This Underrated PS2 JRPG Dungeon Crawler Has a Huge Lesson for Modern Roguelikes

Roguelikes have become increasingly popular, with many modern entries giving players elaborate upgrade systems and new ways to build increasingly powerful characters. However, one of the strangest dungeon crawlers of the PlayStation 2 era took a very different approach to repetition. Originally released in 1998 to a mixed reception, Baroque is a deeply unsettling JRPG roguelike that treats death as an essential part of its world, using repeated failures to gradually reveal its mysteries. Its oppressive atmosphere and deliberately disorienting storytelling make it an experience unlike almost anything else in the genre.