He is Coming (Synergistic Auto-Battler RPG)
GeForce Now’s weekly picks rarely steer me off the true path, and this one, He Is Coming, caught my eye. Not just for its bargain-bin price, but also the epically ominous art depicting the looming Demon King who plays a role in the story. As an auto-battler RPG masquerading as a roguelike, or lite, what it delivers is surprisingly brainy. The premise oozes with old dungeon crawls in moldy basements, as, the Demon King has returned, and every three days (measured in the game in sun/moon cycles) another of his horrid lieutenants, so to speak, appears to challenge your ascension to glorious power! Listen as the PC-speaker music announces your own coming, as you gather your wits, and your items, to take on the Demon King’s army!
Graphically, He Is Coming appears made in BASIC on an Apple IIe before the Ultima series, but that’s until you discover the beauty of how it works. The first gaming mode is an adventure where you kill creatures, gain gold, gather items, find secrets, and prepare for each inevitable beast (which grow stronger each round) leading up to a supreme boss (who’re absolutely hard as fucking hell). There’s also the “Kingmaker” mode where you run through similar maps to face off against other players’ crafted builds. That brings up the key element that makes this game so incredible. He Is Coming has all the elements of a quick-play RPG, but the real beauty of it lies in the synergies. The inventory boxes on the screen’s left aren’t merely storage slots, they’re an intricate puzzle wherein lies the game’s mystery. The placement of items dictates how they all work together. So, for example, if you have an item in the upper left box that activates once every turn and generates health upon hit, and then an item in the next box that generates armor per health returned, you’ve created a health/armor loop that can be further exploited with more items. Learning how to work this aspect of the game is what makes it what it is, a paradox that’s at once primitive and sophisticated. The blood-churning atmosphere will keep you coming back, but it’s for the tactical depth that you remain, in a quest to become the most unstoppable of forces.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
He Is Coming
Chronocle (developer) and Hooded Horse (publisher)
4.8 / 5
