Dark fantasy roguelike He is Coming is a modern take on classic dungeon crawling

The term roguelike has become something of a misnomer these days. Once narrowly applied to games which resembled the RPG Rogue, it now applies to action RPGs like Hades and card games like Balatro. Many of these games are fantastic and put the bare bones structure of runs and permadeath to thrilling use. But, if you're like me, you may long for the old school flavor occasionally. He is Coming, the new game from the Manor Lords publisher Hooded Horse, looks to be an updated way to scratch that dungeon crawling itch. If you have PC Game Pass, you can play it right now.

In He is Coming, you play as a hero of the realm, exploring a hostile fantasy world in search of the demon king. With every move on the game's map, time passes. Every three days, a new boss (pulling from a pool of 30 different ones) will begin to stalk you. Each boss has unique properties and dangers, which will force you to change your strategy. The Razorclaw Grizzly, for example, ignores all armor. Will you boost your health to compensate? Or focus in on attack speed so that the boss can deal as little damage as possible? But if you spec too hard into any one strategy, a boss that negates that approach could ruin your day. Like the best roguelike games, He is Coming forces you to think tactically and on your feet.

The combat itself takes a distinctly auto battler approach. You won't be selecting attacks or bumping into enemies (though you can avoid their sprites on the world map). Instead, you select attacks and stats for battles where you have no direct control. This gives the battles in He is Coming a real tense feeling and it can be especially nerve-wracking to run into an enemy which you aren't prepared to fight. One of He is Coming's coolest features is its asynchronous multiplayer mode. In Kingmaker, the builds of other players will wander the world alongside bosses and regular foes.

You can buy He is Coming on Steam for a launch discount price of $9.74 until July 31. If you are subscribed to PC Games Pass, you can download it right now.

If you are looking for more automatic strategy, take a gander at our list of the best auto battler games. If you want more dark and ancient worlds, sneak a peek at the best fantasy games.

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