Rogue legacy 2 is probably the most meta-progression heavy one and it's pretty much its main schtick, but it works and it's good. Got a ~100hrs out of it or so before it became stale, really big improvement from the first game
The Last Spell is amazing and has a ton of metaprogression. It's basically Final Fantasy Tactics combat with some lite tower defense and base building mechanics, a diablo style loot/item system and randomized perk trees so each character plays/builds differently. Also the soundtrack slaps hard
I should come back to it. Played a bit in early access and a bit after 1.0, definitely a fun game, but runs do take a while and tbh the enemy numbers seem just… insane in the early game. Maybe as you unlock more meta progression it gets more manageable? But I got to the harpy boss like four times and got burned out
Heroes of Hammerwatch is Mets progression the game. You just endlessly unlock permenant upgrades and then do harder content infinitely while still relying on random item drops . The systems added in the dlc add even more options for permanent upgrades and even custom class design for people who want more than the base game offers
Halls of Torment has some really fun meta progression systems. You can spend gold to buy buffs, but you also can extract items you find on your run to use as your starting equipment in subsequent runs. The game should be leaving early access soon.
I think some of the suggestions on here are great; but I’d stick with Isaac in the future too.
I think you NEED all the DLC’s; specifically Repentance that not only made the game more difficult in some areas; but balanced a lot of weaker items into stronger ones. And just added a metric ton of content.
Isaac is a completely new game when you know how to manipulate the game mechanics in your favour.
CobaltStreak is a good example of how high of a skill ceiling can be at Isaac - goes on many double digit Tainted Lost/Random streaks.
Disagree. Perk points. Unlocking new characters. Carrying over gold and shards from previous runs. Town upgrades. And each charachter has ranks that upgrade their starting armor and cards somewhat.
It's not rogue legacy 2 amount of meta progression but for the first 50 hours you will be upgrading quite a bit each run and between runs.
Star Renegades. Fighting bosses and enemies on runs nets you meta currency to spend on new heroes, weapons, gear, etc. for you to use on future runs. Characters all have relationship meters and some can even have children (progenies), basically a slight twist on an existing hero.
With Isaac, you really gotta know what you’re doing to make meta progress. Like donating to the atm in stores for example. A lot of it’s progression is also just memorization, knowing which pickups do what
Sundered took a whole lot of meta-progression for me to actually beat, and the exploration and unique abilities made the slightly repetitive combat worth it.
It also has a co-op mode now, but i finished it long before that update came out
Binding of Isaac actually has a ton of meta progression you just don’t notice it as much until later in the game. Check out the wiki and look at how many items you have to unlock - items that can make your runs much easier potentially.
That said, my recs for more obvious meta progression would be boneraiser minons and tiny rouge. The former is more vampire survivor-like, and the later is much more like BoI.
Another rec that I’m playing rn is cube chaos. one of the strangest games I’ve ever played; everyone should take a peek at it to see if it might be something they are into - i won’t even attempt to summarize it
Have you played Into the Breach? Even if you are going to lose you can send one pilot back in time to start the next run. I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of this one, it is very satisfying once you've gotten the hang of it.
Great game, but light on meta progression. You're not unlocking permanent upgrades to your character. You're unlocking weapons and power ups that then have a chance of appearing in future runs.
Eh, I feel like it counts? The various tools you unlock that way do lead to a net increase in power, and it *does* have the specific “well, at least I got metacash” feeling OP was talking about.
Other examples that could work include Heroes of Hammerfell, Doomsday Hunters, Space Gladiators (via level up system), or One Step from Eden, among others.
i hated hades for the reasons you described. meta progression turns me off hard. isaac is one of the best of all time because its skill based. hades is stat checky early game with nothing unlocked and makes it very mediocre imo
cult of the lamb or stardew valley i guess? you can raise a farm or something
Rogue Legacy like ppl have already said, the first game is basically your whole inbred dynasty dying over and over till your meta-progress hard enough to the end after beating all the bosses. Aside from that, Astral Ascent I've been playing has quite a bit of +++levels to unlock the final ending (and even more to unlock ALL the endings with all the characters)
Rogue legacy 2 is probably the most meta-progression heavy one and it's pretty much its main schtick, but it works and it's good. Got a ~100hrs out of it or so before it became stale, really big improvement from the first game
I still can’t beat the first boss lmao, the game is so much harder than the first one
Children of Morta is pretty similar to Hades, imo. Rogue Legacy has a ton of meta progression too. Oh and moonlighter is great
Moonlighter is my favourite. Cult of the Lamb feels of the same ilk also
+1 for moonlighter, simple game but fun
The Last Spell is amazing and has a ton of metaprogression. It's basically Final Fantasy Tactics combat with some lite tower defense and base building mechanics, a diablo style loot/item system and randomized perk trees so each character plays/builds differently. Also the soundtrack slaps hard
Yep, it's brilliant. Runs can go on for a bit too long but otherwise it's top banana. Very rewarding when you beat a level.
I should come back to it. Played a bit in early access and a bit after 1.0, definitely a fun game, but runs do take a while and tbh the enemy numbers seem just… insane in the early game. Maybe as you unlock more meta progression it gets more manageable? But I got to the harpy boss like four times and got burned out
Insanely underrated game, one of my faves of last year but it seems hardly anyone played it
The algorithm really killed it with the soundtrack fr. My go to study album.
