Star of Providence

I played a ton of monolith before "the update" and honestly never expected to get back into it after the rebrand. I'm really glad I decided to pick it up again though! Trials (which I never thought I'd complete) have banger tracks and cool mechanics (with the exception of [spoiler]Trial 5, specifically the unique final boss that you can't practice until you clear the trial, this is dumb![/spoiler]) and the new loop bosses/loop rework were really fun to grind through. Overall Star of Providence is a super fun game with some incredible music.

Without a doubt the best roguelite on the platform. Insane amount of depth, more content and playable ground than one would think, and oodles of secrets on secrets. That's not even getting into the capital-T *TIGHT* controls, excellent art and sound design, and stellar music. An absolute must try for anyone itching for a new twin-stick shooter to try.

The game originally came out in 2017 (as Monolith), got a massive expansion, some love from Videogamedunkey, a new name, and then a re-release with all the content packed into the base game. The history alone is pretty interesting. That being said, this game is crack. It just hits a certain ridge in my brain with its GBA-era graphics, simplistic yet complex systems, and the fact that there are no overly broken chase guns or synergies. Instead, the game is fiercely focused on its macro-positioning and micro-dodging. Are there some really great upgrades? Yes, but some of the best require you to completely avoid getting hit. It even has a boss practice mode, which is just a lovely touch. Aside from Hades, this might be the only roguelite where I completely get the appeal of throwing myself at the game with zero care for the story. The music is incredibly addicting, and the whole experience is a time-stealing fiasco. The game is not easy by any metric, and you can truly feel a steady progression of player expression and knowledge accumulation. I've beaten some final bosses and started unlocking the seals. I know I’m only at the mid-game/tip of the iceberg, but I feel far enough along to give this a solid review. And yes, I will absolutely keep coming back to this. Oh, game will also let you save on each floor and that is much appreciated for a very short session, or taking a pause. *Tentative review score, but overall, this game is going to be kept in a rotation of games i will keep floating back to.