Do you love roguelikes as much as I do? September was an excellent month for them — a large number of strong releases hit the genre. I already covered Hades II and Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree in detail, but there were many more worth talking about.
By the way, if you enjoy exploring new entertainment beyond gaming, you can also try your luck at Slotozen — they currently offer exclusive bonuses with the Slotozen no deposit bonus codes for new users. A nice little extra if you like mixing gaming with something different.
That is why this issue of Good Games is themed — it will focus mainly on roguelikes. Still, that is not all. For the sake of variety, there will also be a well-known Chinese action RPG from Sony, a new title from the creators of Danganronpa, and several other interesting releases.
Adventure of Samsara
Why it is interesting – a spiritual successor to a classic from 1979
The two-dimensional Adventure for the Atari 2600 was released back in 1979. The creators of Adventure of Samsara emphasise that it is not a remake or a sequel but a completely new Metroidvania inspired by the original. It offers familiar genre mechanics and preserves the spirit of the classic, yet introduces a new storyline that explores themes of death, rebirth and memory.
We play as the Sun Champion, a warrior who died long ago but was resurrected by the light of a star. Our mission is to awaken a mysterious interdimensional fortress and restore balance to the multiverse.
The pixel art is surprisingly stylish and pleasant to look at.
As expected from the genre, we run left and right, jump, explore labyrinth-like locations, fight enemies and bosses, search for secrets and upgrades, and unlock new abilities. The game encourages free exploration from the very beginning. In less than 15 minutes, I accidentally wandered off the main path and found a couple of upgrades — but I could have gone straight to the first boss instead.
In some ways, the game is not very user-friendly — the combat system and controls could use refinement — yet it still manages to feel ambitious, atmospheric and full of detail. Fans of the genre might want to keep an eye on Adventure of Samsara while waiting for Silksong.
Lost Soul Aside
Why it is interesting – an imperfect but beautiful and addictive action RPG from Sony
Lost Soul Aside was released at the very end of August, so technically you could have played it in September — but many people missed it. Despite a lot of hype before launch, the game was quickly forgotten after release.
Gameplay-wise, it clearly follows the style of Devil May Cry. The protagonist is a dashing anime-style hero with a fashionable haircut and a massive sword. The story is packed with familiar clichés: a tyrannical empire, a noble hero surrounded by attractive women, a mission to rescue his younger sister, and invaders from another dimension who steal human souls. It is not groundbreaking, but it fits the genre well.
And yes — the girls in this world are stunning. One character in particular (the one with the long legs) even serves as both a free save point and a shop.
Our hero is also accompanied by a familiar — a small talking dragon that grants magical abilities, unlocks new powers, and occasionally tries to be funny. Its role in combat is important, even if its jokes are not.
The game runs fairly smoothly, and I did not encounter any major technical problems. However, the jumping animations and platforming elements are far from perfect, sometimes even clumsy. Still, Lost Soul Aside has a way of pulling you in. It offers beautiful visuals, appealing character designs (some of the girls are genuinely adorable), and a scenic world that is enjoyable to explore.
There is no full open world, but the game features diverse, sometimes surprisingly large locations full of chests, resources and crafting materials. Progression encourages exploration — you frequently stumble across puzzles and trials similar to those in Genshin Impact, which reward skill points you can spend at any time.
There are also urban sections where you sprint through city streets, giving the world a good sense of variety.
Combat is fast-paced and satisfying. You can equip different swords, each with its own attack style, abilities and combos. You can juggle enemies in the air, unleash special skills, and even transform when your energy bar is full. Swords can also be upgraded using items you find or buy. None of this reinvents the genre, but many boss fights are stylishly designed and genuinely challenging.
The game’s direction deserves credit. Within a short span of time, you might be surfing across a battlefield on a giant sword, leaping across glowing flowers like trampolines, controlling your hand-dragon companion, and chasing down a wounded boss through collapsing portals and bridges. It is chaotic but exciting.
Overall, if you enjoy dramatic combat-heavy anime stories — where massive swords and dragons share the screen with blushing heroines — then Lost Soul Aside might surprise you. I spent dozens of hours with it and did not regret it.
Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition
Why it is interesting – a complete re-release of a cult RPG built around match-three mechanics
Sixteen years ago, in a well-known gaming magazine, I wrote a review of Puzzle Quest: Galactrix — the sequel to the original Puzzle Quest released in 2007. And now, many years later, the developers at Infinity Plus Two have made this old man happy again with a refreshed version of the cult classic. The new edition includes all content released over the years, including Revenge of the Plague Lord and The Legend Returns.
