A few months after its Future Games Show appearance, co-op roguelike Ember Knights has left early access and officially launched on Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam) with some 2,500 positive reviews to its name already.
Ember Knights is an isometric-ish action game built with one to four players in mind, with each party member taking control of one of the eponymous knights. You can clear everything solo, but playing with friends lets you combine attacks, elements, and apparently "game-changing" relics in more dynamic ways.
After a year and change in Steam Early Access, Ember Knights has built up an impressive collection of items, bosses, levels, and power-ups, with the launch update adding a pinnacle challenge and a scythe weapon. There's more than a bit of Hades blood in its upgrade systems, which is far from a bad thing, especially in a co-op setting. I'm super excited to see another co-op action roguelike on the market, especially on PC and Switch, because it's one of the few genres that actually works for my group of gaming friends.
I'm one of the many adults with friends who struggle to stick to any kind of schedule for gaming night, and over the years I've found that most of the games we can actually sit down and play are roguelikes. Risk of Rain 2 is a recurring favorite, for example, and Wizard of Legend is a more recent winner. Ember Knights is in a similar vein of easy-to-pick-up fun, which is perfect for spontaneous co-op sessions. Plus I can still grind it on my own when I inevitably get sucked into a roguelike progression loop for the millionth time.
After 15 years of work, old-school roguelike Caves of Qud is finally launching next year.
