Guidus Zero Is A Fun, Fast-Paced Take On Roguelike Design
Put a grid on it.
All sorts of games get the roguelike moniker these days, from Slay the Spire and other deckbuilders to action games like Hades. But the subgenre’s namesake, which focuses on slow movement through a grid-based world, looks very different from most of those titles. While some old-school roguelikes still emulate the original Rogue’s grid, it’s fallen out of fashion in favor of snappier combat and movement. One new RPG, however, bridges the gap between old and new, featuring fast-paced combat and other modern conveniences while putting a twist on grid-based movement.
Released out of Steam Early Access in late March, Guidus Zero will be familiar if you’ve ever played a roguelike RPG. You start each run by heading into a dungeon with basic equipment, then grow more powerful by collecting artifacts to grant you new abilities along the way. Between runs, you can spend currency you found to craft permanent upgrades that will make each trip a bit easier than the last. But despite all those familiar trappings, Guidus Zero feels very different from the typical roguelike right from your first step.
Guidus Zero is surprisingly fast-paced thanks to its inventive grid-based movement system.
Movement in Guidus Zero’s dungeons is tied to an invisible grid. Every press of the d-pad or arrow keys moves you one square, and enemies largely move in the same way. That’s a standard setup for many roguelikes, but Guidus Zero puts a much more action-forward twist on the formula. In typical grid-based games, you attack enemies by bumping into them, and the action tends to be turn-based. Neither is true in Guidus Zero, where the action is real-time and attacks are mapped to buttons instead. It’s a much faster game than it first appears, and taking advantage of its unique movement is central to your survival.
While your attacks are instant, enemies telegraph their shots before committing to them, giving you time to react. Most attacks are indicated by a red square on the ground or a line showing the trajectory of an arrow launched. When an indicator appears, you can either get out of the way or dodge at the right moment to avoid it.
Attacks come fast and furious, and with a screen full of enemies, dodging them all can be quite a challenge. The closest comparison might actually be Crypt of the NecroDancer, just without the need to sync your attacks to music. Balancing offense with dodges and careful positioning is key to surviving the game’s fast-paced battles, and it can take on an almost meditative quality when you lock in.
Guidus Zero’s boss fights can get extremely hectic.
You’ll encounter a variety of power-ups in shops and treasure chests from run to run. Your choices don’t initially feel quite as impactful as they can in other roguelikes, but they’re enough to open up new strategies for every trip into the dungeon. You can also change which hero you use, provided you’ve gotten far enough to unlock other options. Each character has their own special skill, like a lunging attack that doubles as a dodge, and a barrage of punches that grows more powerful as you take damage. These abilities can further change your runs, and the longer you survive, the more you’ll be able to upgrade them.
Guidus Zero is a lot of fun, but it’s still a bit rough around the edges. Its story is little more than a thin backdrop, and the writing has enough localization issues to make ability descriptions confusing or misleading. It can also feel barebones thanks to its sparse character progression. But despite those critiques, I’m having a great time with it. What it lacks in depth, it makes up for with the sheer fun of its combat, and its lovely pixel art doesn’t hurt, either. Guidus Zero probably won’t take the place of Hades or your other favorite roguelikes, but its novel grid-based combat is a unique treat worth trying out.
