Vagante

Vagante sits comfortably in that crowded corner of the roguelike genre where every run feels like a fresh argument with your own competence. Developed by Nuke Nine and released in 2018, it is a 2D action platformer built around permanent death and procedurally generated dungeons. You pick a class, you jump into pixel-art caves full of things that want to kill you, and you try to make it further than you did last time. It is not a narrative RPG in the traditional sense, and if you come in expecting branching dialogue trees or character arcs, you will be disappointed. What it offers instead is a tight gameplay loop that rewards mechanical mastery and smart itemization. The three starting classes, Knight, Mage, and Rogue, each play distinctly enough to feel like different games sharing the same dungeon. Knight leans into tanky melee aggression, Rogue rewards quick movement and backstab positioning, and Mage opens up a chaotic spell-slinging experience where your damage ceiling is high but your margin for error is paper-thin. There is also an unlockable Ranger class that introduces ranged combat with a bow-focused kit. Class choice shapes not just your playstyle but which item synergies become meaningful, and the build variety holds up well past the early hours. Finding a cursed ring that turns out to complement your Mage's specific staff is exactly the kind of moment that makes you lean forward. The co-op mode, supporting up to four players locally or online, is where Vagante gets genuinely chaotic in a good way. Party composition matters, shared resources create interesting tension, and friendly fire is very much a concern you will learn about at the worst possible moment. Solo runs are tighter and arguably more focused, but the co-op experience has a scrappy energy that is hard to find elsewhere. It does suffer from the classic roguelike problem of locking late-game knowledge behind hours of dying, which can feel more punishing than instructive during the first several sessions. On the downside, Vagante is thin on story and worldbuilding. There is a premise involving adventurers chasing a rumor of treasure in dangerous caves, but it functions more as justification than actual narrative. The procedural generation, while solid, can occasionally produce floor layouts that feel random in the bad sense rather than the challenging sense. Some enemy types overstay their welcome, and the XP curve in the mid-game has a slightly padded quality that stalls momentum before the better dungeon tiers open up. For a game that gets so much right mechanically, the lack of lore depth is a missed opportunity. If you are an RPG player who primarily values story, skip this one. But if you appreciate build-crafting, permadeath pressure, and the satisfaction of finally clearing a floor that killed you eight times, Vagante delivers that loop with genuine craft. It is best experienced with a friend who is equally willing to be embarrassed by a slime on floor one.

Monika · Scout Team

RPGs

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