Building The Ultimate Feline Lineage
I’m sure many of you have conjured up imaginary universes in your head during the moments between the hustle and bustle of daily life. As you sit daydreaming, “what if?” scenarios come flooding your mind. Now, envisage a world where another species rules, with natural selection and survival of the fittest implemented to the extreme. A land where the furry feline friends we know as cats are the common authority, commanding power, control, and aspirations of a super race. Each kitten is either suspiciously disposed of, or utilised in the systematic breeding which seems to slowly improve each creature from its predecessor… You now have the bizarrely enjoyable Mewgenics.
Mewgenics sees players operate a swiftly functioning base of cats, interconnected with links to shopkeepers, crazy scientists, and many more zany characters all in a cynical style not too far from the old YouTube series Salad Fingers. Your main goal in this off-the-wall roguelite is achieving a lineage of cats so strong they can conquer all land ranging to the moon and beyond.
A Turn-Based System With Plenty To Learn
The title opts for a turn-based combat system as the main gameplay loop; following the conventions of the genre, Mewgenics implements a simple HP and mana system to regulate moves and strategy, with each cat harbouring individual stats. There is plenty to consider: strength, dexterity, intelligence, and much more, with each stat crucial in deciding another key mechanic, collars. These can be viewed as classes, with the typical tank, brawler, and healer roles available.
If all this sounds like a lot… that’s because it is, and it will certainly be daunting upon initial runs as you get to grips with the finer details Mewgenics leaves out. Despite these potential starting struggles, your initial adventure will begin once you’ve selected your first batch of cats to depart.
A Linear World That Slows Things Down
Your journey is presented through a linear over-world of tiles, connected akin to the lines on a treasure map. These tiles can range from boss fights, enemy encounters, random events, or shops; unfortunately this system is one of the title’s only flaws, breaking the pace of Mewgenics’ fast-flowing and fulfilling gameplay. The random encounters, in which your cats react accordingly with their stat levels, never seem to have disastrous consequences, with even the “negatives” providing bonuses or only taking away very little HP. The boss and enemy tiles are rather self explanatory, leaving their implementation questionable when a single button press could take you to the next, and the shops could easily fall into this category too. The best way to describe Mewgenics’ over-world is akin to Slay the Spire’s branching system, if it was all condensed onto one linear line.
Now that nitpicky critique is out the way… wow Mewgenics is simply fantastic. The stage design highlights each strength of the turn-based genre, and with the addition of trinkets, weapons, consumables, and special tiles, the magic of Mewgenics is the gradual understanding and pandering to these little intricacies found in the game, with a unique route forwards for each player, both enhancing the rogue-lite replayability.
Failure Comes At A Cost
Speaking of these roguelite elements, the string holding each of these pivotal threads together is the danger and true impact of messing up. If your team perishes on a run at any point, you will return empty handed and have wasted precious time. The real value to succeeding pushes the stakes to heightened levels, and leaves a lasting impact and dopamine rush when a run does succeed, along with the aid from corresponding food, trinkets, and retired cats brought back to base.
This base acts as the other major hub for gameplay in Mewgenics, being where you’ll breed, dispose of unwanted cats through the “pipe” (a rubbish chute), and interact with friendly NPCs. Think of it as a life-sim in many ways. The reason it works so well as a hub is due to its ability to connect progress and choices during adventures to your breeding and base. Without delving too much into the vastly complex and effective reproduction system, mutations or injuries obtained on runs can be hereditary, creating a lineage of affected kittens from one small decision in an adventure. This sheer sense of interconnectivity between the various systems derived from differing genres, leaves what could’ve been above average elements into a well oiled machine you can only look back and describe as Mewgenics.
A Distinctive Style Full Of Personality
Of course we can’t take away from the impact that the art direction and personality contribute to Mewgenics’ memorable nature, as they keep each new encounter full of excitement, curiosity, or simple disgust as you meet new characters. The grippingly vile character design, rough-edged look to the visuals, or the cynical tone to every line of dialogue (down to me being called out for save scumming as I relaunched my game) are huge players in the aforementioned Mewgenics feel that leave the title so distinct and effective.
I did encounter a couple crashes during my time with the game on Xbox Series X, although they were largely at random and seemed to have no common ground. The only linking factor that could’ve possibly affected this was each crash was following having the game active for long periods and using quick resume, although the overall experience is relatively bug-free.
Mewgenics Is A Feline Roguelite Classic
Mewgenics offers many things: a varied and expansive turn-based combat system rife with tactical possibilities, a roguelite twist that ensures virtually endless replay-value, and a zany personality that cynically shines through the art and characters. Yet it is the complex breeding system, forcing players into deliberate and accountable decisions to engineer the ultimate feline lineage, that elevates Mewgenics from yet another enjoyable gaming experience, to a distinct and timeless one that will be revered as an indie classic in years to come.
Important Links
Build A Cat Army And Embrace The Chaos As Mewgenics Hits Consoles – https://www.thexboxhub.com/build-a-cat-army-and-embrace-the-chaos-as-mewgenics-hits-consoles/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/store/mewgenics/9nn5z9bvrch5
