This precision platformer uses its monochromatic aesthetic to impeccable effect. It not only strengthens the ‘comic book come to life’ feel the developers strove for, complete with detailed and fluidly animated 2D characters, but the occasional splashes of red and green help to draw your attention to incoming danger, with even bottomless pits emitting a sinister red glow. Being as challenging as it is alluring, you’re going to need every ‘heads up’ you can to survive Gennady’s gauntlet of hazards.
This is one of the easier roguelikes of recent times to describe, but don’t let the simplicity fool you. What we have here is a randomised 2D action platformer in which currency (maggot-like larva) is used at checkpoints to purchase a randomly shuffled selection of perks and trinkets that’ll help you progress. You’re granted a reasonably generous amount of health to begin with, and temporary shields can be gained often – usually just in time for a trickier platforming challenge. One restart is provided, and every stage ends with a three-phase boss fight that has attack patterns you’ll need to memorise and master to succeed.
You play as a gruff, portly chap in his boxer shorts attempting to escape from an alien meat factory, with a couple of friendly NPCs filling the role of shopkeepers. Your actions are limited to double jumping, punching, and dashing. Precision is called for constantly, and thankfully, the controls are responsive throughout. Additionally, there’s a rage move that allows you to let off some steam and blitz through a section, manically destroying the copious ‘bio blocks’ that the world is partly formed of. Combat plays a reasonably large part, with enemies patrolling areas and quick to react to your presence by either homing in or lobbing projectiles. The dash move can be used to barge them into goo or bottomless pits, and they’re susceptible to strolling into crushers and lasers too, some of which can be activated using switches.
While the variety of perks is modest, they can be useful, helping in varying ways. Examples include a triple jump, embellishing the dash with flames, bigger fists for longer-range attacks, the ability to summon a flying chicken when low on health, more luck (ergo more loot boxes) and a stronger ground pound. Additional health can be purchased too, and every so often you’ll come across a box containing a couple of random items. So, it isn’t as if you aren’t thrown a (chicken) bone every now and then.
Stages – which later include a forest escape – are formed of randomised sections, and as such, start to become recognisable over time. Many sections have top and bottom routes, with some being easier than others, and hidden larva stashes are common. You may have to navigate a maze while a laser moves vertically, leap from one single block to another, enter a chamber with numerous enemies, or dash through a long parade of crushers. The developers were clearly aiming for a ‘hard yet fair’ ethos, as blood stains will warn of pop-up spike traps, and objects off screen emit a glow to prevent leaps of faith. The flying drone enemies can be pesky though, homing in with barely a second of notice, and if you happen to fall into a screen-spanning bottomless pit you can potentially lose multiple health points while frantically boost-dashing to safety.
One of the more peculiar design decisions here is the checkpoint system. This isn’t a ‘one life per run’ roguelike as you’re able to restart from a checkpoint at least once. The weird thing about this is that all your perks and currency are lost. If you’re at the last checkpoint, there’s no means of stopping at a shop. Time and time again, I managed to gain a couple of choice perks to help tackle a boss, only to die and lose them, resulting in facing a boss with no boons. As there are no permanent upgrades either, Gennady isn’t exactly the best at the whole ‘carrot on a stick’ thing, only letting you carry a chunk of currency over from one run to the next – gained by playing a rather skill-less shooting gallery. There are a few extras for those wanting to become truly invested, such as unlockable comic book pages and a bestiary to fill, but these aren’t exactly rewards for your toil.
Gennady won’t ever give you the keys to its kingdom and let you dominate, forcing you to make do with the tools and skills you’re provided with while learning its branching routes. It’s an experience that calls for determination that can be addictive in fits and starts, but not everyone seeking to take on its herculean challenge will end up wholly consumed. For that to happen, you may have to psych yourself up to see it through to the end. Only those with guts (and perhaps a strong stomach) need apply.
Feed64’s Gennady is out now on all formats. Published by Vsoo Games.