One of the many reasons why I wanted to make the trek up to Boston was to attend PAX East 2024 and get my hands on several yummy upcoming games. One of those games is the currently in-development Dragon is Dead, an upcoming roguelike. After playing a good 30 minutes of the game, I can safely say it’s now on my radar.
When I first hit the show floor, picked up my PAX East goodies, and made a beeline over to the booth to check out the game, I also asked to speak to the developers, who were sadly not on hand. Which was fine, as that meant more hands-on time for me… but I still want to meet with the devs, Team Suneat. So if you see this, hit me up.
Dragon is Dead plays like a traditional action RPG with roguelike elements, handled by the player going left and right to progress through various locations. Action is controlled by the attack buttons, and you also have access to a dodge (on a short cooldown) and a jump. As I played, I noticed I was accumulating skill points, which allowed me to upgrade my character with buffed attacks that included elements such as lightning and fire.
The skill tree was massive, and there are plenty of ways to customize your character, meaning no two runs will be exactly the same. There are also various items, such as weapons, armor, rings, and other equipment that buff your stats. These can be found in chests or dropped by defeated enemies. Dying in the game causes you to lose the points you invested in the skill tree and your current skill points, but you do retain your items.
Looking at the player interface, it slightly resembles Blizzard’s Diablo titles—and it actually functions in a similar way. The red orb on the left represents your health pool, and the opposite orb is your mana. Mana allows you to perform buffed and magical attacks. Run out of mana and you’re left with only basic attacks. Depending on your character build, you can either wait for it to regenerate or continue attacking enemies who are relentlessly hunting you down.
Maybe it was just the PAX East 2024 demo—and I couldn’t ask anyone to confirm—but this game is hard. I’m a veteran when it comes to these types of games, and while I made it further than most people (who ended their demo with a pissed-off look and dropped the controller at the station), I was still being pushed to my limits. It wasn’t easy, and there were a few moments I thought I was done for. I had to start cheesing the game a bit. Even then, the game would spawn super elite enemies with buffs that gave me a ton of trouble.
Throughout the PAX East 2024 demo, I was able to meet various characters, including vendors, people who want to help on your journey, and other useful NPCs. It definitely felt like an action RPG. While it didn’t reinvent the genre, what I played felt really good. It took inspiration from Castlevania, Dead Cells, and similar titles—and honestly, I wish I had more time with it.
Sadly, I don’t have any images to add to this impressions piece, as there was no b-roll or photos being handed out, and my off-screen camera footage was terrible due to glare from the monitors used at the stations. Despite that, Dragon is Dead has jumped up to one of my most anticipated games of 2025. While there’s no confirmed release date yet, the game is targeting a 2024 launch. It will enter Early Access on June 7, 2024, so if you’re interested, be sure to check it out on Steam.
For now, I’ll be heading back to the PAX East 2024 expo floor tomorrow to check out the game some more. Hopefully, the developers will be on hand by then.
