Why Roguelike vs Roguelite Shouldn't Exist!! A New Name for the Genre!
92In this video, I tackle one of the silliest debates in gaming: the difference between Roguelike and Roguelite games. I break down what makes each of these categories tick, from their origins in the classic 1980 game Rogue, to modern titles like Hades 2, Returnal, and Dead Cells. But here's the kicker: I believe it's time we retired these outdated labels and gave the genre a more accurate name that actually DESCRIBES THE GENRE instead of refers back to some game from 1980.
I dive deep into games like God of War Ragnarok Valhalla, Hades, Hades 2, Shotgun King, Peglin, Slay the Spire, Enter the Gungeon, Risk of Rain 2, and even more obscure indie titles like Noita, Spelunky, The Binding of Isaac, and Balatro. These games all have one thing in common: they combine randomly generated adventures with upgrades that let you create crazy builds and take on endless enemies in epic battles. Whether you're dodging bullets in Enter the Gungeon, managing poker hands in Balatro, or blasting through enemies in Returnal, the randomness and upgrades are what keep these games exciting.
I also explain why it's time to move beyond calling them Rogue-like or Rogue-lite—after all, how many of these games have anything to do with the original Rogue? Let’s be real, Shotgun King (a chess-based rogue-like where the Black King has a shotgun) has nothing in common with a dungeon crawler from 1980. So let’s make things easier and call them what they are: (name in video).. and yeah, my kid wants no association with me anymore b/c of this video!
Also, stay tuned for a hilariously cheesy music video celebrating this new genre name.
As always, thanks for watching, and have an absolutely awesome day!