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Heroes of Hammerwatch is the most absorbing indie game since Heat Signature. by Mischief Maker 12/19/2020, 1:08pm PST
I really shouldn't like it, as I have a blanket hatred for unlock cancer, but somehow HoH makes it work.

Heroes of Hammerwatch is an overhead mouse-WASD roguelite very reminiscent of the original Gauntlet with a heavy emphasis on between-playthrough upgrades to your village. For my tastes, it hits the sweet spot between arcade action and RPG that games like Diablo or Cadash missed.

The thing that finally made the game "click" for me is realizing you aren't playing and leveling up a single hero, you're roleplaying as an entire hero's guild. Stick with a single character and you'll soon bang your head against power ceilings because the town doesn't upgrade as fast as your single dude. But each class of character grants a permanent partywide bonus the first time they kill each boss (paladin gives an armor bonus, sorcerer gives a mana regen bonus, thief gives a gold multiplier, etc) and the more you focus on beating the bosses with all 7 characters (9 with DLCs) the smoother the power curve unlocks. Plus your guild has an experience bar seperate from heroes that's upgraded by achievements instead of XP, and leveling up the guild with easier characters like the ranger make for a smoother start for the more difficult classes like the priest. It honestly feels less like grinding unlock cancer in Everspace and more like regular leveling grind.

Gameplay-wise it plays like a twin-stick shooter that steadily grows in speed and complexity as your guild and heroes level up. Enemies start out slow and dumb and attacking in mass crowds, and by later levels things get downright bullet-hellish. Likewise your heroes start out fairly slow with a basic shot and a desperation move, but by late game they're juggling three active skills and zipping all over the battlefield while enjoying movement bonuses from kill-streak combos. It's really satisfying how the game opens up for you the more you unlock.

For downsides, the two things that kept me from getting into this game for years are the first area having the ugliest graphics and lamest music. Fortunately after the first boss dies you can use a shortcut to get to the later more interesting levels. The game indicates the paladin is the easiest starting character and that is NOT the case (except for arrow traps), the easiest starting character is the ranger, with more melee-focused characters being way trickier. The pixel art-quality for this game is middling to below-average. And if you want a game that is fully playable from beginning to end on the first try with all its mechanics available from the start, this ain't it.

Hits a sweet spot for me that no other action/RPG hybrid has done before, and it's a podcast/news game par excellence. Most absorbing indie since Heat Signature.
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Heroes of Hammerwatch is the most absorbing indie game since Heat Signature. by Mischief Maker 12/19/2020, 1:08pm PST NEW
 
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