One of the most tightly designed, replayable and varied roguelikes out there. But one that isn't discussed as much, nowadays. It's gotten its fair share of praise, don't get me wrong, and the reviews are 'Overwhelmingly Positive' for a reason, but still. I'll be drawing some comparisons to Isaac here, since I feel they've got some core similarities, but their differences really highlight what this game does well.
Maybe it's the more bitesized, self-contained run structure? Like, you still clear floors that get progressively harder, picking up items along the way, but it definitely feels a tad *rigid*. There isn't a lot of variety in how you tackle enemies: you shoot them. Same with the levels; you either go to the bonus levels or you do not (if you don't get hit/have enough cash, that is). It's a lot simpler and, to be honest, a lot grindier than other examples, namely TBOI. Especially certain achievements, like Frifle's hunts...
While that is a fair criticism, I think it enables the combat to be a lot more engaging. One of my main gripes with TBOI is the slight floatiness of the movement, and the very common cheap room layouts and boss patterns, which are not helped by the fact most of the normal rooms really can't handle bullet-hell patterns or lots of enemies without them feeling way too crowded. Another thing is that you really *feel* when your items suck, which I guess you *could* fix with min-maxing, but that's really boring...
I don't feel these things are issues in EtG. The room-clearing is fast, the challenge feels well designed instead of relying on bullet sponges, and really, there are very few guns that are outright *unusable*. And, an important one, it feels great to get better at it! You absolutely can blaze through most of the game hitless, barely using the dodgeroll. While I still sunk 450 hours into TBOI, I really appreciate this game's straightforwardness.
TBOI absolutely beats it out in terms of sheer variety, but I feel the simplicity of this game hits way better when you can't be assed to min-max your way to a run win. Definitely worth your money.
