Into the Unwell Is Like a Chaotic 3D Cuphead in Roguelite Form

I think fans of combat-dense action-roguelites will have to splash around when they dive Into the Unwell. Its elasticky, sometimes grim slapstick humor brings a one-of-a-kind energy to a familiar-playing game, but looks aren’t the only thing that makes it stand out. Combat has a distinctive weight that translates the old-timey animation style into gameplay well. Mix that with the myriad ways you can customize your run, from individual perks and traits for both weapons and characters, and overarching upgrades that give you a sense of overall progression, and this peculiar brawler becomes surprisingly difficult to put down.

A regular round of Into the Unwell is pretty recognizable to anyone who’s played a run-based roguelite before. You travel from zone to zone, smashing enemies and collecting loot, before moving on to a new zone to do it all again. Each zone type has its own predictable end goal, like guaranteed health bonuses or a larger than normal cache of currency (teeth here) as the prize at the end. Pass through enough zones, and you’ll meet a snarling boss primed to send you back to where you came from.

I liked the key ways that Unwell breaks up this formula a bit. For one, each zone has the potential to have small platforming puzzles for chances at extra loot. I’d look away from the path to the next fight and see a precariously tower of cans and wonder, “Can I climb that?” and the answer would be “yes” rather often. There’s also a smattering of special rooms, like a bar where you can spend your teeth on health and items, a mosquito’s shack where you can buy items with your health instead, or a slot machine where you can risk all your money for lavish rewards.

The most arresting and stand-out thing going on in Unwell is the way it looks and sounds, of course. The rubber hose, Fleischer Studios-style animation that had a sort of revival after 2017’s Cuphead is brought into the third dimension here, and is maybe even more evocative and energetic. From the three playable characters I could choose from – a mangy two-toned cat, a duck in despair, and Rooster that has seen better days – to the various inanimate objects given life as enemies like angry truck tires, everything is teeming with a chaotic liveliness.

It’s also smothered in dark humor. The overall story involves your character struggling with their mental health, and a very Satan-like creature pretending to be a doctor encouraging you to dive deeper into your consciousness, given physical form as the Unwell, to get to the root cause. The environments of the dungeon are built from and teeming with vices. Beer cans create walls and towers around the stages. Junk food makes up the bulk of the fodder you’ll brawl with. Balancing a game that's fun on top of what can be a thorny subject is a challenge that the developers find worth taking up. They told me that these characters are all struggling with something, and that struggle is often in conflict with a person who is powerful and constantly fighting with their demons to regain agency over themselves. A person can be having a tough time and still have fun and tell jokes. Unwell is sort of a manifestation of that inner struggle, and its quirky personality is a byproduct. “We want to give power to the powerless.”

The mid-30s style lends a sort and snap and weight to the combat of Unwell. Heavy attacks have a satisfying “stretching and pulling against gravity” feeling that adds that sense of power that makes these blows really land. Each weapon exploits this style in their own ways as well, while also falling into archetypes that will be easy to identify for avid action gamers despite being odd objects to slay your personal demons with. A big lint-covered lollipop as your sword, two pairs of fishbones as dual blades, a big creamsicle as the large great weapon, etc. Smashing enemies with these accumulates a stagger meter on them, which stops them in their tracks for a brief time when filled. They can then be kicked, either into walls, other enemies, or off of the platform and into the watery abyss below – an option I never passed up when it was available.

Besides light and heavy attack strings, weapons have unique special abilities that can really help keep the escalating numbers of baddies at bay. The mop, a normally jabby longer range spear-like number, can make a copy of itself to stick in the ground, bending and snapping itself to hit enemies in its range while you handle business elsewhere. The big creamsicle lets you spin like a depressed BeyBlade, sucking enemies into your vortex to get slapped around. All of these unique abilities can be altered or changed entirely, and passive traits can be earned during runs making each one potentially different in meaningful ways.

Enemies that spawn on each of the Unwell’s islands aren’t particularly difficult individually, but in groups they can really challenge your reflexes. There's always one or two priority targets that you want to scramble to eliminate first while the rest of the fodder gets in your way, like a trashcan that can give its allies damage-absorbing shields or a tube of toothpaste that launches mortars from a distance. I don’t think any mob of these villains ever killed me after my first run or two, but they are relentless and very good at wearing your health down to the point where, when it's time to face the boss at the end of the run, you’re well on the back foot.

I liked that each island is filled with not only enemies, but stuff to kick around at them. Using bundles of dynamite as ranged attacks or bear traps to hold bad guys in place was a fun tactical layer, especially since all of these little environmental traps can catch you as well. There isn’t a huge variety of these items, but the ones that do litter the ground can be useful additions to any offensive gameplan.

Once you clear each island you get a reward – usually related to currencies, stat buffs, and perks. Perks come in a lot of forms and can help direct how you play through the run pretty dramatically, thanks to most of them being pretty impactful and smart combinations of them being truly game changing. Many of the strongest ones revolve around perfect dodges and strikes, which demand a bit of mechanical prowess to get the most out of, but lots of the more passive ones can make a noticeable difference to your run as well.

The final boss of my build of Unwell was a giant bottle of hot sauce that filled the arena with fire, spawning ghost pepper minions, and sprayed gouts of flame from its top. It took me quite a few tries to nail down its patterns and to learn when I had optimum openings to strike back, but it was a great first look at how bigger battles could change the pace the game had established up to that point. I was disappointed that some of the things that I really liked about the regular monster fights weren't present at all here – there was nothing to hit the bottled bastard with beside my weapon, and the staggers I had built up didn’t stop its momentum at all. It was still a fun time but it was unclear how perk set ups built around stagger effects worked on it.

Standing out from the crowd won’t be a problem for Into the Unwell, whose bouncy, Felix the Cat-meets-drugs and alcohol style is quite unlike any roguelite you’ll find available right now. The magic is more than skin deep though, the springy combat can be modified in lots of ways through character and weapon selection, as well as perks and talents that can be unlocked on a run to run basis. A steady drip of platforming side paths and interesting event rooms break up combat in fun and sometimes funny ways as well, adding personality and rewarding curiosity in ways other games in the genre don’t. The slice I played was only a small piece of a bigger, grim and silly picture that I hope to see more of after it leaves Closed Beta.