Into the Unwell Preview: A Cuphead-Like Roguelite That Packs a Wallop

I’ve been dying to talk about Into The Unwell ever since I played it at this year’s Gamescom, and now we’re finally here so buckle up for one of the most bizarre games you’ll ever play.

I love a game with a distinct visual style, or one that adopts an art style we all know and love and reinterprets it into something we’ve never seen before. Granted, rubber-hose animation has been twisted and turned into all-sorts of projects like Bendy And The Ink Machine but I’m surprised it’s not been attributed to a roguelite before, until now…

Into The Unwell, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, is a rubber-hose roguelite that was shown off during this year’s Summer Game Fest, and I vividly remember being in the audience and being blown away by it.

After going hands-on with the game I’m impressed, and excited to see what else lurks down in the Unwell…

As the player you’re tasked with exploring your own mental health and seeking out experts in the field, who are stashed away behind hordes of imaginary enemies and perils. My demo saw me navigate through a world of junk food and do battle with pizzas, hotdogs and other greasy food that might offer a temporary boost in serotonin, but isn’t a long-term plan for a happy life. Different parts of the Unwell fall under different themes, all of which have some link to mental health.

The rubber-hose animation style lends itself to combat well, with powerful but athletic strikes from several different weapons, all of which were unlocked for me for the purposes of the demo. It’s difficult to not draw comparisons to Cuphead in that regard, though from what I’ve seen Into The Unwell does more than enough to distinguish itself from other games in its category. Like every game I play I went for the heaviest weapon in the bunch which could unleash a dizzyingly devastating spin attack for maximum damage.

Coffee Stain Publishing

As a roguelite usually entails, you're also given options during your run, some of which will increase your chances of seeing end whereas others are slightly more risky in what effects they have on your character. Some are legitimately just games of chance too, with one that stood out to be involving a hoard of identical bin bags to choose from, with only a few holding an upgrade actually worth paying for.

The levels themselves are procedurally generated so it’s a roll of the dice whether you get an excellent run or not, though despite my limited knowledge of the game and its builds I still did pretty well for a first attempt, if that’s any indication of the difficulty.

The characters you meet along the way were a real highlight too, all of which were anthropomorphic and weirder than the last. One of the game’s vendors can even be spotted throughout random parts of a run, stalking the player, which was quite disconcerting.

I seriously fell in love with Into The Unwell’s gameplay and art style, and I can’t wait to play more one day. roguelites are great in the way they still offer something even when you’ve finished the main story, and I’ve got no doubt Into The Unwell will keep me playing long after rolling the credits.