"Skeleton Rider" first review: Unrestrained skeleton, sweet

I prefer Roguelite to Roguelike, the satisfaction of growing up is fascinating.

"Skeleton Rider" is a typical Roguelite action game, both endless random levels, death punishment, but also a human growth system, a high proportion of the plot. In the early access version of the short adventure, a beautiful picture is amazing, the protagonist's twists and turns of life aroused my huge curiosity, coupled with rich and interesting level battles, and continue to drive me to explore the truth hidden in the parallel world.

"Skeleton Rider" adopts all hand-drawn drawings, and the unique artistic style first caught my eyes. The character drawing is exquisite, the maze background content is rich, hanging murals, old bookshelves, yellow chandeliers, many scenery together, like walking in a slowly unfolding cartoon.

Attack, jump, sprint is the battle core of this game, derived from a wealth of fighting skills. Thanks to the detailed tutorial, players can quickly adapt to the pace of the game after some practice.

Perhaps this can be called "sprint knight", invincible sprint is definitely a magic weapon to overcome the enemy, but also make the game's operating ceiling greatly improved. The hero's action is very agile, and there will be no "floating" situation, the operation feel is very good.

The death penalty in Rider of the Bones is somewhat weaker than in traditional roguelikes. The map of the game is divided into chapters, each chapter has multiple independent mazes, and the challenge is declared a failure if you die halfway. At first, this setting reminded me of Demon Village, but as the game progressed, it was a false alarm.

Frequent deaths are unavoidable in the early stages of the game, not only due to unfamiliarity with the levels, but also due to the stress of fighting multiple mazes in succession. Fortunately, after getting through the previous level, you can directly choose to challenge the next level, which reduces the threshold of "Skeleton Knight" and is more in line with the characteristics of Roguelite.

As a Roguelite game, random levels are essential. The random levels of "Skeleton Rider" are more carefully done, and the five maps open in the current experience version can support more than 10 hours of repeated challenges without feeling too much similarity. This allows players to keep the game fresh after frequent initial deaths.

(BOSS battle full screen barrage)

Randomly generated mazes, with chests full of gold coins and large treasures hidden behind destructible walls, are tantalizing rewards that drive players to find every corner of the maze without the player being able to rely on a backboard to remember their location. The branching routes in all directions also bring a certain degree of difficulty to the players' challenges, and the small monsters are rich in types and many attack modes, and the slightest mistake will be injured.

The BOSS battle design of "Skeleton Rider" is excellent, and the full screen of bullets always makes the player tense, and the battle process is tense and exciting. BOSS attacks have a variety of means, before the challenge must be fully prepared. By viewing the map to plan the route, through the transfer point to save time running map, players can do twice the result with half the effort.

(Using teleportation to quickly move to where you want to go)

In "Skeleton Rider", in addition to the novelty of random levels, the delicate story and rich growth collection elements are also the motivation to attract players to repeatedly challenge levels, and this is one of the elements that Roguelite games should have.

The depth of the combination of story and level deserves praise. The protagonist explores the maze with a strong sense of purpose, and each maze is built to advance the story. The maze is filled with various NPCS who interact with the protagonist, and the story unfolds as the player explores it.

The NPCS in "Skeleton Rider" are not empty dialogue babies, such as the protagonist's master, who is not much in the plot, only through two battles (one of which is to help the player) and a few conversations, coupled with a slightly sad piano music, to create a vivid image of a clear stance and sincere emotions.

The Early access version offers a total of five maps in two chapters, from the quiet forest to the eerie castle, the plot is only the tip of the iceberg.

"Skeleton Rider" has a very episodic way of advancing the story, each chapter reveals some clues to the player, while introducing new mysteries. This layer upon layer of suspense keeps the player moving forward. The compelling story and flesh-and-blood NPCS make it easier for players to believe that the world in the game is real and immersive.

Having said the story, let's talk about the Skeleton Rider as the biggest feature of Roguelite games: growth and collection elements.

The core of the protagonist's growth is runes, runes have a variety of types such as increasing life, increasing the number of blood bottles, and the more runes collected, the more conducive to maze exploration. The player can also activate a rune special effect to gain more powerful abilities.

In addition to the runes, the props scattered in the maze are also extremely important, and can even subvert the way of combat, and the game experience brought by different props is very different. However, it should be noted that these items cannot lead out of the maze, and every time you enter the maze, the refreshed items are full of randomness, ensuring that the player has enough fresh feeling.

I would like to mention the Mirror of Shadow specifically here. The Shadow Mirror can generate a reverse shadow attack in the back while the main character attacks, and the shadow attack can smash most of the bullets. But its use is not only that, in the moment of the attack to turn, you can achieve instant double click, greatly improve the output efficiency, and this operation is not above the skill description. It can be imagined that after the game is launched, there will be players to study a variety of ghost road research skills, resulting in unexpected fun.

Earlier, we introduced the death penalty of Skeleton Rider, and fortunately, even if the player is defeated in the maze, the items obtained can also be converted into rune fragments, which can be redeemed for permanent runes. This is similar to the "Mercy of Eiko Miyazaki" setting, which constantly encourages players to repeatedly challenge.

Through hard collecting or challenging the BOSS to obtain powerful items, with these items to challenge the more difficult maze, thus forming a collection loop, the happiness of happiness arises. Being able to choose the right equipment according to local conditions is naturally the best choice. However, under the influence of random functions, the props generated in the maze are full of uncertainty, and not every exploration can be fulfilled, which is precisely a major charm of "Skeleton Rider", and also the motivation to attract me to challenge the maze repeatedly.

(Randomly refreshed items in the maze have a direct impact on the difficulty of the battle)

In addition, items in the maze need to be actively picked up and can be actively discarded. That is to say, the player can completely go through the maze without picking up items, and experience a more pure Roguelike, and hardcore players can enjoy the fun of extreme challenges.

The scene in the game is divided into two major areas, maze and stronghold, through the maze or defeat to return to the stronghold. Since there is no active return to the stronghold function, the process of collecting props in the later period is a little cumbersome. If you open this chapter after opening the chapter and take the initiative to return to the city, it may be more humane.

Skeleton Rider introduces players to a mysterious and intriguing unknown world through a story that unfolds layer by layer. Roguelite's signature item collection system is beautifully designed, paired with a simple and efficient combat system that produces unexpected chemistry, making every maze exploration fresh and engaging players to challenge again and again. The rune system greatly increases the player's desire to repeatedly challenge the maze, and the process of getting stronger through effort is always fascinating.