The Binding of Isaac is widely regarded as one of the most successful indie games of all time, but creator Edmund McMillen said this week that his next title Mewgenics is set to be even greater, going so far as to say it will be “seen as my best work.”
McMillen, the mastermind behind smash hits Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac stated on Jan. 22 that his upcoming “legacy roguelike” will be considered the greatest of his releases. He followed up with an update on where Mewgenics was at, including a look at the most recent and final class introduction of the Fighter class in Mewgenics. The Fighter is designed to punch really hard and not do much else, but these punches can only become deadlier as the Fighter builds Strength, McMillen explained in the developer diary on Steam.
McMillen has been working on Mewgenics since 2013 and has had numerous development restarts, with the 2019 one apparently the most definitive. The game has often been compared with Binding of Isaac both by players and McMillen himself. In a developer post on Steam from August 2023, McMillen took to comparing the two games directly and highlighting their similarities and significant differences.
Whereas both games are vast, replayable roguelikes with hundreds of hours of gameplay and collectible items, Isaac is a fast-paced action game while Mewgenics is a direct, turn-based legacy roguelike. The developer also stated that he has called Mewgenics a sequel of sorts to Binding of Isaac, but not in the traditional sense.
The “RPG about cats,” currently doesn’t have a clear release date. It’s supposed to arrive in 2024 and with how McMillen is confident about its recognition, I’d say it’s worth waiting for it. Most of his previous titles have been critically and commercially successful, and it remains to be seen if McMillen can replicate his past ventures and deliver an RPG worthy of praise. He certainly thinks so.
