Conan: The Black Pyramid shoves the titular barbarian into a very Hades-inspired action roguelite with the addition of a few other familiar heroes

Greek heavy metal not included

I feel like one thing I only sort of miss from my youth, viewed through the lenses of those rose tinted goggles, is the established intellectual property game that just copies the formula of another, successful game. Obviously there are plenty of genres that are trendy to imitate, but how often do you see something that's just sort of "thing you know slapped on top of game you know?" Perhaps that's a tad mean, but I do genuinely have a fondness for such games, so I'm quite pleased by the announcement of Conan: The Black Pyramid, an action roguelite RPG that so clearly went to Supergiant Games' School of Hades you have to admire the boldness just a little bit.

Conan: The Black Pyramid puts you in the hotseat as the titular barbarian, of course, but also as other characters from the series like Solomon Kane, Dark Agnes, and apparently, more! So, immediately, a notable enough difference from Hades, and one that seems like a neat take. As one of them you then "Descend into eldritch chambers of the Black Pyramid, a mysterious and dangerous place that defies the logic of space and time. Confront the shadows of the champions themselves and piece together the dark secrets of their past."

Where it is similar to Hades lies in the fact that the titular triangle changes in form each time you go in it, and of course there are different abilities and buffs to pick up along the way to aid you in your quest. Each character has their own combination of weapons and abilities, so it does sound like you can mix it up quite nicely. There is, also, 2-player online co-op (sorry to the couch lovers, I suppose), adding to the ways it differs and making it a tad more friendly for those that have exactly one friend who also loves Conan.

Overall, seems like a fresh enough take on Hades while still trying to find some amount of its own identity. And hey, Hades is great, so I'm never upset about having a little bit more of that kind of game. No release date attached to Conan: The Black Pyramid just yet, but it is planned to arrive sometime in 2027. You can check it out on Steam here.