A Roguelike, Metroidvania, and Hack and Slash Walk Into a Bar!
It's that time again for a new episode of Chichuki Plays, the show where I go hands-on with upcoming games and show them off. Usually, it's about an hour or so but I don't want to spoil too much of the game for you. This time we're looking at Katanaut on Steam.
Fans of fast paced action games with a side of Roguelike and a hint of Metroidvania will be in their heyday with Katanaut. It combines all these elements into a crazy fast paced adventure. I think I would go with a hack and slash game as well. The space station is falling apart so be on your guard as you fight your way through it. Each run is different, so you never know what you'll run into. The enemies used to be human so again, you never know what or who will jump out at you. You'll have to figure out what works best for you because you will die and when that happens the run resets.
You'll want to take care of enemies quickly because the rooms can fill up with turmoil quickly. If that happens, you might be in for a long time. As I mentioned before, it's a Roguelike and no two runs are the same. You might find a cool weapon in one run that works well for you and then struggle in the next run because you don't have said weapon. There will be different variations of weapons strewn about the stages so again, find the one that works best for you. Your guns will run out of ammo but the more attacks you do with your sword, the quicker you'll reload. There will be plenty of enemies to attack so you shouldn't have trouble having ammo. There are fast travel teleport pots so make good use of them. You'll also find skills strewn about as well as abilities that can be upgraded. Those can range from attacking everything to slowing time to all kinds of things. You'll want to collect currency that you find because when you die, you'll be brought back to the hub section of the game and there you can spend your money on upgrades. Those upgrades should make future runs easier. I always fund that faster weapons are perfect in these games because when there are a lot of enemies on screen, the faster you can get rid of them the better.
The controls in the game feel very smooth and I really like the wall jump ability as well as the attacks being very fast. I also really like the music and graphics. It really feels like the end of the world or in this case the spacestation. The mood is creepy and the tone feels like dread. Great job by the team to make it feel like all hope is lost. From what I played, Katanaut is shaping up to be one of the better Roguelikes/Metroidvania combos of the year.
Make sure you check out the hands-on video below!