Don't Die, Minerva! - Preview of Xaviant's roguelike

As happened without brakes for the metroidvania market, even roguelikes with the advent of Steam and independent developers have proliferated and multiplied in truly record times. It goes without saying that in a boundless sea like this, finding productions that stand out for their inventiveness, originality and quality is really complicated, because the titles capable of making us jump from the chair are really in a very low percentage. The title we talk about today, Don't Die, Minerva!, is the next in line, who will try to stamp the fortune card. The roguelike of Xaviant comes to us after a substantial update that has fixed several defects previously present, but which above all has gone to add several features and characteristics. So ready to better analyze it in this non-definitive version (the game is still in the Early Access phase), let's find out more closely.

Don't Die, Minerva!

The narrative incipit, at least the one proposed in this version (it is not excluded that a real introductory video exists but not present here), is one of the simplest that can exist: a young girl reaches a decidedly unwelcoming and very large neighborhood , which in a sense resembles all horror stereotypes from the 80s and 90s. Without any particular preamble and a skimpy explanation of why we will have to explore this place, we will be thrown into the fray! Among ghosts, bats, skeletons, rats and all the threats you can imagine can be present in a sinister mansion.

The gameplay is in many ways standard for the genre, with the isometric visual to dictate the law, with particularly large environments where you can neutralize enemies one after another, and an intuitive but somewhat basic character management menu. Even the structure, like any self-respecting title of this type, is based on procedurally self-generated labyrinthine maps, which will make each of our games different from the others. The aim will be to complete all the floors of the buildings, which however require a certain condition to be completed: the collection of a key that unlocks the next floor ... or rather, the elevator to reach it. It will never be too easy, because the levels will be littered with monsters, traps and various sorcery to make you… well, die. At the end of the climb, as expected, a boss, a decidedly more challenging and daring combat than the “simple” plans faced.

Large pockets and batteries

Until recently, our Minerva did not have many arrows in her bow, and already in that way, however, the game was sufficiently enjoyable. With the latest patch in March though, they are truly an avalanche the news and corrections made to the title, which now comes in a more than decent form. To begin with, the little girl who only had a standard attack with the torch and the same aim to illuminate the enemies (complete with a battery that greets us slowly with continued use), now sees 4 new different additions to her arsenal skills in addition to that deafult, which can be traded inside certain rooms in dungeons: attack voltaic, of flame, of ice, and that purely physical to the sound of blows.

Managing the upgrades will also be essential, so be careful to wisely spend the gold and crystals that you will get in the dungeons. Among the most appreciable features, is that apart from the very first jokes of the game, Minerva will have at her side a pet, which in the most complicated cases will be ready to simplify our life. The rough stone is therefore slowly transforming into something more palatable, and the continuos testify to this updates of the team, such as the new monsters inserted, the balances, and the polishing work in addition to the labor file on bugs.

Am I going to the top?

So what's really innovative about this title? In a nutshell not very much, however it is really intriguing and the graphic sector is very accurate, who with a clarity of colors in contrast to the theme, and with the appearance of the protagonist, already lives alone with an innate charisma. Certainly before making a final judgment on Don't Die, Minerva! we will have to wait for the definitive release, but already this build, which continues to lay the foundations, seemed more solid to us than we would expect from an Early Access title. We therefore await the moment of the review with trepidation!