Voyage to Farland is a roguelike game designed to introduce old school gameplay to a wider audience by adding animated graphics and a simple control scheme. It takes inspiration from the Japanese Mystery Dungeon series – especially the cult classic Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer with a little Earthbound vibe thrown in as well .
Update 2.2.8 released this week includes improved sprite graphics for monsters and items as well as a new game speed setting.
Voyage to Farland is “traditional” in the sense that it’s turn-based, enforces permadeath and plays out on a grid as the original game Rogue does. But despite being turn-based, it plays at a fast pace giving the player a near platformer feel.
Underneath the cartoonish surface, Voyage is a deep game. When you enter your first “Monster Room” you’ll find that out. The not-so-subtle change in music (a remix of Bach’s Toccata & Fugue in D Minor) will remind you to use every tool & trick in your inventory to survive. The official Voyage to Farland: Guide to Not Dying may help in preparing for monster rooms.
There are also a few more twists to the formula, including “roguelike social networking”, or in normal-speak, a rescue system where the player’s gamer pals can come rescue him or her after they’ve been vanquished.
Background:
Monsters include surly Nosferatus, walking Van de Graaff generators, sadistic cats on Catapults, evil Toy Robots and a strange creature called the Maskcad who removes his mask and sickens the player’s character with his horrific visage. And that’s just to name a few.
Story? Who are we kidding, it’s a roguelike! But since you asked: You are a wandering adventurer, looking for your kidnapped sister. But to find her, you’ll have to overcome the onslaught of monsters in one hardcore permadeath dungeon after another (actually many of the “dungeons” are outdoors). Randomization assures that no two attempts are ever the same. You will unlock hidden dungeons along the way, including The Vial Trial, The Bot Subplot, and The Path of No Return. And never fear, eventually you’ll even make it to “Farland”.
The Japanese console roguelikes are somewhat different from western roguelike games. They’re more animated, with a control scheme distilled down to a few keys that can be mapped to a controller (a feature coming to Voyage soon – for now, players can use Joy2Key). They are charming but deep games and Peculiar Games hopes to introduce western gamers to the sub-genre with Voyage to Farland.
http://www.peculiar-games.com/