Roguelike meets PvP…Relodian, arriving at Steam Next Fest
Designed with experimentation in mind, the hybrid action expands to include PvP, increasing the fun factor.
South Korean indie game developer Bucketplay (CEO Hyun Ho-jin) has released a demo of its new action roguelike title , Reloadian, during Steam Next Fest (February 23rd – March 2nd) . Next Fest is Steam’s flagship event where demos of new games are available for free from around the world and developers stream and provide feedback.
[Related article: Roguevania genre new title ‘Relodian’ focuses on fans through PS5 open beta]
Adding ‘cooperation’ and ‘competition’ to the roguelike’s growth.
“Relodian” is an action roguelike game based on fast-paced combat and game-changing progression choices. Its Steam store page highlights “intense combat,” “creative build experimentation,” and both solo and online co-op as key keywords.
Bucket Play has already conducted a surprise open beta for PS5 from the end of 2025 to the beginning of 2026, and stated that they have seen positive responses to the “action feel, battle tempo, and cooperative experience” even in a short period of time. They also explained that they are developing the game in a direction that ultimately supports a wide range of features, including PC, PS, and Xbox cross-play cooperative dungeon exploration and PvP battle mode .
Three modes, fun with different strategies
In single-player, each game offers different growth options and weapon combinations, significantly altering your combat style. Rather than simply clearing stages repeatedly, each build offers a completely different experience. Therefore, experimenting with builds and finding the optimal combination becomes a key motivator, rather than simply clearing the stage itself.
Cooperative play differs somewhat from the typical role-based structure. Rather than simply dividing into tanks, dealers, and supporters, teammates prioritize “sharing timing.” Tanks control the flow of battle, while dealers focus their firepower at crucial moments. Depending on the chosen deck, the strategy can shift from prioritizing survival to aggressive, short-term bursts of damage.
The PvP mode is designed to prevent a fixed meta from taking hold. Each round offers a random weapon and deck, making it difficult for a specific build to gain an absolute advantage. Furthermore, a differential scoring system is applied to each round, with the first player to reach 100 points winning. The game’s defining characteristic is that, depending on the perfection of the build and the round’s management, a late-game comeback is quite possible.
Demo Reactions: “Great Speed” vs. “Needs More Balance”
Since the demo was released, feedback has been rapidly pouring in from the Steam community. Reactions are largely divided into two categories: The speed of movement and attacks, and the tempo of the battle itself, are both satisfactory. There are opinions that adjustments are needed for the gap in dash (evasion) and guard (defense) efficiency, balance of specific weapons (great swords), stamina recovery, and UI convenience.
In fact, one user commented, “The movement and attack speed are good, but I’m concerned about the balance,” pointing out that the invincibility time after dashing is excessive and that guard-focused builds are relatively unappealing. Another user also commented that the greatsword feels overpowered compared to other weapons .
On the other hand, connectivity issues were also mentioned. When a post complained that the demo “was difficult to play because it couldn’t connect to the server,” the developer immediately responded, stating, “It’s currently working properly.”
The developers’ quick response: “Dash invincibility nerfed, difficulty leveling refined.”
What stands out is the developer’s speed of response. In a community thread, the developer addressed criticisms regarding dash and guard, stating, “Dash invincibility is too strong, so we plan to nerf it.” They also stated that they are designing guard-focused codexes (builds) to allow for tanking in party play . They added that they will continue to adjust weapon balance (including greatswords).
They also shared their plan to further refine the difficulty range (Easy-Normal-Hard) based on user feedback and increase variability (random drops/modifier options) to allow players to feel the differences in weapons and characters more clearly.
Afterwards, when a user who played additional games left a review saying, “The normal difficulty is appropriate and the balance of the greatsword seems to have improved,” but also suggested additional improvements such as the slow stamina regeneration speed and the low maximum level of the codex, making it easy to ‘unintentionally’ max it, the developer responded, “We are monitoring with PvP balance in mind, and we will improve the related experience in the next patch.”
“We’ll break the fixed meta”… PvP integration is key.
“Relodian” has a clear goal in mind. While transferring roguelike build experiments to a competitive environment can increase the fun, it also drastically increases the difficulty of balancing. Consequently, discussions about “dash invincibility/stamina/weapon balance” are rapidly spreading in the community.
However, the fact that the developer has opened a channel for feedback and is relatively transparent in sharing patch directions is a very positive factor. The Steam store page also explicitly lists online PvP, online co-op, and cross-platform multiplayer as features, demonstrating the developer’s commitment to seriously refining the “multiplayer” aspect.
“Relodian” is an ambitious title that combines roguelikes’ signature build experimentation and fast-paced combat with co-op and PvP. This Steam Next Fest demo is the first stage to test its potential. It remains to be seen how finely user feedback can be refined and translated into perfection, and whether the game can convincingly achieve its goal of a “competitive roguelike without a fixed meta” through actual play.
Steam Store Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3125690/RELOADIAN/
