Highly refined, stylish and complex, Shogun Showdown is a delight.
Heres the pitch: you are on a quest to kill the Shogun.
At least, I think thats whats going on?
Shogun Showdown is a roguelike in the most traditional sense of the term.
All the genre staples youd expect are here: a node-based map, shops, and bosses.
Unlockable characters, weapons, and skills.
A turn-based twist on the genre, positioning is your most important weapon against the Shoguns hordes.
At the start of a run, you are placed in the centre of a row of tiles.
Every action (except for specific cards) takes up a turn.
Although some weapons are pure damage dealers, most could be better described as movement modifiers.
A dash that flings you across the arena.
A smoke bomb that switches your characters position with that of your closest opponents.
A grappling hook that pulls an enemy into the tip of your blade.
You cant coast by on brute force alone.
In practice, all this creates a huge amount of spectacle despite being locked to a single 2D plane.
Its here, amid this process of fraught decision-making, that Shogun Showdown reveals its breathless, exhilarating core.
Slicing, dicing, bludgeoning and cursing.
This is combat at its most exciting, despite its relative simplicity.
Who needs real-time action when turn-based battles like this can conjure such moments of brilliance?
In her defence, it was 2am.
Such is the time-deleting joy this game provides in abundance.
Ill tell you what, it helps that its a looker.
With most aspects of the game pruned to perfection, the art is no exception.
And when its done?
A good roguelike is never truly done, is it?
I fear my time with the game is far from over (complimentary).
2024 has been such an excellent year for roguelikes that I was convinced I had already had my fill.
More fool me, I suppose.
