Enter the Gungeon: Enter the Suffering

Gamers have been playing, loving and I assume cursing Enter the Gungeon for a few years now. The game originally released in 2016 but since I'm late to every part, I haven't played it until recently. It wouldn't pop up on my radar until, I wanna say 2017 or so. I would eye it on the PSN store on my PS4 and then on the eShop when I got my Switch. Despite staring at the page for the game several times, I would never pull the trigger (heh heh) on purchasing it, even when it was on sale. But! I learned that Enter the Gungeon got a physical release! And the Switch version was only going for a mere $30! Since I love my bargains and my physical media, this was a match made in heaven. Happy I was to receieve the game when Amazon dropped it off (along with my copy of Psikyo Shooting Stars Alpha, which I loooooove), I knew my heaven would be short-lived.

Roguelike games, much like the metroidvania genre, are everywhere these days. I'd almost argue that both genres are to the point of overexposure. I really like Metroid, Castlevania and metroidvania but the abundance of games on the market has made me feel burned out of the genre as of late. Even if you haven't played these types of games, the dominating presence they have can be off putting. This is why I've begun to limit my intake of metroidvania games. In the case of roguelike games, the whole idea of starting the entire game over from scratch is depressing and Enter the Gungeon is a roguelike game but unlike metroidvania, I tend to steer clear of most of these titles, with the exception of one.

Screenshot from Steam

Downwell was one of my favorite games of 2019 (the year the Switch version released) and is the game that made me see the good in the roguelike genre. I've died so many times in this game, haven't come close to finishing it and I still haven't had enough of it. The platforming and shooting mechanics are what really sealed the deal for me. Even though I'vet yet to beat the game, I can make it to the second area and have unlocked a ton of different a pallets to choose from. I suspect the many different pallets was the developers way of softening the blows of the countless deaths that would befall the player and it worked, at least for me. When I die in Enter the Guneon, I'm left with crippling depression.

The phrase "Prepare to Die. A lot," has never been more apt. I already knew what I was getting into but all the mental preparations I did for this game was not enough. That happy box art that stares back at you belies a brutal game underneath that will gut punch you over and over again. You know those stories where the main cast is trying to prevent a bad future, so they do everything in their power to prevent it, but said bad future comes to pass anyway, like it was fate? That's what it feels like to play Enter the Gungeon. Death follows you around like your dang shadow in this game. Always there, unavoidable, inevitable, inescapable until things finally "click" and you beat the game. That's how I'd heard it described, anyway. The "click" hasn't hit for me yet, but I have been improving.

I struggled a early on with he controls and my co-worker that has finished the game told me that would be one of the hurdles I would face when I began playing. Moving and aiming with the left and right analog sticks feels natural now, but in the beginning, it felt super awkward, especially when trying to dodge a ton of bullets. Then there's the dodge roll move. This thing has helped me out more times than I can count. Yeah, you move in many different directions to dodge bullets, but dodge roll gives you invulnerability when you use it. Now I just need to work on doing a dodge roll in the right direction. Sometimes dodge rolling away from a string of bullets isn't the best option when I've got bullets coming at me from behind. Making those split second decisions can sometimes mean the difference between proceeding with a run or having it end right there.

The interactive rooms are all kinds of fun to screw around with. You can blow up explosive barrels to kill enemies faster among other things. Even some of the enemies that go boom can be used to take out other enemies. Using tables for cover is a favorite strategy and depending on the positioning of the tables, you can line 'em up to hide behind a row of them. Really cool stuff.

However, for all my getting gud at Enter the Gungeon death still gets the better of me. Yeah, that one run where I (barely) killed a boss and got to the second area was great. I had one run where I found this gun that shot sizable laser beams that be bounced off walls and foes to hit multiple targets. Lost it and my run during a boss fight. Dodge rolled the wrong way and right into the boss once. Seriously, just recalling those failed attempts makes me sigh heavily. And I know I've got so many more deaths ahead of me as I improve at this game.

If you're thinking about playing Enter the Gungeon, know that this isn't gonna be some game you immediately breeze through. There will be a lot of deaths, pain, suffering and maybe even some broken controllers depending on how prone you are to gamer rage. I wouldn't say I like Enter the Gungeon as much as I do Downwell. Of the few roguelike games I've played, Downwell is still my favorite, but I am glad I finally got around to playing Enter the Gungeon and I do like it. Maybe I'll like it even more if I ever get around to completing a run.

Tata for now. The Gungeon is calling.