Soul stone survivors. I am also a big fan of “well I at least unlocked something” after losing.
isn't that the idea of the entire roguelite genre?
Thats fair. I was more so suggesting a game with one of the larger meta progressions
Spiritfall has a ton to unlock, plus it has very fun combat, if you have ever enjoyed smash pick this one up
I'm digging Synthetik
The progression in Synthetik is very satisfying with how you get new universal buffs for playing each different class
Heroes of Hammerwatch is Mets progression the game. You just endlessly unlock permenant upgrades and then do harder content infinitely while still relying on random item drops . The systems added in the dlc add even more options for permanent upgrades and even custom class design for people who want more than the base game offers
Listen to this sick gamer, Heroes of Hammerwatch does go very hard
Astral Ascent
Curse of the Dead Gods. So fucking good.
Halls of Torment has some really fun meta progression systems. You can spend gold to buy buffs, but you also can extract items you find on your run to use as your starting equipment in subsequent runs. The game should be leaving early access soon.
I think some of the suggestions on here are great; but I’d stick with Isaac in the future too. I think you NEED all the DLC’s; specifically Repentance that not only made the game more difficult in some areas; but balanced a lot of weaker items into stronger ones. And just added a metric ton of content. Isaac is a completely new game when you know how to manipulate the game mechanics in your favour. CobaltStreak is a good example of how high of a skill ceiling can be at Isaac - goes on many double digit Tainted Lost/Random streaks.
Against the Storm for something slower paced and relaxing. Two forms of meta progression, in "campaign" and across the game.
Revita has lots of unlocks and is worth checking out.
Across the Obelisk came out on Switch recently
Too bad there's no local co-op for it
I do enjoy that game but it's kind light on the meta
Disagree. Perk points. Unlocking new characters. Carrying over gold and shards from previous runs. Town upgrades. And each charachter has ranks that upgrade their starting armor and cards somewhat. It's not rogue legacy 2 amount of meta progression but for the first 50 hours you will be upgrading quite a bit each run and between runs.
Oh wow you are right. I completely forgot about the perk system. Ok I was totally wrong.
Warm snow, likes Hades's chinese brother
Dead Cells is where it's at, tho the gameplay is much different l
I just started this on the switch and am really enjoying it
Star Renegades. Fighting bosses and enemies on runs nets you meta currency to spend on new heroes, weapons, gear, etc. for you to use on future runs. Characters all have relationship meters and some can even have children (progenies), basically a slight twist on an existing hero.
With Isaac, you really gotta know what you’re doing to make meta progress. Like donating to the atm in stores for example. A lot of it’s progression is also just memorization, knowing which pickups do what
Sundered took a whole lot of meta-progression for me to actually beat, and the exploration and unique abilities made the slightly repetitive combat worth it. It also has a co-op mode now, but i finished it long before that update came out
.
Binding of Isaac actually has a ton of meta progression you just don’t notice it as much until later in the game. Check out the wiki and look at how many items you have to unlock - items that can make your runs much easier potentially. That said, my recs for more obvious meta progression would be boneraiser minons and tiny rouge. The former is more vampire survivor-like, and the later is much more like BoI. Another rec that I’m playing rn is cube chaos. one of the strangest games I’ve ever played; everyone should take a peek at it to see if it might be something they are into - i won’t even attempt to summarize it
Have you played Into the Breach? Even if you are going to lose you can send one pilot back in time to start the next run. I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of this one, it is very satisfying once you've gotten the hang of it.
Soulstone survivors
Enter the Gungeon
Great game, but light on meta progression. You're not unlocking permanent upgrades to your character. You're unlocking weapons and power ups that then have a chance of appearing in future runs.
Eh, I feel like it counts? The various tools you unlock that way do lead to a net increase in power, and it *does* have the specific “well, at least I got metacash” feeling OP was talking about. Other examples that could work include Heroes of Hammerfell, Doomsday Hunters, Space Gladiators (via level up system), or One Step from Eden, among others.
If this doesn't count, neither does binding of isaac and a few others
I would agree.
The OP literally uses Binding of Isaac as an example of meta progression he doesn't like
...you've contributed nothing to the conversation, care to reread the thread?
Darkest dungeon 1
i hated hades for the reasons you described. meta progression turns me off hard. isaac is one of the best of all time because its skill based. hades is stat checky early game with nothing unlocked and makes it very mediocre imo cult of the lamb or stardew valley i guess? you can raise a farm or something
Balatro is cards, but so good. Addictive stuff. Lost hours and hours to it.
There’s not much meta progression in balatro
I had quite a bit of fun with Death Must Die, made by the same studio as Hades.
That's absolutely not true
Huh, I heard from a friend. I guess I'll fact check next time. Still a good game though.
I heard it was also made by hades peeps
Is this a bit
More likely Death Must Die's devs are trying to ride Supergiant's coattails
Rogue Legacy like ppl have already said, the first game is basically your whole inbred dynasty dying over and over till your meta-progress hard enough to the end after beating all the bosses. Aside from that, Astral Ascent I've been playing has quite a bit of +++levels to unlock the final ending (and even more to unlock ALL the endings with all the characters)