Blackfaun

It can be a fun game in theory, but there's just too many bugs. Rooms that fail to unlock after you defeat all the enemies, thus trapping you inside and obliging you to return to menu and restart the level. Enemies whose health falls to zero and then goes negative, drawing a health bar extending backward out of their health-bar-box which only grows as you inflict more damage, rendering them unkillable and again obliging you to restart the level. Achievements with bugged conditions (failing to register 8 lasers having been candle-dodged vs. Mosh; failing to register 20 turrets destroyed vs. the hydra boss [destroyed 25 just to make sure, but no achievement]; failing to register winning the game as Pan toward the win-game-x-times achievement; ...). Cannot recommend.

If you like rogue-likes and action-RPGs here's an indie title that meshes those two genres. It's obviously not as polished as Diablo or as hardcore rogue-likey as Binding of Isaac but there's a lot to like here. Check out Blackfaun gameplay here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kvRfYc70Ic

This game looks amazing, but its downfall is the horrible controls. With keyboard, you use WASD to move. The problem with this is, I had to press both W and D to move in a straight line. And that only worked sometimes. With a controller, it is even worse! I had to set my own controls, which I thought was a bit odd. I tried both the stick and the D-pad on my Xbox controller. To move from left to right, I had to press up, right, down, right, down, right, down. This got me across the opening area. Then I had to press up, left, down, left, up, down to get to the door. And the action button to open the door never worked at all. I definitely had more fun with keyboard (both because I actually made some progress and because, since it had been on my wishlist for so long, I willed myself to find some pleasure in it). The graphics are quite nice, but that is the only redeeming quality. The onscreen dialogue between the two playable characters (you have to unlock one I think; only one could be chosen from the menu) is painfully cheesy, the nonsense you would expect from siblings on a Disney show. The game itself had some oddities. I am not sure why I was collecting purple balls of light; they did not appear to do anything at all. And my weapon in the hotbar was a stick (really, it was a twig), but I was shooting balls of light. Was this a dollar store magic wand? The game seemed to imply there are more weapons, but in three levels, I never found any. There were armour pieces I could buy from a merchant, so perhaps I just never got far enough for another weapon. This was a major disappointment. I had wanted it for quite a while and when I finally pulled the trigger, the game was pure crap. A huge thumbs down. Refunded.

Blackfaun is a nicely done roguelike wich plays like a Diablo-game. You move with WASD and use skills and aim with the mouse (or gamepad, if you so choose.) You find all sorts of loot, which can be better or worse, depending on your skills that you use. When you level up, you can spend attribute points for damage, life or magic find. Every stage has a boss you must fight. When you finish the last boss or die during the dungeon, you can start over with better passive skills to begin with. These passive skills are unlocked when you find them as itemdrops or as achievement rewards. They can alter your gameplay a little bit every time you play. There are no bugs from what i experienced, and i finished the game a few times already. The music and sounds are well crafted and fit to the gameplay. Graphics are nothing you buy this game for but they aren't too shabby. Unlike the performance, fps go below 60fps on my Nvidia Titan X, which is irritating. On normal difficulty, the game is a bit easy, but it's a good difficulty to learn the mechanics. Then you can start with "blackfaun"-difficulty, which increases every time you finish the game. This game by now is a great roguelike, if they add more content (like stages, loot, skills etc.), this will be a steal for the price they ask. If you like Diablo-like gameplay, you should definitely try this one out.

Note: This review was written during the first week of early access. Overall, this is a great game that Diablo, Isaac, or old school Alien Swarm fans will enjoy. It's fairly raw in its current state, but the developers have added lots of "sugar" to make the game feel like a complete package. Even now, with some bugs and missing content, it's a blast to play. Based on how the game currently plays, planned additions, and recent updates I would recommend giving this game a shot if you're a fan of the genre and want to get in the action as soon as possible. Obviously, all the caveats of Early Access apply. Pros: -Top notch art. It's refreshing to see an indie game that doesn't use pixel art, but still has high quality art and effects. -Great item system. Items change your build and playstyle every game. -Dynamic content. Rougelike elements make every game different and maximize replayability. -Rewarding. The game is very difficult, but when your build comes together it's extremely fun to melt rooms of enemies. Cons: -Character Movement. Due to the 3D isometric style, WASD controls, and character animations the character movement can feel weird. You'll get used to it, but it can lead to some frustrating deaths early on. -Has bugs. Currently still has some bugs and you'll get error messages during playthoroughs. -Missing content. Developers are working on adding more levels, enemies, and items.

