Battle Shapers preview — A roguelite with momentum

I adore roguelites for the powerful stat scaling they offer the player, and that adoration only intensifies when the game nails the feeling of impact. However, I’ve played a good few roguelites that struggle to maintain momentum. My attacks devolve into the damage equivalent of wet-noodling enemies because I had bad RNG. That brings me to Battle Shapers, a roguelite that offers players a skill-based solution to the problem of overreliance on RNG.

Battle Shaper’s setting is distinctly Sci-Fi. You play as Ada, a Shaper — basically a robot who’s also a hacker — facing off against the evil overlords who threaten the city of New Elysium. Right off the bat, you get a lot of lingo thrown at you: Shapers, janOS, the cipher cloud, cores; all of which help cement the Sci-Fi setting and add immersion.

Despite the looming threat of the overlords, the game is largely upbeat. The world is brightly colored and the dialogue is campy with lots of hacker flavoring. Ada and the overlords fire PG-13 slights back and forth as you progress through the chambers.

Ada’s main advantage in combating the invading overlords is her adaptability, which comes in the form of her Shaper Cores. There are four cores in total, each of which offers a different playstyle. You get two core slots, one primary and the other secondary. Each core has its own set of abilities when in the primary slot, while the secondary slot serves to influence the enhancements you find during your run, which goes by the common pick one-of-three system.

The Adamant Core for example has an immaculate tempo to its gameplay. Melee attacks reflect projectiles, as well as propel you forward. It feels amazing to fly through the air toward an enemy, smacking them with their own projectile. Melee is powerful in general; the slow-motion effect on impact makes the player feel like a freight train. To top it off, enemies killed by melee takedowns explode, sending the main target and anyone in the vicinity careening away. Between the momentum of the punch and dash, Ada is hypermobile.

Ada’s appearance will also change based on which core she has active. For example, the Strike Core gives Ada a claw gauntlet. It’s a thematic change because with said core equipped, the player’s movement becomes more predator-like. Melee attacks become brutal slashes, and dashes resemble more of a lunge. Because of the reliance on dashes, the player is incentivized to weave in and out of cover like a beast stalking their prey, only erupting from safety once the dash is off cooldown. All of the dodging and weaving culminate in a special attack, the overkill. Ada slows time and gains three empowered dash strikes, which in a nice touch, paints a red cut mark over enemies.

One feature that sets Battle Shapers apart from the rest is that you can choose which boss to take on. Given the nature of roguelites and how replayability is a must, this spices things up quite nicely. Bosses can even provide support for their mobs by deploying various buffs like support drones or land mines.

The bosses aren’t the only ones who can influence the arenas. Ada also has floor hacks, which add further depth to the core system, as some cores benefit more from certain advantages than others. The Strike Core’s ability can only be used after three successful dash attacks, so augmenting the upcoming arena to have instant dash recharges laying about is hugely beneficial.

There are also plenty of weapons, gadgets, and upgrades that you can unlock with cool effects. For example, vibro is a debuff that causes afflicted enemies to share damage taken with other enemies. At max stacks enemies explode, slowing those caught in the wave and applying even more vibro. Unique effects like these are always a breath of fresh air, and many guns come with elements pre-attached. You can permanently unlock weapons and abilities with turinium, which you can get from performing takedowns on low-health enemies. These takedowns also restore armor, meaning there are short and long-term benefits to skillful play!

The levels contain neat world-building details. If you look around, you can see robots being manufactured and presented along with other environmental storytelling details. On top of that, the world responds to damage. When screens are hit, the glass shatters and they go dark. When railings are blasted with a reflective pulse, they are sent flying away. There are also fun little platforming puzzles between combat chambers. It’s clear the devs put a lot of love into the world, which made it feel engaging, and the attention to detail on display is lovely.

It’s not often I play a demo and find myself yearning this much for more gameplay, but what Battle Shapers offers is so fresh and fun that I’ll be counting down the days until its release.

Battle Shapers is currently set to release in Q3 2023.

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