All of that is easily overlooked, however, considering the state of the game. I also stumbled across at least one game-breaking glitch and some missing text dialogue. The game controls beautifully, has a very Halloween-esque soundtrack, and has several elements of games that I love packed into one. It feels far from its final form, and I’m eager to see how much feedback the developer takes from their early adopters. It’s imperative to repeat that this is very much an Early Access game. I found myself wishing that gems dropped more frequently or that upgrades weren’t quite so expensive. If you want me to keep playing a game, that carrot on a stick needs to dangle a little closer to my face for me to actually chase it. My hope is that the final product stretches this out a bit.įurthermore, the amount of gems it takes to increase even one of your basic stats seems like an absurd amount. The progression feels a bit stunted than what I’m used to. Part of the appeal of roguelikes for me is feeling accomplished at the end of a failed run. Perhaps I was having flashbacks to those awful enemies in the original Legend of Zelda, but it became increasingly difficult a tad too early. Ghosts that were once easily manageable now had the ability to block my attacks and had to be approached from behind. Once that second floor opened, however, it was clear that the honeymoon was over. The first floor was a piece of cake and feels more like a tutorial stage each time I play it. The biggest issue I had with Don’t Die Minerva is its ramp in difficulty very early on. As expected, stronger weapons become more available the higher up the hotel you traverse. Secondary weapons come in the form of various stuffed animals that offer area-of-effect damage, depending on your animal of choice. In true Alan Wake form, you’ll disintegrate specters by shining your torch at them. However, instead of starting with a ranged weapon, you’re only given a flashlight with which to fight the many ghosts you’ll encounter.

Casper, Don’t Hurt UsĪs mentioned above, this game plays very much like a twin-stick shooter. After all, upgrading after dying on a run tends to take away the sting of failure a little bit. It’s a welcome twist that I found more interesting than particularly fun. I had to choose the best time to cash in to make my future runs easier. No longer was I safe in hoarding my gems until after failing a run. This adds an interesting strategic dynamic to the formula that I wasn’t expecting. While most have you persist as long as you can and reward you after you die, Don’t Die Minerva forces you to spend your currency halfway through each floor. This isn’t uncommon in roguelikes, except this one takes it in a slightly different direction. One weapon might increase its range, while another might freeze or burn enemies to make your life easier.Įach run through the hotel yields gems for upgrading new permanent abilities. Where Isaac focused on the many permutations of special weapons, Minerva instead chooses a more stat-based approach. Yes, you’ll have procedurally-generated maps and weapon upgrades, but there’s still a crazy amount of depth. That sums up the basics of Don’t Die, Minerva, but the roguelike aspect is slightly different. Imagine if The Binding of Isaac had a steeper isometric viewpoint with a spectral theme instead of one based on feces. Yes, the story is a tad light, but the gameplay is deceptively complex. For reasons unknown to me, Minerva enters the first floor and begins her journey towards the top. Upon entering, she meets a creepy butler who informs her that her only goal is to keep from perishing.

Minerva is a young girl who stumbles across a haunted hotel and decides to explore it. It still needs some polish, but I like what I’ve played thus far. Although the game is still in Early Access, I’m hopeful for the final product. It combines two of my favorite loves: random loot and twin-stick shooters.

It should come as no surprise that I was intrigued by the trailer for Xaviant‘s upcoming title, Don’t Die, Minerva. It’s become apparent that I’m the resident “roguelike guy” of our writing team, and I’m quite OK with that.

Die young game early access