Eldritch, a Doomish Lovecraftian Roguelike

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Hipolito
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Eldritch, a Doomish Lovecraftian Roguelike

Post by Hipolito »

I recently played this indie game that made waves when it came out in 2013.

Doomish

The simple graphics remind me of Doom, but this isn't a run-and-gun shooter. You'll only have a light arsenal of weapons and ammo, so you'll be sneaking and fleeing a lot. The game also looks like Minecraft because the levels are made of cubes. In fact, with certain equipment, you can build and destroy terrain, which can be very helpful in getting around.

An interesting twist is that you can loot enemy corpses, but if you do, they will respawn somewhere in the level. So if you bring down a powerful enemy, you'll think twice before looting its corpse.

Lovecraftian

The object of the game is to find the three orbs, each within its own "book," that will help you seal in the monsters and prevent them from getting out. These monsters include cultists and mi-gos, which will be familiar to H.P. Lovecraft readers. Creatures inspired by other fiction such as Dr. Who and Slender Man are also in this game. The monsters range from relatively weak to very powerful and intimidating. They can exhibit some very odd behavior and sound effects, adding to the creepy atmosphere.

The writing is minimal and perfunctory, though. You won't be reading passages reminiscent of Lovecraft or any other established author.

Roguelike

If your gaming skills are as poor as mine, death can happen quickly and often in Eldritch's procedurally generated levels. When you die, you lose all your progress except any money you've banked and the books you've unlocked. If you had found any orbs before dying, you'll have to get them again.

This game has been called easy, but it wasn't for me. I nearly gave up on the game until I realized I could win the way I've won other roguelikes such as Moria: by save scumming! No more losing all my progress every time I die. And so I cheated my way to victory, having a good time all the way.

I also tried the expansion Mountains of Madness, which has a pretty cool premise; you have to descend through a bunch of monster levels in Antarctica to find the keys to your airplane, then come back up with them. But I found it too difficult and annoying even with save scumming, so I watched a 10-minute speedrun on YouTube.

Overall, I enjoyed Eldritch. It's a short, spooky romp with cool powers and mechanics you don't see in many games, though I would preferred more story and less roguelikeness.
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hitbyambulance
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Re: Eldritch, a Doomish Lovecraftian Roguelike

Post by hitbyambulance »

i was into this game until i encountered a monster that i could not find any way to kill
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