When comparing HyperRogue vs Vertical Drop Heroes HD, the Slant community recommends Vertical Drop Heroes HD for most people. In the question“What are the best roguelikes/roguelites on PC?” Vertical Drop Heroes HD is ranked 40th while HyperRogue is ranked 73rd. The most important reason people chose Vertical Drop Heroes HD is:
As you play, you randomly find a vendor that sells you a new character skill or passive. Certain combinations of vendor purchases will unlock a new weapon. There are a few weapons that are unlocked by you doing something specific as well.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Unique geometry
HyperRogue takes place in the hyperbolic plane. The grid of hexagons and heptagons and the straight lines which seem to be parallel diverge and never cross and many more unique and unusual geometric shapes.
Pro Easy to get into
A bit like in chess, the basic mechanics are based purely on movement, so no keys to learn. There are no stats, and most creatures are killed with a single hit -- the same is true for the player, but like in Chess, moves which would immediately lead to being killed are forbidden, so the game is over only when you are checkmated. Advanced parts of the game world include lands based on more complex mechanics, and magical orbs which give temporary special powers.
Pro Many different areas
Many areas based on various themes (R'Lyeh, Desert, Overgrown Forest, Living Cave, Palace, Carribean, etc.)
Pro Turn-based roguelike or local coop roguelite
Can be played both as a turn-based roguelike, and as a roguelite with smooth time. Local coop is available in the roguelite mode.
Pro Lots of Unlockables
As you play, you randomly find a vendor that sells you a new character skill or passive. Certain combinations of vendor purchases will unlock a new weapon. There are a few weapons that are unlocked by you doing something specific as well.
Pro Difficulty Ramps Up
At first in each run, it is pretty easy, but gets steadily more difficult as you go on. The final boss is a toughie.
Pro There is progression between character deaths
Vendor purchases and leftover gold from a run carry over to your next character. There are three vendors in the starting area that will take your gold to upgrade starting health, weapon damage, and other things that I don't remember off-hand (sorry!).
Pro A lot of possible character builds
As you unlock more skills, passives, and weapons, your pool of possible character builds goes up exponentially. When you start a game, 3 characters are randomly generated for you from that pool. You can reroll your choices for a small cost.
Pro The Good ol' flash days
If you played the original Vertical Drop Heroes you will surely love the remake.
Cons
Con Strange visual choices
One of the selling points of the game is also one of its biggest weaknesses. For some, it's simply headache inducing to look at.
Con Strange combat
Walking into enemies to attack them just seems strange. You can turn the auto-attack off, but that just seems to make the gameplay even worse.
Con A bit crash-prone
The game can sometimes crash. Seeing as this is a roguelike, crashes can be pretty frustrating.
Con RNG is a nasty mistress
RNG can sometimes give you your favorite character builds, or it can keep giving you your least favorite builds.