Go! Go! GOTY! 2017: Game Three: Cryptark

• Game: Alientrap's Cryptark
• Release Month: June.
• Quick Look: Here. (Ben/Jeff.)
• Started: 03/12.
• Completed: N/A.

Another day, another Indie roguelike to play for a few hours until I've had my fill. Cryptark follows in the footsteps of the likes of Galak-Z and Nuclear Throne, creating a sci-fi twitch dual-stick shooter with roguelike elements attached to its main progression. In this case, you're taking the time to explore space hulks for alien technology, or at least you would be if you weren't on the clock, completely surrounded by respawning enemies, given only a finite amount of weaponry (it's not cost-effective to pack more, or use the in-mission recharge points), and have ship systems to quickly shut down, each of them presenting an identical challenge each time - the turret system is a giant turret, the lock system is an input mini-game, the cortex core is a big segmented brain to take apart, etc.. Rather than exploring, then, you're pushed to complete levels as quickly as possible by discerning the critical route ahead of time and trying not to die as you go about it. If you do die, you lose money and the cycle continues somewhere else; die too often and it's game over and back to the start with all progress wiped, because it wouldn't be a roguelike otherwise.

I dunno. Maybe it's because the game doesn't run very well on this PC even with the settings turned down low (it's pretty ugly either way, but deliberately so, sort of like Hotline Miami), maybe it's because it's the most stress-inducing game I've played in months, or maybe I'm just worn out on roguelikes after so many of them were released in 2017 and have subsequently found their way into my Steam library, but I didn't care for Cryptark one jot. I can certainly see the appeal for those seeking a challenge and a good top-down shoot 'em up that forces them to think on their feet, prioritize targets, and preserve resources, but it's far too hectic, tough, and anathema to the few aspects I like about the roguelike format: taking the time to explore some randomized hallways for whatever boons and equipment you can use, retaining some amount of progress from one playthrough to the next, and having each run contain enough significant differences to warrant the cyclical model. While I don't doubt Cryptark has no end of curious new enemies to face as you get further into the game and harder wrecks start turning up, the similarities between the first few runs suggests a certain routine that you must always follow: destroy the various cores defending the cortex(es), including shields and alarm systems, and then destroy the cortex, and also maybe destroy some other cores if the bonus requirements demand it, all as quickly as possible with as few detours as required.

Speaking of bonus requirements, this is where the anxiety really starts to build up. You see, your standard loadout of weapons and gear costs almost as much as the money you'll make clearing out these xeno spaceship husks for the scavenging wing of your operation, especially early on. You can either decide to leave less-essential gear like grenades or repair kits behind to reduce loadout costs, which is not recommended, or pursue any number of arbitrary ancillary requests like leaving certain cores alone, depriving yourself of certain pieces of equipment, or making it through the session without taking too much damage. In addition, each hulk comes with a time limit: going over this time limit reduces your income at the end, making it harder to balance the budget. There's no reason for all of this besides making the game more unpleasant (sorry, "challenging"), similar to the "full syncronization" bonuses in Assassin's Creed which were directly linked to the game's progression: if you were a open-world 100% completionist nut, those bonus conditions were psychological torture. Well, maybe not something quite as hyperbolic as that, but they certainly didn't add anything.

It's an odd occasion where I can recognize the quality of a game while disagreeing with almost every design decision it makes. It sort of irritates me on an instinctual level that it exists, because it proves that there are people who come to video games for completely antithetical reasons to my own, thus creating a gulf between me and these hypothetical players that makes me feel quite alone. Sort of a bizarrely emo take on why someone might not like a game I grant you, and I certainly don't begrudge the developers or the game's fans, but it has made me feel a little moody and isolated as a result. Time limits? Unpleasant forced objectives to stay solvent? Losing all progress if you screw up too many times? People actually like all of... you know what, it might be best to just drop it.

So that's Cryptark. I didn't enjoy it. You might. Moving on. (Before I sign off though, here's a sci-fi shooter/action roguelike I actually did like: Cargo Commander. Lots of fun, not too challenging, death's a minor nuisance, similar "professional space hulk scavenger" theme.)

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