The graphics and interface have been updated, and new enemies, items, skills, characters and quests have been added. In other words, this is a true revival of a much-loved game that combines RPG progression with match-three puzzles. You still collect coloured mana gems to power your spells and attacks, level up your character, choose equipment, upgrade buildings in your fortress and take on dozens of quests.
Some younger players complain about the difficulty, claiming that the AI cheats. But from my experience, the bots actually make mistakes — even on Normal difficulty. For example, they sometimes ignore an obvious move that would let them match four gems and earn an extra turn. So yes, beating the AI is challenging, but absolutely possible. If you avoid simple mistakes and think a step ahead, you can even take down the toughest enemies on Hard mode.
Ale Abbey
Why it is interesting – a medieval brewery simulator with a pleasantly tipsy sense of humour
One of my favourite games of September turned out to be this surprisingly charming simulator of a medieval brewery located inside a monastery. You are not just brewing beer here — you are doing it properly, following traditional European styles. You choose your equipment, adjust the quantity, quality and temperature of the wort, age your drink in barrels and carefully refine every batch.
But brewing is only part of the job. You also have to manage and develop the monastery itself and take care of its residents. You build monk cells, libraries, additional brewhouses, a refectory and even the abbot’s office. And of course, you must not forget the most important thing of all — cold cellars for ageing your beer.
Beyond the monastery walls, life goes on. You can work for local feudal lords, build relationships with neighbouring abbeys, deal with bandits and face many unexpected challenges. All of this unfolds in a lighthearted, slightly boozy atmosphere that feels like a medieval version of an eternal Oktoberfest.
Marisa of Liartop Mountain
Why it is interesting – a tabletop-style adventure in the world of Touhou
As I tried to explain many years ago, Touhou Project is a massively popular Japanese franchise with dozens of fan-made games, comics and books based on it. It is known for bullet hell shoot ’em ups, whimsical fantasy settings and lots of cute girls in frilly outfits who solve problems by blasting each other with magical firepower.
In Marisa of Liartop Mountain, we meet familiar characters like Remilia, Flandre, Sakuya and Patchouli. However, the main heroine here is the equally iconic Reimu Hakurei from the Hakurei Shrine. While searching for her missing friend, she gets pulled into a mysterious magical book — and from there begins a strange fairy-tale adventure in the spirit of Choose Your Own Adventure. Every decision influences how the story unfolds, and Remilia, Flandre, Sakuya and Patchouli constantly react to your choices with lively commentary.
The game is not limited to dialogue choices. You explore pages of the book, decide where to go and who to speak to, solve quirky puzzles (like figuring out how to fly using books) and engage in combat. And fights do not always require violence — sometimes you can resolve conflicts by calming enemies down, negotiating or simply throwing them off the page.
Every action depends on dice rolls. As you progress, you collect different types of dice, each with unique properties. Success means landing the required number on the dice, which lets you win encounters and level up. Failure costs health points. Dice are limited and cannot be re-rolled endlessly, so success requires strategy — you must plan your moves, manage resources and combine dice effectively.
Mars First Logistics
Why it is interesting – an open-world Mars rover simulator
If you enjoy building things and have not yet had your fill of LEGO-style creativity, you should take a look at Mars First Logistics. Here, alone or in co-op with a friend, you design and assemble your own rover from individual parts, then use it to transport cargo across the rough and rocky surface of Mars, helping colonists establish a foothold on the Red Planet.
The 3D construction editor is intuitive and fun to experiment with. You can combine servo motors, hydraulic pistons, rocket boosters and all sorts of mechanical components to build anything from practical haulers to bizarre contraptions. The challenge lies not just in building a rover that moves, but in figuring out how to secure different types of cargo so they do not bounce out while crossing Martian craters and ridges.
M.A.S.S. Builder
Why it is interesting – an anime take on BATTLETECH
This one is also essentially a construction sandbox, but instead of LEGO-style creativity, it is much closer in spirit to MechWarrior and BATTLETECH. You assemble your own mech piece by piece, customising armour, weapons, torso modules, arms, legs and more. Some parts feel limited, but overall the mech builder is surprisingly deep, offering a wide range of stats and configuration options to experiment with.
On top of that, the developers added anime-style pilots, fast-paced battles and missions where you clear enemy squads, take down bosses and capture towers to earn combat points. The gameplay itself is fairly average and does not bring anything new to the genre, but the mech construction system is genuinely well done and can keep you tinkering for hours.
