CRYMELIGHT, an Alice-themed roguelike developed by FuRyu, is set to release on November 5. The game features a deck-building mechanic where players collect playing cards during combat to enhance their abilities by forming various hands.
Based on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, CRYMELIGHT combines bishoujo character design with roguelike gameplay. Players must repeatedly enter and exit Wonderland, progressing through the story while completing a series of battles.
During the roughly 30-minute demo provided at Gamescom, the game introduced multiple systems in succession, revealing content that was more complex than players had initially anticipated. The core gameplay loop requires players to defeat enemies and collect cards, with each card providing different buffs; combining them into a hand can further amplify their effects.
During the demo, one set of cards added a bomb effect to dodge actions. Each time the character dodged past an enemy, an explosive would be left on the field, supplementing damage output. As players acquire more cards and abilities, their character's strength gradually increases.
In addition to standard attacks and movement, characters can perform grab moves to throw enemies to other locations on the screen. Demo participants felt that the combat and movement controls were slightly stiff, a sensation potentially exacerbated by the papercraft-style visuals, though progression through deck-building remained quite noticeable.
Described as a spiritual successor to CRYSTAR and CRYMACHINA, the game does not require prior knowledge of these titles. Its main visual highlights include character portraits, character designs, and the Alice theme. Whether the full deck-building system can maintain variety throughout the entire playthrough remains to be seen after launch.