Crimson Keep Bringing Roguelike Action RPG to Nintendo Switch and Personal Computers

The game of Rogue may be one most copied games where the clones actually performed better than the original. Take a look at the Diablo series, they are all “rogue-like” titles. That is not saying it is bad to be a rogue-like title, quite the contrary - I personally love this genre because when done well, it can be quite rewarding with new dungeons to take on every time you play. Crimson Keep is looking to take the rogue-like genre into the first person view with real time action and it is coming to the Nintendo Switch and personal computers.

The story of Crimson Keep goes something like this - thirty years ago, a curse completely destroyed the village of Larkstead. For some reason, your character has been banished to the dungeons that serpentine throughout the subterranean world below the village as you search for the mysterious Crimson Keep.

Yeah, that is the “story” as it is printed in the press release. Not much available but really, it is just a reason to stomp around the procedurally generated dungeons and bash in the heads of creatures.

I have been a fan of first person dungeon crawlers since I first played Alternate Reality The Dungeon on an old Commodore 64. That is why I am writing up this article about Crimson Keep.

While Alternate Reality was not a rogue-like, it was still challenging, just like a good rogue-like. If you have played that classic RPG then you know how important fatigue and hunger are to your success., Crimson Keep will be offering similar challenges to your adventuring. Crimson Keep also promises to keep things in line with what rogue-likes should offer such as permadeath, cursed items, dungeons that are unique each time you play, etc.

Where Crimson Keep promises to improve on the decades old genre is by allowing you to restart areas at the start of that zone rather than putting you back at the beginning with nothing. This is an interesting change to the formula that could be a godsend or a not so welcome addition. The jury is still out.

Crimson Keep will also offer players the choice of three character types (Berserker, Witch, and Drifter) each with their own abilities and challenges. As you play you will be able to level up, collect weapons and armor and improve upon the base characters. Just like any good role-playing game.

The question is, who is going to accept the challenge of Crimson Keep?

Crimson Keep by Merge Games
Platform: Nintendo Switch and Steam for computers
Genre: Rogue-like, Role-Playing Game
Available November 29^th on Nintendo Switch and Steam

Originally posted on Gaming on Batteries.