also used to momentarily push enemies away and remove all projectiles on screen (of which there will be many). Blanks are one means of dealing with bullets, with another being your dodgeroll - a move that can be executed by every character to give them brief invulnerability used to dodge gunfire. This dodgeroll also functions as a "jump" move and can be used to traverse pits, acid, fires and other obstacles in your way. Finally, the last means of dealing with enemy fire is flipping tables - dynamic cover that spawns inside the various rooms and can be applied, moved and broken accordingly.
So, what about guns? Well, let's say there are a LOT of them, and not only in the form of usable items. The game's whole theme is essentially guns; the UI elements are related to guns (your health is represented by shotgun shells, for crying out loud), the characters and most of their items are guns or gun-related, the currency is bullet casings, the enemies are gun components (bullets for the most part), the bosses use guns and are cleverly named (punned?) after various weapons and ammo, the Gungeon itself has many gun-related structures in it (the elevators are bullets!), and much much more I can't even begin to remember. Speaking of items, did you know there were guns? Like, tons of them. Of various shapes and sizes, too; some of them shoot fish from barrels, some shoot paper airplanes, some shoot black holes or ice cubes, some even just shoot plain letters! You name it, we have it. In all seriousness, the gun variety is ridiculously high, and weapons come with different magazine sizes, ammo types, status effects, rates of fire and damage etc. The best part is, you can carry an infinite amount of them, although amassing a decent collection can prove to be quite difficult at times. You can also carry an infinite amount of passive items, among those are that which increase fire rate, or accuracy, or movement speed, or turn all equipment chest hostile and make them attack you if you try to open them. Active items exist too, and they act the same way they are used in Isaac - a single (unless capacity increased with a passive item) spacebar item which has a unique function and recharges while clearing rooms of hostile mobs. Their uses range from temporarily buffing damage/firerate to briefly stopping time, or making all explosives in sight explode at once, or granting you the ability to fly at the cost of your dodgeroll. All of these can be obtained by buying from various shops and merchants that spawn on each floor, item chests that are unlocked with keys (rarely dropped after a room is cleared), or a drop from a final boss battle.
Speaking of merchants and progression, similarly to BoI, the main form of progression in-game focuses on items rather than characters. As you explore the Gungeon you find various caged NPCs. When rescued they return to the Breach, the main character selection hub, from which they can then be talked to and asked to set up shop in the Gungeon for you to buy items at in different character runs. Most items are put into the item spawn pool only if they're bought from the Breach first, though, with currency called Hegemony Credits. This currency is dropped by bosses and is required to unlock most midgame/endgame items. Hegemony Credits buy you both guns and passive/active items, and can be used in 3 different shops that unlock differently themed items. The currency has other uses too, but I won't spoil them here. Once you unlock better items the item pool is expanded with better equipment that lets you deal with threats more easily, and progress even further on your next run.
All in all it's a very fun game and I've enjoyed it thoroughly so far. I think I touched on most aspects of the game in this post, so if you like what you read be sure to give it a try. EtG is the game I've been playing for the past few weeks almost exclusively, and I haven't even got bored of it yet. The sheer variety in the weapon arsenal and the decent skill ceiling are what make this game so satisfying to play in my opinion. I legitimately rarely see the same item or weapon twice, especially since the upgrades and unlocks just keep on coming as I beat more and more bosses to an absolute pulp. Once that stops I'll probably stop playing, but till then I'll keep enjoying myself even when the RNG screws me over. I mean, permadeath, bad pickup spawn timing and the occasional bad loot are a nature of games such as this one, so if you like just that this game might be right up your alley. Feel free to pirate it to see what's playing it feels like, but I wholeheartedly recommend you buy it to support its creators even if it means waiting a few months for a good sale just like I did.
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EDIT: Oh yeah, the discussion part. Well, I've provided some info, so feel free to ask questions or discuss the game's mechanics here. I really like the addition of a reliable means to counter/negate damage and deal damage of your own in a game like this one, AKA the dodgeroll. Not enough games give you this much "freedom", forcing you to solely rely on plinking away at enemies with a bad starter weapon until you find a better one. The dodgeroll damages and pushes enemies around and makes the whole run feel more dynamic and active. Combine this with explosive barrels sprinkled around the level, tables used to create dynamic cover, traps, pits and barrels filled with dangerous substances, and you get a very diverse game, almost tactical even, where you can take enemies down in various fun and interesting ways. Character setups are also unique and suit different playstyles fairly well - whether it's an aggressive "guns blazing" type of character who descends the Gungeon already equipped and ready for battle, or an ill-equipped jack-of-all-trades character ready to exploit the Gungeon for all its loot and thrives on items they find along the way.
Clan Spetsnaz!
