LogFAQs > #966031062

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/1/1/AAA-H0AADXzH.jpg

(Pictured here is a level with a slightly less grotesque color palette.)

That's not even my full list of complaints! There's other stuff I could gripe about - I'm not a big fan of the extremely binary way in which you must enter a room without knowing what's ahead and then you must clear it out to move on with no option of running away or skipping problematic encounters, for instance, or the fact that there's a bank where you can deposit money from one run and take it out in a future run, which stresses me out because I don't like having to invest resources from my current run into future runs in a roguelike. But like, okay, that's enough, I'm done. So why the fuck is this game on my list in the first place?

Because in spite of all of its design problems, it's somehow still extremely fun. When it all clicks, it *clicks.*

The gunplay is really fun in this game. It just feels great to fire guns to the rhythm. The sound design in this game is spectacular, and the sound of the guns firing to the beat of the music really provides a kinetic gamefeel that makes killing stuff enjoyable - the clicks of the reloads, which also need to be done to the beat of the music, are also satisfying. Every gun has its own rhythm pattern that you have to get used to and they're all enjoyable to work with.

Once I've found a strong weapon and have some good items and decent stats, and I'm thick into the midgame and just kind of in the zone... there are times where I would rank this game a lot higher than I did, but there are just so many frustrating design choices holding me back. But when I'm really in the thick of it, surrounded by this cheesy but really well produced rock soundtrack, I can fool myself into believing that this is a *great* roguelike, not just a good one. I haven't even unlocked all of the characters or played the higher difficulties, so maybe if I gave this one more time I would really come to enjoy it. It seems like a pretty speedrunnable game, too.

It also has a strong contender for best shopkeeper in a rhythm-roguelike since the merchant from Necrodancer. This game's sort of inexplicably got a Norse mythology theme and it lends Odin's raven pals Huginn and Muninn to the shops in this game - which means the shopkeepers are GIANT DANCING BIRDS. Fuck yes. Walking into Huginn's shop for the first time and hearing this banger of a theme is when I really kinda fell in hate-love with this game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT7k718xGFg

Look at him! He's so happy! Is he a raven or some kind of weird chocobo? I can't tell! Muninn is the same and runs the weapon shop and wears some kind of high tech armor but also dances and he's also hilarious. I cannot stress enough how much a giant dancing bird shopkeeper improves my opinion of this game. I really want to hate this game but Huginn and his theme are holding me back. I cannot hate this game. I am practically compelled to write a positive review. For some reason, giant corvids are a theme on this list - this isn't even the only game on this list where Huginn is a major character for some reason (hint for the future).

This writeup was long! They won't all be of equal length - sometimes I just have a bullet point list of grievances and they all have to come out. So that's BPM. I really would like to see a different game try this premise and maybe do better with it. I'm really not against FPSes at all, and I love a good rhythm-roguelike, and I think it could have been done better justice. But BPM is a really good proof of concept.

Next up: I impulse purchased this puzzle game based solely on seeing its visuals.