Disclosure: This game was provided as a review code directly from the developer. Blackfaun is an action role-playing game with rogue-like elements. Each playthrough allows the player the ability to play through a randomised environment, fighting enemies in new places, while levelling up a character from level one. It features some light role-playing mechanics, with some loot being gathered by players, but, in my opinion, not enough for the game to be called an action RPG. Loot drops sparingly, and hardly ever does a player get any, save when defeating a boss. The art style is pretty, and it's nice to see a fantasy game using a non-traditional race as it's main character, but at this point in it's development, Blackfaun feels as if it needs more content. It's a very casual game, with myself hardly ever taking damage. This can be seen as a plus to many, but in my experience, the draw of the rogue-like is it's difficulty, which Blackfaun fails to provide in any meaningful manner. Of course, this could come as the game develops, as the game is in Early Access. For now, however, I'd say hold off, as there are better and brighter rogue-like titles out there, that'll give you a much better experience for your £12. https://youtu.be/KLDTVI8PZlI

Pro's Very pretty Simple, classic Mechanics Cons Early game killing bugs (Area 1-2 floating untargetable goblins who prevented me from leaving the area I didnt get far enough to really see much else in the game. Purchase with caution as it is very early access. Looking forward to future updates. Edit: 3/31/16 After a very short window the issue with floating enemies was resolved in my case, and I actually got to play up to zone 2-2. The game is of course a rogue like and as you play more of it you will unlock fancier gear which provides fancy new abilities most of which run off your mana. These drops radically change your game and with a bit of luck mean you'll be set to the very end. I've changed my rating on the game as it is quite a bit of fun with a beautiful styling. I'd love to see melee weapons implemented too, but that might be later in the game, or perhaps not the direction the dev's want to go in. The game crashed after the face melting dragon shotgun dropped which is a shame, but now I know it can drop and I want to find it again.

Not Impressed so far I play I go thru the entire 1st level and never get a drop, then of course I die to the boss. Try again, same thing happens. I have tried 5 times now and have seen one measely weapon drop.

I've been digging Blackfaun; it's casual, it's roguelike, and I dig seeing comparing gear and seeing how the stat buffs change things. I know some of the team and it's been great seeing the game get to where it is. It's fun and easy to pick up (and put down when I've got a lot going on). I'm starting on Blackfaun difficulty now to see how that is but after that I'll probably try some speedrunning. It seems like it would be good for that.

It is a very promising game I think. Ok, its features come from several other well known aRPGs like Diablo and Torchlight. But it's unique atmosphere and 'permanent hardcore mode' (you die - your game is over - no save, no load) will be a challange for hours if you have got free time but not so much you could spend it for a more complex game. There are at least 2 main features which caught my attention above all. First, the gold worth much more than in Diablo or Torchlight. You don't get much gold, but that amount will be your chance to buy meaningful items and bonusos. Though you can loot fancy items for yourself, but you can gain valuable items from the shops as well. Second, the talisman system is pretty much promising. It will be a great excitment if they improve this. Because with the talismans you could advance to other difficoulty levels and stand the chance against more difficoult enemies. Although, the game has got much to improve. The controls are not perfect and I was very polite in this case. It is easy to learn to control your character, but I think the developers had to make it more simple like in Diablo or Torchlight. Therefore I think they have to step back to 'only-mouse' movement. And the save system is not perfect as well. Several times I had to start over because I had not enough time to play further, and I chose not 'exit game' but 'main menu' buttons... And the level design is great but I think the 'dungeons' are still very empty. Ok, the loots will be much more challanging task to get, but unfortunatelly comparing to the predeccessors, it is the games weakness that there is no chests or other loot-able items on the sections of a level. But this game will be fun when it's done I belive. Just keep up the good work!