Binding of Isaac creator’s next game is as gleefully grim as ever

pcgamesn.com:

Mewgenics, the next game from The Binding of Isaac and Super Meat Boy creator Edmund McMillen, has been a long time coming. First announced over a decade ago back in 2012, it was cast aside as McMillen turned to other projects, before he made the announcement in 2018 that he was returning to the feline turn-based strategy game with the help of fellow developer Tyler Glaiel. Now, McMillen has shown off the most extensive Mewgenics gameplay footage in quite a while, courtesy of a TikTok video.

While the vertical TikTok format isn’t perhaps the best way to check out an upcoming game, everything McMillen has to show reminds me why I’m so excited to see what he’s got cooking. He kicks things off showing the cats he’s currently breeding in his in-game house, where you can see their individual starter abilities and DnD-like stats.

Ready to head out for a run, McMillen puts a collar on each to define their classes – a Hunter, a Mage, a Tank, and a Thief. We also see two other collars, one with a heart (perhaps a Healer) and another with a paw symbol (I’m thinking a Fighter, given the theming). When the run starts, the group is presented with a set of paths to choose from in the manner of games such as Slay the Spire, although some appear to be locked off for now.

Getting into a fight, the grid and turn-based combat is perhaps most reminiscent of Into the Breach – a comparison I don’t make lightly, given how magnificent that game is. McMillen’s Thief has an ‘Alpha Strike’ passive that lets them take an extra turn at the start of battle, and the squad gets to work moving into position and using their mana to clear out enemies.

The battlefield itself can alter dynamically in response to abilities. Patches of grass can be affected