A new update for an existing Steam demo caught my eye this morning, and it created a memorable experience for me in just a little over an hour of playtime. It's now a game I'm greatly looking forward to.
Like 1996's PS1 classic Resident Evil, Rogue Mansion starts with an opulent house filled with monsters and puzzles. But the mansion in this roguelike (playable in first or third-person) is procedurally generated, so randomness refreshes each time you play, and it sports a retro aesthetic, so it feels familiar but wholly new at the same time.
Each run is all about exploring the mansion, defeating the randomly-spawned enemies that harass you, and solving puzzles to progress to the next area to get as far as you can. For example, I explored one wing of the mansion (entirely reminiscent of RE1's Spencer Estate) to find a bookshelf with an empty slot.
So, I made my way to the other wing and eventually, after solving a puzzle and killing some enemies with melee combat and well-timed dodges, found a golden book that I had to slot into it. And then I moved on to the next area before eventually dying to monsters that get more difficult and prevalent the further you progress.
Rogue Mansion has three playable characters with their own unique ability, like the cop Valentina who can charge up a meter to whip out her service pistol and start gunning down the monsters that appear. Otherwise, you start equipped with just a knife and a flash grenade, and it's up to you to survive the horror. Survival horror, get it?
There's an overarching storyline, too, filled with mystery and intrigue. It surrounds the mansion and its former inhabitants, a couple who were "pillars of the community" and were struck by tragedy. That's where you come in, and the mansion is full of secrets to explore and terrors to confront.
Today, Rogue Mansion's developer Alemenara Games announced the first of several closed beta tests that you can sign up for now. Otherwise, the demo is free to try on Steam, and I think this has some potential for good, classic roguelike fun when it launches.
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