I’m still getting used to this work-from-home life after years of being stuffed in an office, so I almost forgot what today was. But I recovered and I’m back with another Two-Game Tuesday. This time around, games that I found on Steam. And this week, Roguelike Papi is all the way back with two excellent games.
blast into historical fiction with ‘hell clock’
Can you make me want to learn about something while playing a video game? If you’re developer Rogue Snail, the answer is a resounding “yes”. Described on the Steam page as a “dark fantasy twist on Brazil’s War of Canudos”, Hell Clock is an ARPG in the style of Diablo/Torchlight combined with a roguelike. What sets this game apart is the timer-based function — which can be turned off via a “relaxed mode” — but for me the game is clearly meant to be played with that on. And it creates a level of speed that makes you want to learn how the game works in order to best maximize the time spent on your runs.
You can combine multiple abilities and relics to form a ridiculous combination of power and speed that feels amazing. English language support is coming, but I’m enjoying the Brazilian Portuguese language voice acting way too much to ever want to change it. And just the time I’ve spent with the demo is incredible. It feels the same way for me that it did when I heard Mac Ayres for the first time. I didn’t need long to know he was going to be one of my favorite artists. Likewise, I didn’t need long to know that this was gonna be a game that I needed to play when the full release comes Q2 2025.
‘Reignbreaker’ is steam-punk, medieval-punk, just punk.
What do you get when you mix a “dystopian medieval-punk” aesthetic with the smoothness of Hades and loudness of [REDACTED]? You get Reignbreaker. The main character, Clef, fights medieval robots with her bare hands and a pretty awesome javelin but come on, her bare freaking hands. How can I do anything but love a character dedicated to delivering fades with the knuckles? The story revolves around Clef and her quest to rid the world of the opression of the Kingdom.
The art style reminds me of [REDACTED] with the comic book style graphics, but everything here feels even bigger and more alive. The soundtrack hits and feels every bit as big as the game itself. The voice acting is great as well. Everything with this game feels like Studio Fizbin knew exactly what they wanted to do and executed it at the highest possible level. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait for the full game as Reignbreaker released on March 18th on Steam. So, I’ll be diving in fully very soon.
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