You don't see a lot of Top-­Down Roguelike RPGs these days but the devs at My Next Games' are hoping to change that. We last heard from the studio back in October when their title Soulblight was picked up by the Square Enix Collective. Now, according to the Steam page for the game, the project has hit what the team considers an 'alpha' stage, basically meaning that a player can go from the beginning to the end of the game.

For those unfamiliar, Soulblight takes place in a 'wretched world' hiding a dark and powerful secret. A well runs deep in the veins of this cracked landscape and only the bravest (or stupidest) of warriors seek its power. Machinery, mystical powers, and even tears in spacetime litter the road to the center of the anomaly.

Randomly generated loot, enemies, and traps await your conquest for the titular Soulblight. Being a roguelike, the difficulty will not be for the faint of heart. But the game is flexible: you can take the stealthy route and avoid head-on conflicts. Distance becomes a strategy for you to master while you track your foes and keep an eye on your depleting stamina.

The most interesting part of the game is the so-called taint system. As the devs explain:

"Instead of XP grinding, [Soulblight] introduces a unique Taint System. While traveling through the shattered reality of the Sanctuary, you will receive personality traits based on your choices. These will be the main source of your strength. To harness them, you will have to act accordingly. Becoming an alcoholic means that you will be rewarded for getting drunk, but from that point being sober might prove to be unbearable."

Even though the game has reached the alpha stage there's still a lot of work to do. The devs still need to add the extra polish that will make their game shine, especially with aspects like lighting and other design features. Because of this, no release date or price has been revealed for the title.

However, My Next Games' are hinting that they might need beta testers soon so hopefully the unique look and feel of Soulblight will be attainable in the foreseeable future. You can gaze upon the top-down goodness in the trailer below: