The Binding of Isaac is perhaps the greatest roguelike ever made, or at the very least, I wouldn't argue with anyone who felt that way. So when developer and indie-game legend Edmund McMillen said that it was merely a basic roguelike to get his feet into the water before creating Mewgenics, my interest was certainly piqued. But 13 years after its announcement, Mewgenics arrived on PC earlier this year, and there was no way it could live up to the expectations after that long… Right? I'll let it already being my second-most played game ever on Steam behind Isaac do the talking.
Teaming up with The End Is Nigh co-developer Tyler Glaiel, Mewgenics is perhaps McMillen's strangest game to date – which is saying something. Here's the elevator pitch: you breed countless messed up cats in your home before sending them out to war in a roguelike tactical RPG, with classes, mechanics, and stats ripped right out of Dungeons & Dragons. It's messed up, it's hilarious, it's macabre, it's wildly inappropriate, and most of all it's just a phenomenal strategy game.
A run of Mewgenics works like so: you'll make your way through the map of a given area, with each node corresponding to different events, such as self-contained tactical battles, random events which can drastically alter your run, or finding items and shops, before tackling the boss at the end of each area to move on or end your run there. You get to take four felines of varying classes, from your classics like Fighter, Mage, and Tank, to some esoteric ones like Tinkerer, Necromancer, and Psychic.
However, how you breed your cats leads into which classes you'll bestow them with, as a cat's stats are determined by the stats of its parents. The breeding system is very in-depth, taking into account the cat's room, the temperaments of each cat and how inbred the cat in question is. This adds a whole other layer of strategy to the game before you even set foot (paw?) on the battlefield, as you can spend hours of your time pairing the correct cats around your house to craft the ultimate super soldier.
On top of that, cats can have mutations, health conditions, or positive buffs that pass on through generations; you can have a cat with IBS, diabetes, or OCD, and you'll need to decide how you want those conditions to be passed on – because despite the likes of Crohn's Disease being a net negative in general, a lot of disorders can have pretty good synergy (like with the Crown of Feculence item that makes poops sentient teammates).
If you've played Isaac, you'll know that it gets brutal. One thing can destroy a run, and with Mewgenics that's perhaps even more prevalent. The random events give you options, with them being based on your stats. For example, someone with high Dex can sneak around opponents during these scenarios. However, it's possible for one wrong decision to absolutely tank a run for you.
Act 2 really starts to test your mettle as it introduces 'The Desert' as a biome. It's constantly hot, and while dealing with the heat, healing abilities are lessened, and you no longer heal automatically at the end of a battle. This can be offset with water-based abilities or items, so it's not insurmountable, but it's definitely going to be a point of frustration for many, and despite almost 200 hours in-game, I still struggle to beat the Spewer boss fight. There's nothing that ruins my enjoyment, but there's definitely frustration to be found in Mewgenics.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the soundtrack. Isaac composers Ridiculon return with what may already be one of my favourite game soundtracks of all-time. Each area of the roguelike plays with a great little instrumental piece, and when you reach the boss at the end of the area, the song truly reveals itself with expanded instrumentation and the introduction of lyrics.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nintendo-switch-2/mewgenics
