Zagreus wants out of the Underworld, his father stands in the way, and every attempt sends you back to the start. Better each time.

Here is a case that intrigues. On gut feeling, the community places it dead center, no more, no less. And yet, criterion by criterion, it is the opposite: it shines everywhere. Controller feel ahead of 96% of games, the desert island pick right behind, and art style, soundtrack, fun, attachment, all above 90%. That is the whole tension of the profile: every detail impresses, but raw buy-in stays, for its part, surprisingly mid. Maybe because a roguelite, by nature, is replayed in small bites rather than gripping you in one block like a grand adventure.

Next to other games of the genre, it pulled off the rare feat of marrying repeated death with real narrative progress, each failure pushing the story forward.

So, who is it for? For you if you like getting better run after run, and a gameplay loop of fearsome polish. Much less if starting over from scratch again and again wears you out fast.