fridgeboy @TracyDMcGrath I listened to a podcast ep recently on this subject. Basically it’s this guy Raigan Burns, actually one of the designers on the N series of games, criticizing the use of the term “Roguelike” for Spelunky and its descendants, vs. some other people who think it’s OK to use it that way.
https://eggplant.show/11-taking-back-roguelikes-with-raigan-burns
As the episode demonstrates, at a certain point the conversation can’t really move beyond “well why do you care so much dude” vs. “because they’re NOT like Rogue!”
Honestly it all seems hopelessly pedantic to me, though respect for Reagan for going on the pod 3 vs. 1 and shooting his shot. Raigan mostly seems irritated that Rogue is associated in any way with a game like Rogue Legacy, which is at the extreme end of the lite spectrum of the genre in giving the player persistent health upgrades and stuff. Hades is similar.
Actually just thinking now about how mad some people must have gotten about a “Roguelike” with persistent upgrades being nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards lol