There are many Indie games that explore the Roguelite genre since these developers have more freedom over the direction that their games take. With this control, Indie game developers have the opportunity to experiment with the atmosphere of the game’s world as well as the combat style and mechanics.
Holomento is an upcoming Indie game within the Roguelite genre that scheduled to be available on Steam next year, yet Sam Weech, the game’s developer, is pushing the boundaries that many have come to expect from these types of games. Game Rant was able to interview Weech and get a better picture of what sets this game apart from the genre.
Many Roguelite games are bleak, set in a world with little hope where the player is forced to fight their way out of a difficult situation. However, while the world that Holomento takes place in is a dangerous setting, Weech still creates pockets of light within the game’s atmosphere. In Eventide Hollow where the player ventures through, characters who have fun, unique, or quirky personalities can be found around the area. Players can continue to interact with them as they run through the game, and while the characters and their dialogue are early in the development stages, Weech said that he was inspired by NPCs in games like the Paper Mario series and Undertale.
Along with these bright characters that players can get to know as they run through the game, Weech is taking another approach in Holomento that isn’t very common in the Roguelite genre by emphasizing the permanent effects that players can have on the world as they adventure through it. While Roguelite games can give players the ability to upgrade themselves for future runs, that is typically the only kind of permanent impact that the player can make as they play the game. However, Weech wants to reward players for their efforts in the Indie game in a more tangible way, so he wants to give players “the satisfaction of tangibly seeing their progress” and believes that Holomento can do this.
As the player progresses through Holomento, they can obtain the resources and ability to restore the castle town the valley, which will help the characters there and give players more resources for future runs. Many games have a system where the player goes through the game, and when they start a new run, it’s as if the previous run didn’t happen. Games like the upcoming Roguelite Hades incorporate death into the narrative to explain the multiple runs, but Holomento also sets itself apart in this area as well.
When the player starts a new run, they play as a new character traveling though the region, so they can see from a fresh perspective the impact they’ve had on the NPCs and Castle area. Weech recently posted to Twitter, saying that he was employing this upgrading mechanic which he had hoped that Breath of the Wild would have allowed after Calamity Ganon was defeated. Despite these games being very different, upgrading the world of Holomento fit in with Weech’s idea for the game as it emphasized permanence, even in a permadeath game.
By integrating aspects from games such as Paper Mario and Undertale into this Roguelite title, Weech is creating a new experience for the genre with this Indie game. Weech commented:
“With Holomento, it’s different because even when you die, a lot of the progress you still made is still there, you’re simply a new traveler with new items. Not all is lost in Holomento, your world upgrades, shortcuts, quest progress, and money remain.”
With these unique additions to the genre, he believes that this game is a good place to start when getting into Roguelite games since there is more reward and less punishment than others. Though there is still a bit of time until it comes out, Weech is excited to build and interact with the Holomento community.
Holomento is currently in closed alpha and is scheduled to launch for PC in 2021.
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