Enter VS Exit the gungeon | How do they stack up?

enter the gungeon was an indie game made by the developers dodge roll in 2016. aside from a well-received free game it was their first commercial success after continuously supporting the game and finally ending it with a farewell to arms update they then released a sequel exit the gungeon in 2019. in this video i want to compare the two titles because i feel that there is a fundamental difference between the two games that makes exit the gungeon an inferior game in almost every way in this video i want to briefly review both games then go on about how and why exit the gungeon can't compare to the original despite both still being good products this video is not meant to tear down the sequel but instead just find the little things that's wrong with it so it can become clear how it needs to improve in the updates that are likely to come in enter the gungeon you play as one of the four gungeoneers available at the start and go down into the gungeon you find yourself in a top down bullet hell roguelike items are split up into three categories active items passive items and guns each quite self-explanatory the game has numerous mechanics that slowly improve or unlock new things as you play such as new items or guns to find in the next run or to meet new embassies who can help you on your way since they updated the game significantly since release the amount of content is staggering to say the least according to how long to beat dot com to 100 complete enter the gungeon it takes around 150 hours though if i'm honest i've got that many hours in the game and i'm still a ways away from 100 i believe the most appealing aspect of the game however is its loving references and nods to video games rarely is it ever too obvious or at least in your face about it a lot of the time a reference feels very forced but here it's like a loving little easter egg that fans recognize and those who don't wouldn't bat an eye guns and items referencing things like doom 3 and yarn cat the nes zapper twitch streamers ghostbusters ratchet and plank bloodborne and even the cult classic arachnophobia released in 1990 beloved by all it's genuinely really interesting to read through all the weird bits of pop culture popular or not that are referenced in this game the game has a genuine heart in it between the atrocious gun puns or the adorable animation while people may pick it up for its difficult bullet hell at roguelike gameplay you stay for the creativity and the passion the game shows exit the gungeon has the same basic blueprint with a few notable differences to shake up the experience for one the game is a 2d sidescroller rather than a top-down shooter so the added level of verticality allows for different player movement and different bullet hell enemies rather than running through random rooms trying to find the boss you're trapped in an elevator with a randomly spawning enemies with a break to visit the shop in between each you then go through two more elevators and then fight the final boss the elevators themselves change depending on what character you are since they can rage between you running along some sort of side-scrolling level an elevator with two buttons that you can press to dodge uncommon spikes this is where a majority of variety between runs takes place then all of the mainstays from the last game are still here such as numerous npcs buying the new guns and items to finding later runs all that kind of thing however the largest difference between the games is the gun system and enter the gungeon you would find guns with limited ammo and you'd have your starting gun with infinite ammo however in this one you've only got one gun and it switches every dozen or so seconds this was a type of challenge run called a blessing in the previous game but it takes center stage in this one the system is well adapted and some of the guns have been tweaked to work better in the style there was also another optional original mode out of the most recent update it has the same style as the last game but instead of an infinite ammo starting weapon you have the bless gun so allows you to gain multiple guns while still holding on to your changing gun which doesn't really fit together the gameplay is still fairly tight but has one notable flaw since you're invincible when you're in the air rather than tight bullet hell mechanics to dodge bullets you just have to jump then sometimes bullets just fill the entire screen as pretty much just a roll of the dice whether you take damage during the second you touch the floor or not other than that the gameplay and enemies are still fairly satisfying unfortunately a lot of the creativity shown in the last title just really doesn't show up here since there isn't a single new gun and only a handful of new items it feels a little bit like a rehash the most long-term problem with x of the gungeon is that the experience is exponentially shorter taking from 20 to 25 hours to fully complete the game which i am just a few items away from i do think it's important to mention that this game was never meant to be the same sizes into the gungeon it was actually originally released for the apple arcade only being ported to pc and switch for next year and it only costs half as much as the original now the crux of this video is discussing one specific thing that encapsulates everything great about enter the gungeon and everything wrong with exit the gungeon no matter how much i love them both enter the gungeon succeeds at being a roguelike while exit the gungeon fails at it in enter the gungeon not only does every character have a separate set of items starting gun and final boss but the sheer amount of variety between runs is staggering with nearly 300 items four different extra modes numerous npcs secret flaws and much more rarely is each one even close to being similar the game is a master class of variety and creates a healthy mix of rng and skill the item drops and runes you encounter are completely up to chance but the second to second gameplay is incredibly skill based as the bullet hell genre typically is the game is difficult but it never cheats you out of damage if you're hurt it always feels deserved with many varied and interesting bosses and a difficulty that challenges you every turn the game is an incredible roguelike then when we look at x to the gungeon it falls face-first in this regard not only is the second to second gameplay much more repetitive since the stage stays the same rather than these varied and interesting rooms and enter the gungeon each rune was shaped in a specific way and paired with enemies and specific spawns that can make use of the environment making incredibly engaging gunfights next to the dungeon while the elevators have these nifty little quirks the environment stays the same for each elevator with one exception being the side scroller which spawns new obstacles as you go i would say the main problem with the gunplay is just the random enemy spawn just by shooting up or down with the numerous homing weapons available the enemies will pose you no threat the random spawns lack the quality of the plane spawns in the previous title the next problem comes in the form of the guns themselves not only does this title have less than half the number of guns but because of how the guns switch every 10 seconds you never really familiarize yourself with them in the original it was always fun to delegate which weapons you had to use in the rooms which you would say to the bosses switch to what to fit the situation try and manage your ammo and all this other kinds of interesting things but in this title all that nuance is removed so there's nothing you can do except just move the stick to face the enemy it makes the second or second gameplay feel just so much more empty while still solid the primary gameplay loop is weaker than the last game this is not something because of its lesser content or it just being a spin-off it's the basic gameplay that is weaker so yes exit the gungeon is a worse game than enter the gungeon but i don't you leaving this video thinking that it's a bad one it's still a great game it's more of the thing you'd like if you like the original and it's still a solid roguelike the reason i wanted to make this video was because while i was playing next to the dungeon something just fell off i wanted to organize my thoughts and share them my point was to explore why enter the gungeon fields off to the original and how it can improve not why it's a bad game i'm excited to see what comes next from this developer and i hope that rather than just wallowing in the success of enter the gungeon they channel their undeniable creativity and talent towards something new and exciting thanks for

Channel: TotallyNot

Views: 83,935

Keywords: Video game, Indie game, Indie, Enter the gungeon, Exit the gungeon, Devolver digital, Review

Id: Bn05_2IoaU0

Length: 7min 32sec (452 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 23 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/CookieChokkate]

I have no time to watch the video, can yıu tell me which one do you think is better?