Roguelites, roguelikes, and other games that rely on the player dying repeatedly to overcome the main challenges of a given title, seem to be some of the most popular video games available today. Sci-fi thriller and roguelike Returnal recently took home the best game award at the 2022 BAFTAs, an awards ceremony that also saw fellow roguelike Deathloop nominated for multiple awards. Now, well-known indie developer Beamdog is looking to create a fresh roguelite experience with MythForce.
Gamers may be aware of Beamdog for its work on remastering classic games like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights. Fans of the studio are now being introduced to its first new IP, MythForce, a first-person game that looks incredibly stylized in its new gameplay trailer. MythForce is a fantasy roguelite mostly inspired by 80s classic Saturday morning cartoons. However, from its fantasy roots, some may notice clear inspiration from classic fantasy RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons.
MythForce can be played with up to three friends or alone. The player or players try to take on an evil dungeon filled with enemies, traps, and treasures. There will also be powerful weapons, magic, and other bits of loot granted to the player throughout their run. However, as is the case with many roguelite titles, almost everything the player gains will be lost upon their death. The dungeon will also reset every time a player or party dies, similarly to the award-winning roguelike Hades, which sees players take on randomly generated rooms through each part of the land of the dead.
Unlike Hades and many other roguelite or roguelike experiences, though, MythForce allows players to team up to take on the dungeon. There are four classes to choose from, including Rico the charming rogue, Maggie the wise mage, Hawkins the deadly hunter, and Victoria the valiant knight. This gives MythForce a similar atmosphere to Vermintide 2's Chaos Wastes, only with much less of a gritty and grim visual styling.
Though MythForce already has four playable characters, the developer promises more in future updates, as the game will enter early access before it has a full release. According to Beamdog, this will result in large content patches dropping every few months for the game, and as is the case with many early access titles, MythForce players who join up early get the chance to effectively act as beta testers for the game, noticing what does and doesn't work as the roguelite gets tweaked for the upcoming full release.
MythForce launches in Early Access on April 20, exclusively on the Epic Games Store.