While rare, there’s a point in some games where it switches from "Play more!" to "I’m out." Sometimes it’s a boss encounter that’s just balanced wrong or maybe a level that requires a new play mechanic simply doesn’t fit with the rest of the game. In a more narrative-based game, it might even be a plot twist that probably sounded better in the author’s head than on the digital page. Nigate Tale is an action-roguelike with a focus on monster girls for its power-up mechanics, and while it’s not a top-tier example of the genre, it still manages to be a great time thanks to some creative abilities that nicely stack together, requiring only a bit of luck and strategy in choosing its perks to create a powerful build.
It’s also just released into Early Access with a roadmap that includes adding more monster girls, which will lead to even more abilities and interesting choices in each run’s setup. There’s a lot of fun to be had in its colorful dungeons fighting the castle’s aggressive goblin-staff, but for me at least, there’s a major "I’m out" moment that completely ruins Nigate Tale. I don’t have a lot of "Thou shalt not..." in gaming, but hypersexualizing a girl whose character design puts her in the 13-14 year old range is right at the top.
Ignoring all that for a bit and to give the gaming side its due, Nigate Tale starts out with the typical underpowered hero making his way into a dungeon he’s just not yet prepared for. In this case, it’s the engineer Roy who’s crashed into a castle of magic, as opposed to the more steampunk-like world he’s from. A friendly maid/octopus-girl helps Roy get up to speed on his current predicament, which is that he’s stuck in the basement of a goblin-infested castle with the pieces to his helicopter scattered all over the landscape. This, of course, means he needs to venture onto the castle grounds to retrieve everything, fighting the goblins every room of the way.
Combat is quick and reactive, with the goblins initially starting out with spearmen and gunners and quickly adding more dangerous types as Roy progresses. Roy is armed with melee and ranged primary weapons plus a special ability, and the initial loadout is capable even before any upgrading. The wrench has a good multi-hit combo, the bow is great for sniping and the special ability is a laser-ball that slowly spins in place for several seconds. Topping off the basics is Roy's dodge ability, which doesn’t have any invincibility frames but still does great work at avoiding damage. All of this and more can be upgraded in a number of ways, and this is where the monster girls come in.
Initially the only monster girl available is the maid Mayonna, who specializes in ice magic, but she’s quickly joined by fire-based salamander girl Aona, the arrow-magic of centaur Asa, gold-based catgirl Rothschild, shadow-lizard Circe, and finally blood magic demon-girl Dorothy. The character list has four silhouettes for other monster girls who will be added later, but the current cast of six already has a good number of interesting upgrades available.
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