I tried the first Izuna and did not find it to my liking. Actually, I was hoping for an experience more like Diablo, and besides the random dungeon layouts, it is not quite that.

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I thoroughly enjoyed the first Izuna game. Waiting for the second to appear in my mailbox right now.

Truth be told, Izuna's a unique kind of Dungeon Crawler. Most of the elements of dungeon crawlers are intact, but the gameplay is closer to a turn-based game, so it'd be a Turn-Based Dungeon Crawler. It's certainly unique, and if you were a fan of the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series, it plays a hell of a lot like that.

It's more than Diablo. Much of the strategy in Diablo lies in customizing skills you have. When you're actually doing battle, it's pretty much just "click-on-everything-that-moves" (or in the case of a Sorceress, _RIGHT_click on everything that moves. Izuna doesn't have any skill customization, so to speak, but instead, you have to think your moves carefully. You want to launch a physical attack? Are you ready to get beat from 3 more enemies afterwards before your next turn? Surrounded? Try to run away, or use some SP to blow enemies away? There's a lot more strategy during gameplay in Izuna than there is in Diablo, and that's the biggest difference I see between the two games.

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The only Rogue-like I really enjoy is Rogue.

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I like the idea of rogues, but usually the game world / characters don't really interest me. I think it's because the dungeons are random. That means only so much characterization can take place.

Will try to get working Nethack on R4DS though. Last time I tried it just flashed some colors and then went to white.

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I think if the dungeon layout is going to be random, then the music and graphics should be random too. Your character's sprite could be randomly assembled from various sprite-pieces and sprite-clothes at the start of the game. Graphics could be randomly downloaded using the DS WiFi. Music could be randomly downloaded, too! And the mood of the music would affect the layout of the dungeon and its difficulty, like Audiosurf! Britney Spears would affect the level design differently than Bach! The colors would then be affected as well, and if you're listening to Mexican music your character will be wearing a sombrero.

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As with every genre, it's all in execution. I find most racing games boring, but I love Burnout; and though I wouldn't buy it myself, I have no problem sitting down to play Mario Kart when I can.

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I played Izuna 1 recently, and its alright.
I much prefer nethack for pc. I tried the ds version of nethack, but it was impossible to read the text sadly.

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Loved Shiren. The first Izuna was pretty good although short. The second has yet to arrive, but I'm sure I'll have a good enough time with that also.

Sega will hopefully announce Shiren 2 before not too long.

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I both like them, and find them frustrating. But that's what really draws me to it. It's the difficulty that I really like. I enjoy punishment :)

As for Izuna, I really liked the first game, but I'm really looking forward to getting Shiren. A little more manly for me...

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I enjoy roguelikes and the Izuna games are especially good. Playing Shiren is an intense experience and I prefer that sort of experience at home, where it's quiet and I can become absorbed in the game. With Izuna there's no real penalty for dying in a dungeon and that makes the game more portable-friendly. I really enjoy feeling like I can easily take on ridiculous risks just for the hell of it. In Shiren, every step is carefully thought out.

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I'm ALL ABOUT the Roguelikes! Rogue and Nethack were among my all time favorite PC games. While there have been many console attempts at this genre, I think the Shiren and Torneko series of Mystery Dungeon games have the balance right. The original Izuna had me hooked but then left me kind of cold once I finally cleared it. I seriously think my BIGGEST gripe with the game was the lack of a high score board (plus the fact that the majority of the game was played with persistent character levels). When I saw they added one in Izuna 2 it was enough for me to give the series another chance (I just want to hurry up through the main story to get to the level resetting 99 floor dungeon at the end).

In games like Shiren or Torneko my favorite dungeons are the big 99 floor level resetting dungeons in which you can't bring in any equipment. While very luck dependent, they just feel like the ultimate game of solitaire where you have to make the best out of EVERYTHING you find. While the "Uber Gear Dungeons" (you don't have a chance unless you bring along all of your most buffed equipment) are entertaining, I found all of the needed preparation to make a viable run tedious. Added to that, there is nothing more "Inductive to DS Tossing" than preparing 8 hours for a run to then lose everything after one wrong move 15 minutes into your run.

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I'm rather enjoying Izuna 1 at the moment. I've already ordered Izuna 2, but I'm worried the childish jokes will eclipse the rest of the fun for me.

It's my first roguelike. From what I've heard, Shiren &co. are much harder because you don't keep your experience/level when dying. That seems like it means you'll be playing the first few levels over and over and over. Not exactly fun I think. At least with Izuna you can make some progress even when dying all the time.

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I was thinking of possibly getting Shiren later today, but the whole die and start again at lvl1 is a big turn off. This can easily break a game and turn off hundred of potential buyers.

I think if they revamped that whole idea into something waaay less punishing they would have a much better game going on. From what everyone tells me, despite its nice gameplay (minus the death) and alright graphics it would be a dissappointment for someone like me whos use to old school RPG formula :-\

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I like them. They're a bit different to "normal" games, and I prefer PC roguelikes to console/handheld ones, but I really do like them. Bought Shiren a while back, and it's pretty good.

Speaking of roguelikes, a glance at rec.games.roguelike.announce is suggesting to me that I should free up some time this weekend...

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I have tried to get into Rouge-like games, but the random elements have always bothered me. Maybe I just suck, and didn't give them a chance, but I have been trying to like them since chocobo's dungeon on ps1. I really can't see why they are so popular. Well, to each their own.

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I tried a roguelike game on the PC. I enjoyed it pretty well, and it's still on my system, but I'm afraid to get back to it now because I got a character up to a higher level than I'd achieved before, then saved -- and I dread loading up the game only to see that character get killed.

My wife tried the game and thought it was great (in spite of the ASCII controls and lack of graphics), but she couldn't stand "permadeath" either. She says it'd be more fun for her if the character could periodically go home and heal, then transport to where he left off in his adventure. (I guess that can happen in some roguelike games).

Overall, I do greatly prefer the single-player gaming experience. I don't do multiplayer. So, roguelike games are well within my area of interest.

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Izuna was my first roguelike, and I really enjoyed it. I just got Izuna 2, and plan to try some more roguelikes when I get the chance.

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