I won’t bore you with the details, but I have a complicated recent history with sci-fi horror. You see, it has always been one of my favourite genres, both in cinema and in gaming, however, an uptick of personal stress absolutely killed my enthusiasm for getting repeatedly mauled to death aboard some fancy space station somewhere in the darkest recesses of the galaxy. In space, no-one can hear your anxiety.
Recently, something has started to shift for me, and I’ve started to look forward to resuming my often-violent adventures in sci-fi. For example, I really enjoyed Deadzone Rogue, which I just finished reviewing, and up next after this is Moros Protocol, another sci-fi roguelite with similar themes. I even strongly considered writing an article about Dead Space and the design of the USG Ishimura last week, given how thematically similar these games all are…
What is Katanaut?
I name-dropped Dead Space just then, because one of the Eldritch-inspired enemies I just scythed down in my latest run of Katanaut reminded me of the core enemy design of the Necromorphs. The phrase “shoot their limbs off” is still etched in my mind’s eye whenever I recall Visceral’s horror classic, and this new side-scroller is also a game about slicing and dicing the limbs from horrible space monsters!
Katanaut is metroidvania-inspired, certainly, but at its heart this is a roguelite. Not only that, but it feels distinct thanks to the quick run times and even faster swordplay. Developer Voidmaw has prioritised the flow of combat above deep complexity, injected it with a syringe full of proc-gen, and the resulting experience is really quite addictive.
This is actually a very restrained roguelite, and I think that’s to the benefit of the overall experience. Too often we see developers take on too much, but Katanaut is not a vast and sprawling RPG where anything goes, but rather a carefully honed side-scrolling platformer with a limited number of ability slots and an emphasis on creating a cohesive build. So far I have detected zero feature creep.
Cutting the heart of it
The action in Katanaut takes place aboard a space base that has, rather ominously, gone dark. As part of the rescue team, your job is to find out what’s going on. To that end you must head into harms way, armed with sharp sword, and aggressively deal with anything you encounter along the way.
The creatures you encounter are true monstrosities. From twisted minions to gruesome bosses, this is pure sci-fi body horror in pixel form. Torsos split open, tentacles sprout forth, heads roll and turn into little facehugger-like-bastards that scurry all over. It is grim and I love it, and the whole thing is given an extra dimension thanks to the persistent blood splatter that hits the walls after every swipe of your blade.
The soundtrack is also quite good, and reinforces the sci-fi atmosphere with its synth beats and warm futuristic notes. Coupled with the overall design of the enemies, the environments, and the pixelated animations, I’m really impressed and Katanaut speaks to my appreciation of fine pixels and my overall enjoyment of sci-fi horror.
Crafting the perfect build
Although restrained, there is still a degree of freedom in your build. For example, you can start each run with a blade of your choice, starting with a darting attack or the option to parry. Additional variety comes from the perks and implants you have equipped. Then, as you progress your run, you can add two main abilities. Some of these are active, others are passive, and it’s up to you to find a nice balance.
There are syringes all over the place, and these offer temporary stats buffs for that run. Less important in the moment are the memory fragments, which add new perks, items and abilities to the roster, to be offered to you during future playthroughs.
There are portals that take you all over the place, and other portals that spawn in monsters, which you need to shut down as soon as possible. Combat requires constant quick thinking, and Katanaut is the kind of game that wants you to commit to action instinctively, otherwise enemies get increasingly dangerous and more monsters spawn in.
You’ve got a limited-use firearm that refills during combat; another element that pushes you forward into the thick of it. You don’t have much in the way of health, either, and so death and a restart is never that far away. Luckily, the speed of your progress and the limited character building element means that it doesn’t take long before you’re back in the thick of it, trying out a new combo of abilities, and feeling ready to take on anything.
It was the aesthetic of Katanaut that caught my attention, but it was the pacing of the game – both the macro and the micro – that kept me entertained. There are so many good games coming out at the moment, and it’s particularly brave to put out a metroidvania-inspired platformer just a week after Hollow Knight: Silksong, but Katanaut has enough about it to cut through the noise, and I’m glad I braved this new sci-fi horror roguelite.
