Last week, I pulled out 23 good $2 games in the Steam Summer Sale, which was honestly just an excuse for me to once again recommend Downwell, a 2015 roguelike classic about navigating a bottomless pit using gun boots. It's a wonderful game, and a wonderful idea for a game, so I've always wondered why more roguelikes haven't tried something similar.
Well, reader, I'm pleased to report that we finally have another roguelike about navigating a bottomless pit. It's called Devil's Dive, it's only $4 on Steam and itch.io, and it's got nothing but positive reviews.
It's possible I have a blind spot for what I'm now calling bottomless roguelikes, but I've waited almost eight years for a game like this. The inspiration couldn't be more obvious. The Steam page for Devil's Dive straight-up says: "The game takes the Downwell core and introduces twin-stick action for unique combat encounters, gliding mechanics for a pinch of precision and strategy, and some good ol' fashioned bullet hell boss encounters."
Good! It's about time! Devil's Dive puts some other cool twists on the formula, too, and I love the wrapper on the whole experience. In it, you're breaking back into Hell to reclaim your title as Lord of the Underworld, sort of like the opposite of Hades by way of Enter the Gungeon. It's a fun and logical setup for this kind of game, and I always appreciate that sort of narrative backing, especially in simple-looking games.
There seems to also be more advanced platforming to Devil's Dive, particularly the horizontal kind. Several screens remind me of the Quick Man stage from Mega Man 2: a lot of frantic falling, briefly perching to deal with enemies, and then back to falling. There's a floatiness to your little imp's jump that suits bullet hell combat in this extremely vertical level design, and I'm really digging the look of those bosses. Speaking of which, the whole game looks great thanks to some lovely pixel art with a focus on negative space and sharp colors.
You'd be hard-pressed to find something higher on the list of Things That Are My Jam, so it's encouraging to see that all of Devil's Dive's few early reviews are positive. Shoutout to Steam user Li0nSword for putting my hopes into words: "Super fun and addictive, instantly had to go run after run when I launched the game."
Also check out this gorgeous JRPG that looks like an indie successor to Octopath Traveler.
