I’ve always had a certain attachment to cartoons and their animation style; mainly the way they can be emotive and full of detail while remaining so simple and elegant. The Swords of Ditto, developed by onebitbeyond and published by Devolver Digital, is reminiscent of that same philosophy. It’s a bright, animated roguelike, styled after classic top-down combat-based RPG adventures. Every run is different from the last?the items you receive, the dungeons and monsters you brave, and even the map itself will shift with each life. You and a buddy can partner up in couch co-op to discover what the island of Ditto has to offer, and what secrets may await.
Each run opens with you, the latest ?Sword of Ditto,? being awakened by a dung beetle named Puku and informed of your hero status. You must then retrieve the sword from its last owner?s resting place and thus begin your quest. From here, you?ll go through four mini-dungeons: two to obtain Toys of Legend, which act as powerful weapons and puzzle-solvers, and two to destroy Anchors. After grabbing the Toys and using them to destroy the Anchors, you?re encouraged to take on the evil Mormo, though honestly you can try it without going through a single dungeon. You also level up each run, granting you more health and more slots for Stickers, which are equippable items that grant small buffs or new abilities. The world grows stronger too, though, and dungeons only open up once you hit certain levels. This creates a scala...