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The history and evolution of the term "roguelike"

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  1. cfabbro
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    They covered most of the major ones I could think of too, but two that are missing from their list that I have really enjoyed, and that both lean more towards traditional roguelikes than even a...

    They covered most of the major ones I could think of too, but two that are missing from their list that I have really enjoyed, and that both lean more towards traditional roguelikes than even a few others they included on it, are Dungeons of Dredmor and Tales of Maj'Eyal. And despite being a rhythm game at its core, Crypt of the NecroDancer is also close enough that it probably also deserves at least an honorable mention too.

    However, I'm personally not entirely sold on the idea we actually do need a brand new term to apply to more traditional roguelikes, despite loving them myself. They are such a niche genre, and word often still manages to get around whenever a new one actually does get released, that it would be kinda pointless. I suppose there really is no harm creating a new term though, especially since trying to gatekeep the term "roguelike" is not only a lost cause, but also pretty obnoxious, IMO. But I don't entirely buy their reasoning that "traditional roguelike" is inadequate to the task by being too suggestive that there is no innovation amongst them or room for deviation from the formula though... and it should also be noted that it's already been pretty widely adopted, so adding a new term to the mix that essentially means the same thing would likely just confuse things even more.

    Edit: Oh, and another somewhat traditional roguelike also worth mentioning, that I have been playing a shit ton of lately, is Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead. It's set in a scifi/zombie post-apoc future, includes survival horror game elements (i.e. open-world + crafting), and I highly recommend it... even though the learning curve kinda puts Dwarf Fortress to shame.

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