Share
RoguePod LiteCast
Heat Signature
This week we add the 2017 top-down stealth "defenestration game" Heat Signature to the tier list. This is one that blurs the line on "when does a roguelite become not a roguelite" - how will that influence the tier list placement?
Join the RoguePod LiteCast Discord! https://discord.gg/EEwq9VGGKb
Check out the full tier list at roguepod.show!
This week we first talk about the developer Suspicious Developments Ltd which describes itself as a company "specializing in sneaky games that let you think of clever plans and/or knock people through windows" then try to wrap our heads around where a Heat Signature run starts and ends. Heat Signature does have a very distinct, and fun, core gameplay loop of breaking into ships and trying to achieve specific objectives. There's also some bigger picture game-level objectives you're working towards, and most of the time a character death doesn't lead to a full reset but rather an ejection into space and some sneaking back into the ship to try again.
You do have permadeath in that individual characters can die and you lose your inventory, but there is a lot of persistence between characters as well as overarching world persistence based on your progress through the game. Our tier list placement for this one ended up being really impacted by this concept of "is this a good roguelite specifically" even though we both felt the core gameplay was fun and engaging (albeit a bit repetitive).
See the developer's blog here: https://www.pentadact.com/
Join the RoguePod LiteCast patreon for monthly bonus episodes! https://www.patreon.com/roguepod
More episodes
View all episodes
52. Halls of Torment
01:30:43||Ep. 52This week we cover the 2023 Diablo-inspired survivors-like Halls of Torment and add it to the tier list. The final game in Survivors September! Are we too harsh on it because we're just sick of playing survivors-likes? Maybe!Join the RoguePod LiteCast Discord! https://discord.gg/EEwq9VGGKbOn this episode we try to parse the differences in core gameplay loop between our third survivors-like this month. We did both enjoy that HoT gives you some different enemy patterns rather than the slow approach from all corners of the screen, plus the bosses and elite fights are much more bullet-hell feeling and require some actual gameplay. Plus the item system is a bit neat, makes it feel extraction-shooter adjacent, though for all the talk about the game being Diablo-inspired we found the loot to be pretty underwhelming.There are definitely things to like in this game and it's clear why folks who really like survivors-likes click with this one: the sheer number of achievements / quests alone could give the motivated player a lot of reasons to keep at it. For us that are less motivated by achievements, after finishing the five base halls we found ourselves not really sure what we were playing for. The user-applied difficulty modifiers seemed like a circular grind to just allow you to get items to allow you to keep grinding. That loop feels totally fine in some games but we bumped on it hard here.51. Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
01:34:42||Ep. 51This week we’re continuing Survivors September with the mining spin-off Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor and adding it to the ultimate roguelite tier list!Join the RoguePod LiteCast Discord! https://discord.gg/EEwq9VGGKbCheck out the full tier list at roguepod.show!50. Vampire Survivors
01:33:24||Ep. 50This week we’re playing the game that spawned an entire subgenre (for better or for worse) Vampire Survivors, and adding it to the ultimate roguelite tier listThe podcast/article that I referenced with Matteo Sapio, the chief strategy officer at Poncle - https://www.thegamebusiness.com/p/the-vampire-survivors-developer-isJoin the RoguePod LiteCast Discord! https://discord.gg/EEwq9VGGKbCheck out the full tier list at roguepod.show!49. Dead Cells
01:38:47||Ep. 49Sorry for the delay on this one, got some logistics mixed up and then nobody was in town to publish. This week we play one of the heavy hitters, the foundational action platformer Dead Cells and add it to the ultimate roguelite tier list!Please fill out the listener feedback survey to help us make the podcast better - https://forms.gle/Wqiao5narTMChSFr5Join the RoguePod LiteCast Discord! https://discord.gg/EEwq9VGGKbCheck out the full tier list at roguepod.show!48. Pathogenic
01:38:05||Ep. 48This week we play the new biological twin stick shooter Pathogenic and add it to the ultimate roguelite tier list!Please fill out the listener feedback survey to help us make the podcast better - https://forms.gle/Wqiao5narTMChSFr5Join the RoguePod LiteCast Discord! https://discord.gg/EEwq9VGGKbCheck out the full tier list at roguepod.show!47. Everything is Crab
01:47:52||Ep. 47This week we play the evolutionary survivors-lite Everything is Crab and add it to the ultimate roguelite tier list!Please fill out the listener feedback survey to help us make the podcast better - https://forms.gle/Wqiao5narTMChSFr5Join the RoguePod LiteCast Discord! https://discord.gg/EEwq9VGGKbCheck out the full tier list at roguepod.show!46. Gambonanza
01:34:13||Ep. 46This week we play the tactical tiny chess roguelite Gambonanza and add it to the ultimate roguelite tier list!Please fill out the listener feedback survey to help us make the podcast better - https://forms.gle/Wqiao5narTMChSFr5Join the RoguePod LiteCast Discord! https://discord.gg/EEwq9VGGKbCheck out the full tier list at roguepod.show!45. Spiritfall
01:44:31||Ep. 45This week we play the platform-fighter / Hades mashup Spiritfall and add it to the ultimate roguelite tier list!Please fill out the listener feedback survey to help us make the podcast better - https://forms.gle/Wqiao5narTMChSFr5Join the RoguePod LiteCast Discord! https://discord.gg/EEwq9VGGKbCheck out the full tier list at roguepod.show!44. Minos
01:29:28||Ep. 44This week we play the maze-building game MINOS and add it to the ultimate roguelite tier list!Join the RoguePod LiteCast Discord! https://discord.gg/EEwq9VGGKbCheck out the full tier list at roguepod.show!Please fill out the listener feedback survey to help us make the podcast better - https://forms.gle/Wqiao5narTMChSFr5