The Grimdark Aesthetic of Path of Achra
The Eternal Recurrence of Monsters
Some games are frustrating more often than they are fun, but we gauge their value by how fun they are only when they are fun. Most of the time, you die a thousand deaths for just one final moment of fun. You put up with many things that can go wrong and learn to deal with failure, but you don’t stop playing. Path of Achra has become my favourite torture and go-to roguelike. I have died a thousand deaths in the past year.
This post is part of a new series of short editorials that are neither full reviews nor just random rants and opinions. I will do my best to write nuanced and critical appreciations of games that deserve engagement but have already been released, or games that dispense with a full review because my interest is in how much I love the game, even when I actually hate it. So yes, I love and hate Path of Achra so much.
The reason why I keep going back for more torture and death is not the gameplay itself, which is quite intricate but can be played with little effort. I come back for the aesthetic, the grimdark fantasy universe with its own unique ecosystems and bestiaries of monsters and antagonists, from demons and dragons to rats, snakes, and so on and on. It’s a world that feels at once impossible and necessary in fantasy.
Run the Gauntlet in Path of Achra
Before each new run in Path of Achra, you pick a Culture, a Class, and a Religion. There are numerous synergies and combos between these three categories, with each providing different stats from the core Strength-Dexterity-Willpower to various specialised skills and powers based on gameplay style and approach. As the developer admits, it’s a “broken build sandbox.” It’s meant to be broken for the fun factor.
Despite all the complexity, this is a game you can play in the background as an idler while you do other things. It stays paused unless you move in any direction or stand still by pressing space. You go through small levels filled with monsters and fantasy fiends; you use your skills and synergies to wipe them out and take their loot. That’s the short and thick of it. But within that loop there is so much frustration and fun.
Roguelikes are the eternal recurrence of the different: myriad monsters that vary in all the myriad ways they can kill you. But the monsters of Achra are not just unique; they are part of an ur-myth of the ancient Earth, of a time that preceded humans, and the Cultures you pick are part of that mythical ecosystem of creatures, monsters, races, all thrown against each other into this winding path of battles and horrors.
Fantasy is a tenuous science. Clark Ashton Smith conceived Zothique as a deep-future, dying-Earth fantasy realm. The world of Achra takes place in the world of the primaeval Earth before humans emerged, populated with fantastic humanoids and magical beings. These worlds collide as the Earth is not only a passive backdrop, but a character in her own right, scarred by generations of freakish monsters and heroes.
Path of Achra is available on Steam and itch.io. More information is available on the official website.
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