Caveblazers

Game is ok, sad that Daily Runs are DRM locked behind GoG Galaxy client? I used the downloadable installer to play this. I don't want to use Galaxy. For a DRM free game site, this seems a little conflicting.

This is a rather enjoyable rogue-like game that's similar to Enter The Gungeon, Rogue Legacy, Spelunky, Cave Story and Blazing Beaks, so it has a lot to offer to those who enjoy these kinds of games. So far it's been moving at a fairly decent pace, so I can see myself playing this game for at least 50-100 hours. The Co-op feature is a bit of hard to get used to (in regards to the split screen), but it's still a nice feature to have. It's well worth the price, so I'd highly recommend picking it up if you want to spend a little time with an addictive, casual game.

"Normal" runs are downright sadistic with none of the game mechanics supporting the gameplay in a meaningful way. Jumping is too floaty and inaccurate for this kind of platforming and especially for avoiding spike pits. There's no reliable source of anything, be it money drops, item drops, or healing. Expanding on healing, you heal either by consuming food, by paying an increasing amount of money at health shrines, or finding and using life-leeching blessings and weapons. Food is difficult because item drops are random and rare, same goes for blessings and weapons, and lastly, shrines heal a fixed 100 health points - hell, they might even not be there anyway. Procedurally generating levels means shrines can get blocked by terrain which requires explosives to clear away. There's also the "Jumper" enemy type which can blow up terrain and shrines, the latter of which will muck up your run. Certain enemy types continue spawning in after clearing the initially placed enemies. Neutral adventurers also spawn in regularly, and their AI is atrocious. They regularly set off the aforementioned Jumpers and usually take item drops - the latter applies to items you'd want to upgrade at the altars as well, turning AI companions from meat shields into nuisance. Spike bombs stick to them as well, so plan your throw well if there's a wall you want to blow up and there's an NPC zooming around you. The best method of melee combat I've found is running around like a headless chicken swinging away in hopes of 1. you hitting something and 2. enemies missing you. Custom mode can be configured to mitigate some of these issues - turning off spikes and enemy types, for example - but it fails to alleviate the core problems and also turns off progression. I don't mind difficulty but this is bad game design. Play Risk of Rain, Spelunky, or Terraria instead.

This game is very well-paced and has good music. Use controllers if you wish to enjoy the game.

I've enjoyed some hard games. I've played through Cuphead on hard mode, and unlocked the Pacifist achievement. In Hollow Knight, I go to Godhome to fight Nightmare King Grimm on Radiant difficulty as a warm up. In Spelunky, a game I see other reviewers here compare this game to often, I've completed over 100 successful Hell runs. I say these things not to brag, but so you know that the following isn't coming form a place of sour grapes. Caveblazers is needlessly, brutally, and sadistically hard, in an unfun, and unforgiving way. It's not worth trying to play or get good at. which is a bit of a shame because the underlying engine seems to be reasonably good for doing a pixel art dungeon running platformer. Its just that any joy this game has to offer is immediately sapped away by how oppressively difficult and random they've made the game. The only comparison that I can think of is when your older brother ropes you into playing his home brew D&D game and has your first level party fight an Ancient Gold Dragon after going through a dungeon peppered with traps he's taken from Grimtooth's Traps. And if, by some miracle of luck you somehow manage to survive, your reward will be a +1 dagger, and a mystery potion that will reduce a random stat by 1d6 points. Don't waste your time with this game.