Vanilla Angband is still getting updates and feels very polished compared to most variants, the only variants that feel up to snuff with it, imo, are Poschengband (which is way more sprawling) and Sil (which is good but doesn't feel like Angband). In persistent roguelikes, you have to grind as much as you can, whereas in *band, you can grind as much as you want to. In a game with limited resources, you have a pressure to clear out every floor and check every item, but in *bands it doesn't really matter. People say Angband is "grindy", but in a way, that's subjective. A paragraph's worth of "spoilers" will carry you through the whole game if you're cautious. it's totally valid and enjoyable to jump in and play at your own pace. Instead of trying to look everything up, rely on advice of other players etc. You can't build your character wrong or waste some valuable item too early in the game, so you can play however is most comfortable for you instead of fretting over how "optimal" you're playing every step of the way. It's chill and sort of relaxing in the sense that as long as you don't die, you're fine. My first roguelike was Nethack, and I thought non-persistence was really stupid until I sat down and spent some time with Angband. In short, give it a good shot, nothing to lose for sure! Coincidentally this was around the time I started to get invested in some tabletop RPGs as well, so that could have had some influence too. However, I gave Angband an honest shot a few years ago and I loved it as a very deep, thought out roguelike and is now a favorite. Never really used to like Angband, especially the non-persistence of its levels, so I quickly would get bored with it. Overall, my first roguelikes were Nethack and ADOM, and I played them to death. You don't have any restrictions on who your new character is, you really are creating one from scratch, but this knew character keeps the monster knowledge of his or her 'ancestors', which I find has some fun roleplay value from a 'lineage' perspective :) If you die, you can create a new character who is a sort of 'descendant' of your dead character. As your character descends in angband and encounters more enemies, you build some knowledge about your foe's resistances, experience worth, etc. Most angband games generally are a longer feat than some other roguelikes too, and I found myself getting pretty attached to some of the characters that I have played, so obviously some basic mechanics like even permadeath have a large impact as you invest more into character progression.Īnother smaller thing I enjoy is the monster memory. The progression and growth of your character as you continue to build him or her up for the final face-off of the main boss (may differ based on vanilla vs variants) is a blast for me. It's pretty exciting, and definitely satisfying as you equip better items and descend deeper and deeper. When your character gets that "special feeling" about a level, and you start searching for that special artifact on a floor. I know the post is specific to vanilla Angband, and I primarily play a variant PosChengband (love its varied dungeons, enemies, and overall atmosphere), but the same things mentioned above hold true for me too. Disabling resale discourages pack-ratting, and cuts down on town trips (I'd rather go to the town to buy things and restock - not to simply clear out inventory space). The game still has this sprawling feel even when "small levels" is enabled - it just cuts down on exploring empty corridors. Sometimes, I like to enable small levels, and disable resale to stores. You can still get into difficult situations - it's just that this difficulty doesn't usually arise from being rushed forward. Don't get me wrong - it is still a challenging game. You are more-or-less free to decide when to dive, when to return to town, etc., and this adds a sort of meta-strategy to the game. Non-persistence adds to its "sprawling" quality, and I personally like the variety and atmosphere it offers.Īlso, the game lets you set your own pace there aren't really any pressing hunger clocks or anything (food is easy to come by, and easily bought from the town). I mean these in a positive light - they make the game have this "epic" feel to it. Vanilla Angband (along with many variants) is sprawling and long.
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