One of my favourite games on Steam

[radicalnetwork]

I played more than 80 hours with it and i recommend it to anyone who isn't afraid of dying many times, often in unfair ways.
I know most people hate this game and i can even understand them, when you start playing with it it can be really frustrating, but when i gave it a second chance i started to truly enjoy its minimal but smart design and its cryptic spirit.
Many people say it's completely luck based and that potions and scrolls (and altars, and glyphs etc.) do random things, and this is usually the main criticism i read towards the game, but that's not really true.
While it's sure that the game has a degree of luck involved, its always less and less important as you learn how to play and what to expect from the items that you find in the dungeons.
Another common complaint is that the starting characters aren't good enough to finish quests, this is almost true but the next update will fix this since those characters (well, at least 2 of them) are receiving better weapons to start with.
The next version will also improve the UI and fix some other minor things, now the developer is focusing on new content to add in other future updates.

Overall, i think that you can either hate or love this game but if you're one of those who love it, you'll find it worth more than its 5 € price.

For this reason, i suggest everyone to try the game, strangely the demo ain't on Steam but you can find it here: http://www.hackslashloot.com/purchase.html

If you need help with the game just open a thread here or in the official forum at http://chat.hackslashloot.com/generalchat-6585-chat/


PS: According to David Williamson (the game's author) the next version is ready to be uploaded on Steam and he's waiting for Valve to do their part. I'm playing with the updated version since some weeks ago and i can confirm that it definitely improves the game.

[colorado]

I've tried it, but it really hasn't grabbed me. It just seems like the single most generic rogue-like ever. It doesn't seem to do anything original or add anything to the genre at all. If you are really hard up for a new rogue like to play you might enjoy it, but I don't see why anyone should play this when Doom Rogue-like, Dwarf Fortress, Dungeons of Dredmor, Binding of Isaac, (and many more) are out there.

Plus, the graphics are TERRIBLE. And by Terrible I don't mean low-tech. I don't mind low tech graphics. But rather, I mean that the graphics are so bad as to actually hinder your ability to play the game. They are a tiny, blurry, mess and it's incredibly hard to read text or tell what anything is in the game world. I would have much preferred simple ASCII graphics as at least that way they would be functional. I don't understand why this game looks so awful, yet "Realm of the Mad God" looks perfectly fine--even though they use many of the same sprites.

[radicalnetwork]

Originally Posted by colorado

I've tried it, but it really hasn't grabbed me. It just seems like the single most generic rogue-like ever. It doesn't seem to do anything original or add anything to the genre at all. If you are really hard up for a new rogue like to play you might enjoy it, but I don't see why anyone should play this when Doom Rogue-like, Dwarf Fortress, Dungeons of Dredmor, Binding of Isaac, (and many more) are out there.

Plus, the graphics are TERRIBLE. And by Terrible I don't mean low-tech. I don't mind low tech graphics. But rather, I mean that the graphics are so bad as to actually hinder your ability to play the game. They are a tiny, blurry, mess and it's incredibly hard to read text or tell what anything is in the game world. I would have much preferred simple ASCII graphics as at least that way they would be functional. I don't understand why this game looks so awful, yet "Realm of the Mad God" looks perfectly fine--even though they use many of the same sprites.

Well one of the things i like about HSL when compared to other roguelikes is its speed, i find most of those games too slow and complex while HSL is almost an arcade game when compared to them.
Plus you don't have too much items and things, all you have to take is quick decisions so i don't have to waste too much time deciding what my character should wear or take etc.
And i like the graphics too, i could never stand the ASCII graphics of traditional roguelikes but i think that HSL graphics are perfectly functional and cute, and i don't know about your monitor but i never had problems reading the screen while playing on my laptop.
About the games you said: I don't know DOOM RL but i'll try it, Dungeons of Dredmor is kinda cool but there is an overload of items and stuff to do that makes the game too slow for me, Team Fortress is death-boring and too ugly to look at (but i know you can change its look), Binding of Isaac is cool but the controls are clunky, i still like it anyway.