So, my group has recently tried Ignite the Depths demo, and now we’re looking for something else to scratch that itch.
Most of the time 2-4 of us will play at once.
In case you haven’t read the community name, it has to run on Linux, I don’t have Windows installed and another member plays on Steam Deck. Whether the game runs through proton or natively doesn’t really matter.
Our schedules don’t match too often, and we usually use it to play TTRPGs, which means we generally don’t play all at once, so a tens of hours long campaign would be hard to play without someone having to grind up or fall behind.
Suggested games don’t have play too similar to Ignite the Depths, we find the combat too simple, but we’re looking for RPG elements like classes we could choose before starting a run and level up on the way.
There was also not enough variety among the enemies and locations, bu Ignite the Depths devs will probably add them along the Early Access.
AFAIK we don’t have any more strong combat preferences regarding tempo and pace, so we’re fine with, for example, something closer to Dark Souls series.
We’ve tried playing with friendly fire on and off. Playing with it turned on was harder, but we enjoyed the additional communication challenge.
Any sort of in-game story end goal would be a huge advantage. It’d help a lot with bringing us back, and convincing me - the group’s rogue-like hater. BTW if you’d like a deck builder rogue-like with a really good story, try Chrono Ark.
And now, the personal preferences you can treat as a bonus:
Me
- progress even on the worst runs
- flashy combat, as long as everyone can see what happens; I know it’s hard to do in multiplayer
- low on progress-blocking grind
- core class gameplay doesn’t change depending on the loot - see Loop Hero, you can focus on certain aspects of the class, but no matter what you pick, necromancer will summon minions to fight and tank for him
Member 1
- low price, short on money for the next month or two, but we’d rather wait than waste our time on a mediocre Free to Play
- magic restricted to certain classes, low availability of elemental weapons and such (might conflict with Member 2’s preference)
Member 2
- loves magic, more = better (might conflict with Member 1’s preference)
Member 3
- likes dragons - they didn’t express it, but I know them well enough I included it
Other people have not specified any special preferences.
One game we’ve found interesting, but haven’t bought yet, is Elden Ring Nightreign. Seems to check most of the boxes. Still, more options to choose from would be nice.
Far, far west has been more enjoyable for our group and scratches the itch left by helldivers. We have similar skill gaps and with the variety of weapons and spells, any player can still feel like they’re contributing. Plus death is not as punishing; there’s no maximum respawn and you can still move and attack while you’re dead! This also allows you to run to your teammates for a revive.
Gunfire has multiple classes to pick from and I feel is similarly forgiving. I will say that the early game might feel like a bit of a grind as you work to have enough in-game currency to unlock things.
Once that is done, the variety of choices during a run allow each player to work toward mechanic and while there is synergy between some classes and builds, the game does not punish you for NOT pursuing those. So it isn’t crunchy tactical like xcom might be, but it still requires coordination at higher difficulty levels.
I have about 500 hours played in gunfire and they continue to have engaged road maps and interesting DLC that keeps me coming back.
Would agree about StS2. Our group had a bunch of fun while we each tried the different classes. Now that we have most of the content unlocked, we stopped playing to wait for the final release.
Hope that your group jives with some of these and have fun gaming!