Star Fire: Eternal Cycle was provided to the author for free for the purpose of review.

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Star Fire: Eternal Cycle is a solidly enjoyable roguelike beat-em-up. Its colourful and vibrant artstyle combined with its cell-shaded look is reminiscent of Hi-Fi Rush. However, its fast-paced gameplay is seemingly more inspired by Hades 2, especially its focus on taking minimal damage.

In the beginning, I found the gameplay to be quite fun, but not necessarily challenging. By the end of my first run, I was already wondering if there would be a difficulty increase. I was glad to find that the developers were also aware of this fact; upon completing my first run, I received an achievement called ‘That’s it?!’ A difficulty indicator appeared in the top-left hand corner, now set to level two.

The second level saw to challenge my prior confidence

After the warmup that was level one, the second level saw to challenge my prior confidence. Although I made it to the second boss, I found that I was suddenly not wiping the floor with them — rather, I was the wiped. Quite badly, too.

Still, I can only chalk it up to a matter of skill. Enemy moves were telegraphed well, with clear colour indications of what damages (purple) and shields (yellow) the player. This really helped with overall readability and aesthetic, especially when several flashy effects were on-screen at once.

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To me, the best part of roguelikes has always been stacking upgrades to shape your build around certain mechanics. Popular choices include critical hits or heavy attacks, and Star Fire: Eternal Cycle is no different in this regard. I started stacking attack speed with critical damage; by the end of my run, I was pumping out huge numbers.

Brilliant animations and huge amounts of damage

One feature which I really enjoyed was the Rage mechanic. Dealing damage lets you build up a Rage meter of up to three charges. You can use individual charges for a special attack, or expend all three charges at once to perform unique attacks with brilliant animations and huge amounts of damage. With the right build, these singular attacks are capable of one-shotting bosses.

The Rage bar opens the door to a variety of build styles, further complemented by the elemental upgrade system. However, this does lead me onto one criticism — the overwhelming nature of these different mechanics.

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Being able to destroy or use natural hazards to your advantage would add some extra strategy

Roguelikes often struggle with balancing complexity in their strategic build-making mechanics, which ultimately steepens the learning curve. The complex and layered systems could easily dissuade newer players of the roguelike genre.

The environmental interactivity could also use some work. Being able to destroy or use natural hazards to your advantage would add extra strategy without having to learn any new and convoluted mechanics. This would also allow for more interaction with the beautifully designed environment.

That being said, these issues are very minimal. Hence, I am happy to label Star Fire: Eternal Cycle as an overall extremely enjoyable and well-made roguelike.

 

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