Tales of Maj'Eyal

I love roguelikes, but a lot of them fall short in one way or another. Either they aren't engaging, the class selection is boring, the maps are boring, or there is a complete lack of lore & story. Tales of Maj'Eyal doesn't suffer from any of these faults. The game has a really engaging world, the class selection is really interesting, and I found the maps to be really enjoyable. I always get mauled before I am able to really pursue the story, but there are definitely lore aspects of the game that are interesting and engaging, even early on in the game. Further, the game engine is open source and you can "Try" the game at http://te4.org/. I would highly recommend buying it, though, because it helps support the game and bring new content (e.g. the new expansion). If roguelikes are your thing, this is a fantastic game that is very engaging and with lots of content.

Tales of Maj'Eyal (ToME4) is a fabulous addition to the rogue genre. Although the larger narrative elements are not random, the individual dungeon levels vary on each play-through. The one man developer enhances the rogue-like experience by dumping unnecessary/un-fun rogue mechanics like potion tasting and hunger. Permadeath is still included, but deaths in Maj'Eyal are usually the result of bad choices by the player rather than simply random occurrence. The character progression system is quite involved and unlocking many of the available races and classes will take hundreds of hours to achieve. The game is available to play from the dev website for free in its entirety (minus the expansion). Paying for it gets you some slight enhancements. I've nearly 150 hours in this and I recommend it heartily.

Cooldowns instead of use items, class-dependant linear skill "trees" instead of magic scrolls, and quests with an overworld instead of a single dungeon. So maybe it isn't a classical roguelike. I can't get myself to care. It took me a long while to get used to TOME's mechanical peculiarities, and I found its setting and quests actively repulsive at first. Initially, all that kept me playing was the skill trees and the customisation potential provided by them, while I kept cursing at practically every other aspect of the game - it's ugly, everything is cliché'd, the everything is too level-dependent... ...it was probably the most wrong I ever was about a game. The setting seems like a hackneyed lot of tropes and half-assed jokes at first, but after a while of reading through the game's lore, uncovering secrets and putting together various pieces that are by no means spoon-fed to the player, it turns out that a lot more thought and effort went into the writing than is apparent. Almost everything in TOME's world is connected somehow, the tropes are subverted, and the world's back-story as well as events occurring during the game all form a coherent whole. The graphics appear ugly when zoomed out, but do a decent job of illustrating the critters populating the world. And there's always the faux-ASCII graphics to fall back onto. And the levelling system that I thought dominated the game's combat? Turns out it's a lot more dynamic and challenging, and not nearly as unfair, as I thought. So, to summarise: Surprisingly good writing, challenging tactical gameplay, and lots of potential for character customisation thanks to the skill system. Also still in active development, despite being complete. Also free, with the exception of some DLC classes. Also, so much content - and a difficulty curve that pulls no punches. Maybe not for elitists who opine that roguelikes should never have evolved further after Nethack, but probably the best roguelike-like out there at present.

This game has been in constant development in one form or another for almost a decade, and even now that it's out of beta, it's still getting new classes, new dungeons, and new quests. There are, as of version 1.2.5, 10 different races and 27 different classes, with each having stat points and skills to distribute as you please, all to build a character to your own specifications. What's more, there are options to customize your character outside of character creation as well. Choose to embrace the teachings of the Zigur and banish the evil forces of magic from your life forever, gaining powerful nature abilities in the process. As a necromancer, undertake the quest to achieve the dream of lichdom. Invest in unconventional builds, like a staff-wielding berserker. Play a skeleton who embraces and lives by the power of the light. And all to face a most likely glorious death in the dangerous bowels of Maj'Eyal! I've honestly been playing this game for about 4 years now, and it's still not old to me. Oh, and the next update promises yet another new race.