I don't really like roguelites. At least I always thought. The only one I really tried was the Binding of Isaac. I never progressed far, I never really got the hang of it and had a lot of unsuccessful runs. I finally gave up on it. So I went for years without trying new ones. Until Hades. I played it quite a lot and had a lot of successful runs, but never fully beat the game.
I returned to it with the recent launch of Hades II into Early Access and finished (except a few achievements) my save. The gameplay and difficulty is very well-balanced for my skill level and it managed to motivate for several weeks. Overall I put over 100h into it and the pull was so strong, I got Hades II right away. I know not very patient of me. Another 40h later and I finished the content that is available so far. I can see myself diving back in for the 1.0 release or a big update.
Afterwards I looked for other well-received roguelites and picked up Dead Cells and all the DLC in a sale. Similar story here. 80h in, I made it to 2 BC and unlocked a most weapons and quite a big chunk of the outfits. My playstyle is rather slow and deliberate, but I enjoy the challenge a lot. 2 BC is kicking my ass a bit and I'm thinking about moving on again.
I'm currently thinking about what comes next. With the steam sale going on, I am considering Hollow Knight, even though I have very little experience mit Metroidvanias. Also Sekiro is a possibility. I never played a From Software game or our souls-like before. (Mostly) fighting human-sized enemies and a focus on parrying suits my preferences well.
If anyone has recommendations for other roguelites or games to jump to, please leave a comment.
I'm glad I tried a genre I had written off before. It resulted in a lot of fun playing hours. I recommend stepping out of your gaming comfort zone once in a while.
I've been playing a ROM hack of Pokemon Emerald called Pokemon Emerald Rogue, and it's been a blast. Every run is a new opportunity to use Pokemon you'd normally never use, and every fainted Pokemon hurts as once their health is depleted, they're gone for good (mostly). Items and Pokemon are reset every time you lose, but you also get money to buy items to bring into new runs and also the opportunity to catch a new "starter" Pokemon. It entirely changes the way you play the game and there's a ton of choices on how to progress. A new version is currently in the works which'll make it even better. The trainers are also no pushovers and have well-built competitve teams unlike the main series, so it's not a total snoozefest. Highly recommend.