He is Coming — wow. Talk about an unexpected gem. Not to undermine the game’s appealing visual qualities, I was completely unprepared for just how hooked I would get. A roguelike that’s beautiful in its simplicity, He is Coming is sure to charm veterans of the genre, even in Early Access.
He is Coming is a roguelite auto battler set in a fantasy world. The plot is simple: a demon king was defeated by a great hero long ago, but now he’s returned and plans on making sure no hero can rise to defeat him again. You, of course, are the ambitious hero looking to circumvent his promise and save the world from his evil.
With this very simple, straight-to-the-point introduction, you’re thrown straight into the game, described in much the same way. He is Coming plays with a roguelite map generation and progression system where the player navigates across a 2D plane full of procedurally placed monsters, boons, and shops. Each space you move toward—whether it’s your next piece of equipment or your next battle—advances a clock cycling through day and night. Monsters actively seek you out at night, and this continual forward motion eventually leads to a boss battle. Survive the boss, and the number of equipment pieces you can carry increases, enemies get tougher, and you prepare for the next boss. This cycle continues until you reach the demon king himself.
Each combat encounter is an auto battler where your character faces an opponent using three main stats: attack damage (self-explanatory), armor (reducing damage taken), and speed (determining who acts first). Gear boosts these stats and/or applies buffs/debuffs. Any damage taken persists after battles, and your run ends when you die.
Being a roguelite, the game offers progression outside runs. In He is Coming, this means unlocking new items by completing challenges like defeating certain enemies, surviving days, or using specific strategies. This keeps things fresh even after your tenth or fiftieth restart.
Compared to other roguelikes, He is Coming might seem underwhelming feature-wise. And yet, it quickly became my favorite. Something about its core loop—offering plenty without overcomplicating things—mixed with incredible, unique visuals, sucked me in fast. The combination of tight design, fast gameplay, and nostalgia-driven aesthetics makes the game hard to put down. I’m probably going to play more after this review is done.
Something I found disappointing, and oddly out of place for a game built so much on its visuals, was the distinct lack of animations during the fights in He is Coming.
Sure, the game is going for an old-school, 2-bit style reminiscent of the world’s earliest computer games. Everything about the game’s presentation—from the pixelated sound bits to the simplistic design emulating what you might see on a CRT screen—is designed with a clear nostalgia for an older age of gaming. While animated fights might betray that aesthetic, so does the range of color in the game, and I just think it would have given everything that extra bit of flair that it desperately needs. Instead, the 50th wolf you fight will be another case of two pixelated sprites vibrating at each other over and over again until one of them dies. There’s a sense of missed potential there. A little movement, some pixel shake, even minimal visual feedback, would go a long way in bringing those battles to life without compromising the retro design.
Being that the game is in Early Access, players can expect an unfinished product. In its current state, you may find yourself feeling as though the list of weapons, equipment, and progression unlocks feels light, which is intentional. The developers have already made it clear that they intend to expand all of these systems, with items influenced directly by community feedback. That’s an exciting prospect, and it gives the game a living, evolving quality that’s always fun to be part of. Also coming during the game’s promised one-year Early Access period are new biomes, more enemy types, and the demon king himself, who, at the moment, is not yet in the game.
Still, even bare-bones, He is Coming delivers a tight, focused, and surprisingly addictive roguelite experience. It’s not reinventing the genre. Instead, it perfects a specific loop—fast, repeatable, stylish, challenging—with rare design clarity in today’s sea of overstuffed roguelikes. If you’re a genre fan seeking something accessible and visually memorable, it’s hard not to recommend He is Coming.
Pros:
- Addictive, streamlined core loop
- Unique, nostalgic visual style
- Easy to pick up, hard to put down
- Rewarding meta-progression
- Devs are actively using community feedback for upcoming updates
Cons:
- Lack of battle animations makes combat feel static
- Limited equipment and biome variety in the current version
- Demon King and endgame content are still missing
TryHardGuides was provided a Steam code for this PC Early Access Review of He is Coming. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviews page!
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