FRESNO, Calif. — Local gamer and rougelike aficionado Chris Mertens quelled fears this week about the infamously difficult Enter the Gungeon, alleging that the game gets a little easier once you memorize every enemy, attack, boss and spawn completely.
“I know rougelikes can feel punishing and random, but don’t worry,” Mertens said. “Around the 500-hour mark, once you peruse the wiki over and over memorizing all the items, stats, enemy variants, and weapons, it starts to feel a tad bit simpler. Oh and also, once you memorize what all the items and weapons do, if you also commit exactly how useful it is in every niche situation, that can help you out somewhat.”
New rougelike player Tyler Falwell expressed his relief at the inside tips and tricks Merterns provided.
“At first, I thought the game was basically completely random, and I was hopeless,” Falwell said. “Once Chris explained that the game isn’t random, it just selects one of six hundred seventy possible generation and spawning outcomes, it made me feel a lot better. Once I have a complete and comprehensive grasp over every possible event that could possibly occur, I might start winning semi-regularly, which sounds great.”
Former Enter the Gungeon streamer Mike Herschell explained how this daunting task is worth the effort.
“Sure, this may seem insane, memorizing every single aspect of the game just to gain a slight advantage,” Herschel began. “But in the end, once you have it down, you never forget it. Unless you don’t play the game for a couple weeks or so, then it all drains out of your memory permanently and you’ll have to cart your sorry ass back to the wiki every run you do.”
At press time, rougelike experts noted that once players have a good handle on a few of the hidden mechanics that the game secretly applies without telling the player what they do or that they even exist, some boss fights may go slightly faster.
Hey guess what? This is sponsored by Devolver Digital! That means you can head to Steam right now and play Enter the Gungeon to experience the pure joy of shooting a bullet that shoots a gun that shoots other bullets to kill a sentient bullet that, itself, is holding a gun and trying to shoot you. It’s very fun.
