Hello Timehackers! I’m Jun, game director of SlashZero. Our side-scrolling action roguelike has just launched its very first early playtest on Steam last week.
Over the past few days, we’ve received an incredible amount of support and feedback from players. I’d like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to everyone who has shown love and support for SlashZero.
We’re also thrilled to announce that we’ve expanded the test slots, so more players can join in, experience the game, and share their thoughts with us!
Following up on our last message, I’d like to share a few more things with you.
A NEW VISION for Something More Than The Action Roguelikes We've Played
As I mentioned in my previous update, we talked about the game’s core concept and the background of our team. Since the reveal, many players have drawn comparisons to well-known titles with similar vibes, such as Hades, Dead Cells, and BlazBlue Entropy Effect.
And honestly? We’ve poured hundreds of hours into all of these amazing games. But with SlashZero, we want to deliver something more: a fresh, distinct experience for action roguelike fans, one that truly stands apart from these incredible titles.
What Makes SlashZero’s Combat Unique
Some of you have already noticed that SlashZero’s action and combat system somehow feel deeper and more complex than other titles. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it offers far greater room for creativity and expression in combat. On the other, it means you’ll face a real sense of challenge and defeat even from basic enemies, all of which come with threatening, super-armored attacks. If you don’t carefully read their moves, your flow can be easily interrupted — you might even get comboed down by just a couple of low-level foes.
This is quite different from some titles that players mentioned in our community. Take BlazBlue Entropy Effect as an example. It features smooth, fluid action with spectacular visuals and satisfying hack-and-slash gameplay. Combined with build potential, strategy, and support skills from other characters, it creates an unstoppable, immersive combat rhythm.
Let me be clear: we’re not trying to make the game unfairly difficult. Instead, we want to create a experience where you grow stronger with each run, challenge more enemies, and progress further by refining your builds, learning enemy patterns, and exploring your own combo strategies. As I mentioned in an earlier update:“Everyone will have their builds and styles fully decided by their own choice and form different results.” Honestly, the idea for SlashZero first came to me while I was playing Balatro and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The control logic and combat pace of Prince of Persia attracted me a lot. I kept wondering what it would feel like when the combat of Prince of Persia met the roguelike loop of Balatro.
Our Approach to Roguelike Progression
Once the combat design was kind of set, we turned our attention to the roguelike mechanics. Nearly every roguelike fan is familiar with the systems of Hades and Dead Cells. In Hades, you select the weapon before you start your journey and gain more effects and powerups as you progress through each attempt. While in Dead Cells, by contrast, you can swap weapons during the run, then build around your current weapon with items and stat upgrades. Since art style and character design are among our strengths, we decided to lean fully into that by creating multiple playable characters — you choose your characters before each run and deeply build around this character throughout each loop. While as for Temporal Fragments, one of key player progression systems, we took a chance introducing them to SlashZero since it is not a common system in action roguelikes. We hope it can function as 'jokers' granting unique passive bonuses to bring more surprise and unpredictability to each run, rather than just standard stat boosts. Of course, we will continue refining the system and make it even more outstanding for a new experience.
More Focus on Action Roguelike, Less on Everything Else
First, we won’t feature high-difficulty precision platforming in SlashZero, even though it’s a common element in Metroidvanias. Platforming isn’t meant to be a major challenge here — we want movement to feel smooth and intuitive so you can stay in your combat flow.
Second, we’ve designed our levels and maps to be straightforward and easy to navigate, rather than heavily exploration-focused. That way, players won’t get lost or accidentally miss out on rewards.
Last but not least, input system for combat is simple and intuitively directional. To keep the skill barrier low, we’ve avoided complex fighting-game-style inputs. Even players with less technical experience can fully enjoy the game and its action roguelike systems.
Your Support Is The KEY MOTIVATION for us!
Thank you again, from the bottom of our hearts, to all our amazing players! We’ve been reading all your feedback closely, and we will do our very best to keep improving the game. Here are some key areas we’re focusing on next:
Tutorial. We will be improving the in-game tutorial to better explain combat mechanics and systems. For instance, many players didn’t realize that attacks can be charged — and that charged attacks are the only way to break through enemy shields.
Control feels and responsiveness. Several of you have shared your thoughts on dodging, blocking, jumping, and other movement mechanics. Expectations vary widely across games, but we will work to find a setup that satisfies as many players as possible. We’ll also be gathering more input through upcoming surveys and player interviews.
We also noted the feedback for the lack of invulnerability on hit, and we already work on it to provide a better experience.
As for character artwork, game balance, build variety, and other aspects, we will collecting more feedback and addressing those as well.
Finally, a huge thank you to everyone who joined the playtest and has been following us!
Truth be told, our core team previously worked on number-driven, grind-heavy action games — this is our first time developing a single-player action roguelike.
While our past projects saw some commercial success, such as Crystal of Atlan some of you might have heard it before, the tight, responsive action combat system that players loved at first was eventually overshadowed by excessive stats and monetization.
This time around, we truly want to deliver a game centered around action above all else, where you can rediscover and fully enjoy the thrill of combat. We will speed up optimizing the game and plan to launch further playtest alongside co-creation events in our community, listening closely to every suggestion, and working hard to implement the combat styles and build strategies into the game.
We hope you’ll continue to support us! If you want to take part in shaping SlashZero, feel free to share your thoughts and ideas. Thank you all!