An interesting bit of news here for rogue-lite fans amongst you. A new title is coming to your favorite genre and it’s got an anime twist. Zengeon has appeared on Steam and will be coming to your PS4, XB1, and Nintendo Switch in the non-too distant future. Being a giant gaming masochist I obviously had to learn more about this, and being the nice guy that I am, thought I’d share.
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Zengeon has been lovingly created by the folk over at IndieLeague Studio and is inspired by the culture and deities of ancient China. This is not only reflected in play but also in the aesthetic. The beautiful anime-style reimagines ancient Chinese culture in a super stylish way. As such, you are being invited to explore mystical levels, strange dimensions, and impressive arenas full of passion and detail.
It will be your task to uncover and collect Memory Fragments. Being a rogue-lite means the levels in which you’ll find these will change each time you play. The positions of these important items won’t be the only thing that will randomize each playthrough. Bosses, enemies, power-ups, and puzzles will all change on subsequent runs. This allows for a lot of unique play both solo and in an online multiplayer with a party of up to four members.
You will be able to choose from six unique characters. Each student of the Celestial College controls their own Guardian Spirit with unique features and abilities at its command. It will be up to you to choose the pair that best compliments your play-style if you are to succeed.
As with all games in this genre, losing your life means losing everything in the process. This is one of the key tenets that makes the roguelike/rogue-lite genre so loved. This is also very much the case in Zengeon. Death means losing everything so it’s not something to be taken lightly. You will, however, be able to keep the Memory Fragments you’ve collected ready for future plays.
I spoke briefly of power-ups before. These give you a range of abilities from summoning minions like lighting elementals, to manipulating the weather with blizzards, to healing. You won’t be able to use the same build every game so you’ll have to learn what works for you as you go.
There are a lot of players out there that can’t get enough of this style of play and I’m very much in that camp. Being forced to think on your feet instead of using the same combination of characters and items every time is fun to say the least. Knowing you won’t be getting any save-points and certainly won’t be getting any more lives forces you to play like your existence depends on victory; largely because it does.
If you’ve never played anything like this before I strongly recommend giving this genre a whirl. Once you’ve had the adrenaline rush that comes with roguelike and rogue-lite games and enjoyed it, it’s very difficult not to want more. Zengeon may well be a very good place to start.
