They’re basically classes, each revolving around some theme and some really changing the way you play the game.įor example, there’s one skull that has you equipped with a spear, allowing quick and easy attacks from a little bit of a range, with one of the abilities being to dash through groups of enemies spear-first. The weapons and abilities you have at any given moment are granted by whatever skull you have equipped, and these skulls can be found as room rewards or in shops during each run. For one, I really liked the dynamic between the “skulls” that you can equip and regular items. Skul may not be perfect here (which I’ll get into later), but it has a solid grasp on this concept. Alongside core combat, roguelites also need something differentiating each run, to avoid the game feeling repetitious or grindy. If anything, that’s a testament to how fun the combat is. However, it kept me coming back, even when it felt like I had hit a wall.
Bosses will constantly stomp you, certain room layouts may be a guaranteed half-HP loss, and it can honestly be quite frustrating at times. This is an incredibly difficult game, especially at the start when you have barely any upgrades. However, that is not to understate the game’s difficulty. There is so much movement to the combat that I was quite literally zipping around in most of the fights, especially so whenever I had a speed class equipped. Want to cancel that attack and double dash to the side before flying back in with your next attack? No problem. This is perhaps best seen in the movement, which is incredibly responsive. It’s a very fast-paced game most of the time and there’s nothing like stamina meters to slow you down. Hits offer up ample feedback, the controls are intuitive, and there’s really no sense of clunkiness to it.
The core to any good action roguelite is combat, and that is fortunately something you won’t have to worry about with Skul.