Crowntakers

Crowntakers is a pretty interesting game that is very mismarketed. Reading the Store page, I got the impression of a merge between RPG and Roguelite, where story and different paths would take a part in the gameplay. The well edited trailer makes an impression that the game is going to be exciting and adventurous. That is not what this game is. In fact, Crowntakers has less of those elements than most well-known games in the roguelite/like genre. It reads to me like marketing speak, where the developers embellish what's in the game to make it sell, and while it's not straight up dishonest it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

And that's a shame, since this game is actually pretty good, for what it is.

Here's how I would describe Crowntakers: It's a genre introduction. Many roguelites out there cater to the hardcore audience, those who've either played them before or are versed enough in games to stand a chance against the often higher-than-average difficulty. In contrast, Crowntakers is a fun, low-to-medium difficulty game with low stakes. It has a lot of bright colours, well executed character concepts and gameplay that is easy to understand but still requires some thought. All of this makes it the perfect beginner roguelite, in my opinion.

Like with many roguelites, what you're searching for is not necessarily the end of the game but instead permanent upgrades. In Crowntakers, they are characters that you unlock, expanding your options and tools to finish runs in different ways. What sets it apart is that these characters are consistent; you will always encounter a character quest each run, and if you complete it you unlock the character. Other games might have made these encounters appear randomly (read: rarely) to extend playtime, and I appreciate the more honest approach here. Do a run, unlock a character. It guarantees some sort of progression (unless you lose before completing the quest) with every run, which again is good for beginners. The frustration of stomping in place doesn't really exist in this game, compared to its peers.

However, there is something that is lacking, and that is variety. This game may have a randomly generated path, but the environments get old pretty fast. Forest, city, mountains. Forest, city, mountains. The same few items, the same few enemies, always in the same levels. Over and over again, for run after run. It's a bit unfair to complain about, as this game isn't exactly high budget and other roguelites have the same consistent layout (like Hades e.g.). But in other games, I don't feel it as badly and player experience matters. There isn't enough other things to distract you from the monotony. I wouldn't say it's a huge issue that ruins the game or anything, but it gets a bit long in the tooth when unlocking all characters.

All in all, Crowntakers is a solid game that neatly fills a gap in the market. Beginner versions of every genre should be encouraged, as it leads to a higher variety of games that open up to new players. Not only that, but Crowntakers is also pretty fun even for someone like me, who've played games for a decade or two. For its price I would definitely say it's worth it.

A great game with mild roguelike elements, turn based tactical combat and a great storyline! Also nice and challenging while starting out fair for beginners ;)

Rating 8/10

Fun game but has a weird bug on controller at the moment with the combat interactions. The mouse is still on screen and will randomly drag your perspective. Could just be a steam deck thing though. I bound the mouse to the trackpad so I could move it when it did occur.

It's Okay. Not great, not bad. Mid. Very mid.