Tangledeep (2018)

Overall, I found both Tangledeep and its expansion to be fun and very charming experiences, albeit challenging. If you haven’t played before, I suggest giving it a try as long as you’re an experienced RPG fan and want a difficult challenge. But if you’re like me and you don’t PC game, the Legend of Shara DLC is supposed to eventually come to Nintendo Switch as well.

For fans of old-school roguelikes, a lot is to be enjoyed in Tangledeep. For those who enjoy tinkering with skills, weapons, passives, and feats, the expansive menus and options also offer a great deal of depth to be explored. However, this depth comes with the price of making the experience somewhat unintuitive, which is exacerbated by the clunky movement system. Players will find a lot to enjoy in Tangledeep if they have the patience to explore its complex systems to discover what lies beneath the surface.

Once you get over the initial hump with Tangledeep, you’re looking at a game that you can play over the long term. If nothing else, it’s lovely to know that there are some developers out there that understand what Rogue when creating their “roguelikes.”

With a new take on turn based combat, Tangledeep makes old feel new again. What I can only describe as Superhot in Final Fantasy, Tangledeep is one to download sooner rather than later. Be warned, the loot and inventory are not as robust or rewarding as Diablo.

Tangledeep is a game that drips not only with 16-bit nostalgia, but also a myriad of complex and interwoven game elements that offer hours and hours of replayability. All that would be moot, of course, if the core combat and exploration mechanics weren't so enjoyable. Thankfully, Impact Gameworks has created just the right balance of story, difficulty, strategy, consequence, and progression to keep players coming back, even after sinking multiple hours into each character. Tangledeep is without a doubt one of, if not THE best roguelikes to currently grace the Nintendo Switch.