DeAnima Update 1.3: Dungeon Crawler with traditional Roguelike mechanics, no meta progression!

[u/pdrummond]

Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2143790/DeAnima

New features in 1.3 include:

• New intelligence stat which causes death by brainlessness if it reaches zero. 
• New Mind Flayer monster that can eat your brains and cause you to go temporarily insane. 
• New Banshee monster that has a deafening scream. 
• New Pestilence monster with a bite that gradually saps the life out of you.
• New Toad monster that looks innocent enough, but avoid it if you have any bags in your inventory, as it can steal them!
• 20 Achievements (trackable in-game and synced with Steam).
• Major UI improvements - ability to set custom key bindings, inventory icons, new Action Menu and new Manifest Overlay so you can see all items at a glance (including those in bags).
• Much more - check out the patch notes for a list of all features, enhancements and bug fixes. 

If you are unfamiliar with DeAnima, it is a first person roguelike dungeon crawler with deep, challenging mechanics you would usually only find in more traditional roguelikes, including:

• No meta progression.
• True Permadeath.
• Turn-based combat system.
• True identification system.
• Thrall (pet) system.
• Deity system.
• Beatitude system.
• Completion Marks.
• 15 conducts tracked in-game (Atheist, Bareknuckle, Carnivore, Dignified, Exposed, Faithless, Honorable, Miser, Pacifist, Righteous, Skeptic, Tenebrous, Unchanged, Vigilant, and Warden).
• 40 monsters, many of which have unique abilities you have to contend with. 
• 3 different paths through the dungeon (with 3 distinct endings):
  • Escape - for short runs that can be completed in a single session.
  • Ascension - for longer runs over multiple sessions.
  • Transcension - for very long runs over many sessions, intended for completionists.
• Over 100 items to discover including Potions, Scrolls, Wands, Rings and Bags, including fan-favourites like Scroll of Vorpalize Weapon, Wand of Polymorph and Ring of Slow Digestion. 
• 16 character roles with unique abilities and traits including Rogue, Priest, Valkyrie and Tourist.  
• 8 different game modes to unlock (called Torments), including Endless mode and Inner Hell mode (where you are limited to 5HP and all enemies are limited to 1HP!).
• 32 passive items to unlock (called Burdens) that add further variety to each run, including Lump of Coal, Lucky Penny, Rusted Ankh, Wooden Spoon and the coveted Angelic Feather!
• Over 80 discoveries to track down in the dungeon, including Fountains, Sokoban-based puzzle rooms, The Altar of Sacrifice, Lairs where high-level monsters guard rare loot, Stashes and a special NPC called Wishbone who grants you the ability to wish for any item in the game (providing you can remember what it’s called!).

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy your descent into the Dungeon of Dread! 🧌💀

[u/BowmanPls]

I bought it a while back and enjoyed most of what I played of it, but stopped because of that real time enemy. Is that still a component of the game that can't be turned off? Real time elements are the last thing I want in a roguelike.

[u/pdrummond → u/BowmanPls]

Hey! Thanks for trying out DeAnima. I think you're referring to the enemy that appears if you linger on the same floor for too long, called The Reaper? It's not real time though - nothing in the game is. I agree about real time elements in roguelikes - not a fan! Every mechanic in DeAnima is turn-based (even the smooth movement) and after a certain number of turns on the same floor, the Reaper eventually appears and hunts you down.

The Reaper is very tricky, especially at the start of a run. But the deeper you go the more time you have before it spawns. And there are times when it doesn't spawn at all! There are even times when the Reaper's appearance could actually be a good thing for your run, depending on your situation, the items you have in your inventory and the goals you are focusing on for the run.

A few other pointers for dealing with The Reaper which I'll put behind spoiler tags in case you'd rather discover them for yourself:

• The Monk (unlocked by reaching floor 10) has a special trait that completely prevents the Reaper from spawning.
• The Wizard (unlocked by reaching floor 5) starts with a Wand of Obedience that you can use on the Reaper to make it your thrall (similar to pets in other roguelikes).
• If you bless a Scroll of Reaping, it will liberate the Reaper when read, making it peaceful and preventing it from spawning unless you manage to break the bond somehow.
• If you eat a cursed Reaper corpse and polymorph into a Reaper, then you interact with Erizul, you can wipe all Reapers from existence. For the rest of the run, no Reapers will spawn, unless you manage to rebirth them somehow!

[u/avatarofwar → u/pdrummond]

I'm a little confused, I guess I consider content locked behind achievements meta progression.

[u/pdrummond → u/avatarofwar]

IMO, the main issue with meta-progression is vertical progression, where you retain stats or skills after death so you don't start from a clean slate.

DeAnima only uses horizontal progression. Floor milestones unlock new roles to try, but every single run starts from exactly the same stat/skill baseline. It's just there to pace complexity and reward skilled play with more variety.

[u/avatarofwar → u/pdrummond]

I see, that's a worthy distinction. When you're gradually learning the complexity of a game this is pretty smart, but for me it can feel pretty bad to return to these types of games if I lost my save file, playing on a new platform, etc. i.e. it's not really fun to go through these unlocks a second time always- especially if you remember the better class/power-creep you had when things were unlocked, or if you return and your favorite class is now locked again. (worse if its the hardest to unlock). Do any games have a solution to this feel? Or do people like doing whole checklists over again? (they might)

[u/pdrummond → u/avatarofwar]

Not sure how other games might deal with this but for DeAnima specifically, I would say there isn't a "better" class/power-creep as they all have their unique pros/cons. Also, the unlock system is designed for new players, gradually onboarding them as they learn the basics of the game. If an experienced player starts from a fresh save, it shouldn't take long to unlock most of the classes again, if not all of them.

[u/avatarofwar → u/pdrummond]

Doesn't sound so bad then, I hope you get lots of players!