The Lightless World Wants To Redefine The Action Roguelike Genre

As a seasoned gamer with over two decades of experience under my belt, I have to say that The Lightless World has certainly piqued my interest. The focus on dynamic progression, skill customization, and cooperative gameplay is something I’ve been craving for quite some time now. It seems like the team at The3rd.One Games has taken the best aspects of games like Vampire Survivors and Soulstone Survivors and given them a fresh twist with the procedurally generated talent system.

In a twist on traditional expectations for roguelike and survival games, The3rd.One Games’ forthcoming title, The Lightless World, aspires to reshape the norms of these genres.

Emphasizing fluid advancement, personalized abilities, and team play, it introduces an innovative spin on the swift, wave-centric fighting style reminiscent of games such as Vampire Survivors and Soulstone Survivors.

This endeavor originates as a heartfelt venture from the team at The3rd.One Games, led by their founder and CEO, Yannis Ziakas. Notably, Yannis Ziakas holds the dual roles of CEO and founder at TopMob as well.

Ziakas shared that the goal was to develop an experience which not only appeared more appealing but also performed superiorly. Tired of screen-sharing within Discord, they aimed for a joint playing experience instead.

Instead of relying on established game mechanics, The Lightless World innovates within the genre by incorporating a dynamically generated talent system. Each playthrough presents players with a fresh skill tree and concealed nodes shrouded in mystery, containing uncommon abilities and stat enhancements just waiting to be unearthed. This feature guarantees that every gaming session offers novel challenges and character setups, fostering curiosity and giving each gameplay experience its own unique flavor.

The Lightless World Wants To Redefine The Action Roguelike Genre

Ziakas explained that it’s like playing a small game focused on discovering hidden aspects within your skill tree, linking up nodes, and the probability of new nodes appearing as rare or exceptional ones. In other words, he was describing various intricacies involved in this process.

Upon its full release, the game promises to offer 12 unique archdemon characters for players to control. The design aims to ensure that each gaming session offers a distinct experience.

Ziakas mentioned that you can choose to role-play as the character Ker’beroth, and regardless of the 300 hours you spend playing, no two experiences will be the same.

In contrast to many other roguelike games that mainly offer a solitary gaming experience, The Lightless World offers a multiplayer mode as well. This allows two players to collaborate and embark on synchronized, action-packed runs together.

Ziakas posits that the difficulty of creating a multiplayer game similar to this one is why no one has done it before – he calls it “challenging”. Developing such a game required extensive research and innovation to ensure aspects like collisions, spell synchronization for combat, and more were executed flawlessly. The game’s spell synchronization and combat elements contribute to an engaging and dynamic experience that grows with teamwork, improving both the strategic depth and enjoyment.

The game presents a unique twist on the conventional hero storyline, allowing players to assume roles as powerful archdemons who are tasked with safeguarding their domains from attacking forces of goodness.

“It’s reverse horror,” Ziakas said.

The Lightless World Wants To Redefine The Action Roguelike Genre

In this game, players take on the role of beings once thought immortal, now controlling archdemons. Their objective is to retrieve souls in order to reclaim their lost eternal life, all while battling hordes of knights, archangels, and combatants. This innovative twist adds depth to the genre, as the continual onslaught of adversaries is given context through an engaging backstory that promises exciting developments and expansions in the future.

In terms of its graphics, The Lightless World, fueled by Unreal Engine 5, aspires to push the boundaries of the genre with semi-photorealistic landscapes that draw inspiration from Doom and Diablo. Although it boasts high-end visuals, this game is designed to perform smoothly across a range of platforms, including the Steam Deck.

Ziakas mentioned that some people are successfully using their Steam Decks, even without making any optimizations, and he subtly suggested there could be possibilities for mobile and console port adaptations in the future.

The Lightless World Wants To Redefine The Action Roguelike Genre

The game offers straightforward yet powerful control mechanisms, such as using WASD keys for movement, space bar for dodging, and R key for special abilities – making it approachable for many players. Additionally, an auto-targeting feature will soon be available, catering to both casual gamers and those seeking a more accessible experience.

Originally planned to drop following Steam Next Fest with a demo already on hand, The3rd.One Games aims for an Early Access launch in either February or March 2025. According to Ziakas, this timeframe offers the game a stronger opportunity to shine within a competitive genre. Regardless of when the final release takes place, he’s confident that the game will deliver an enjoyable and consistent play experience.

As a seasoned gamer, I’d say it’s jam-packed with layers upon layers of challenges, intricacy, and complexity, yet manages to keep its unique roguelike essence intact.

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