What is a Roguelike?

So if many modern Roguelikes do not possess all these traits, does that mean that none of them are Roguelikes? I would argue no. Rather, I believe the problem is with the definition itself. The Berlin Interpretation was created over a decade ago, and since then the genre has changed and evolved. As a result, the definition is out of date and out of touch with modern Roguelikes and is written far too exclusionary. Many of its factors are either too arbitrary, too vague, or too specific. Additionally, the Non-Modal factor doesn’t even encompass ADOM, Angband, and Crawl, all games which it claims belong in the Roguelike canon. When taken together, this shows that the Berlin Interpretation doesn’t define what makes a Roguelike a “Roguelike,” but rather what makes the game RogueRogue.” Because of this, we have no choice but to reject the Berlin Interpretation and instead find an alternative definition.

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The Nuzlocke Challenge: Personalizing Difficulty

It’s not necessarily about making the game more difficult, rather it’s about making it the right difficulty for that player. When I was playing through my Nuzlocke Challenge, it wasn’t just about making the game more difficult. It was about making it feel new again. It was about changing the Pokémon experience entirely. While there should certainly be self-imposed ways to make a game more difficult, maybe there should also be self-imposed ways of making a game easier as well.

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