Roguelikes are known for the flexibility of their procedurally generated challenges, which can result in huge differences between different playthroughs. The genre's freeform nature can also lead to extreme contrast between different games, and you'd be hard-pressed to find two roguelikes more tonally dissimilar than Blazing Beaks and Deep Sky Derelicts. Both entered Steam Early Access today, but loosely defined genre aside, they're worlds apart.
Blazing Beaks is a top-down twin-stick shooter strongly reminiscent of Enter the Gungeon, albeit with the kicker that you're all a bunch of birds. I say 'you're all' because Blazing Beaks is largely built around multiplayer. The story mode can be played in two-player co-op, and there are several four-man tournament modes outside of it.
Developer Applava expects Blazing Beaks to remain in Early Access for roughly six months. It costs $10 at the time of writing, but its price "will increase as more content is added." Applava says the current build of the game represents roughly one third of the finished product, with more weapons, enemies and levels to come.
Deep Sky Derelicts, meanwhile, is one you may remember from its reveal last month. Developer Snowhound Games describes it as "a mix of Darkest Dungeon and XCOM with a pinch of Hearthstone and FTL: Faster Than Light added on top," which is one hell of a recipe. A closer look reveals a promising turn-based roguelike about exploring alien ships, hiring mercenaries, and defeating rivals in card-driven combat. Where Blazing Beaks revels in its cuteness, Deep Sky Derelicts finds beauty in grim settings with a layer of details that's as thick as its outlines.
Deep Sky Derelicts will be in Early Access for six to seven months, Snowhound says, and will also be more expensive once it officially launches. The Early Access build—which Snowhound says is "a complete and polished gaming experience," albeit a trimmed one—is $16.
