What Vertical Drop Heroes HD is
Vertical Drop Heroes HD is a platformer RPG with roguelike elements. Your hero drops into randomly generated stages and works through them using skills, traits and abilities, then faces a final boss. Stages, enemies and bosses are all generated fresh each run, so no two attempts hand you the same layout or the same set of problems. The combat system leans on planning rather than raw reflexes: picking the right skill for the situation matters more than mashing buttons. Terrain is destructible, and each skill has multiple uses, so you can open up a stage in different ways instead of following one fixed route.
Playing it together
The game supports split screen and local co-op, plus local network co-op, so a group can sit on one screen or link up over a LAN. Steam also lists Remote Play Together, which lets friends join in over the internet through that feature. Everyone picks a hero built from the skills, abilities, traits and powers unlocked in the game, and since those are unlocked over time, each player can show up with a different build. Because stages are generated on the fly, you are all reacting to the same new layout together, and destructible terrain means one player can carve a path that the rest of the group follows.
Before you start
Runs carry permanent death, so a failed attempt ends that run rather than letting you restart from a checkpoint. Progress is not wasted, though: persistent upgrades carry forward between games, and you can choose between persistent upgrades that get progressively more expensive or temporary upgrades that stay cheaper. Expect to build up a hero over several runs instead of winning on the first try. Every enemy and boss is designed to add challenge and variety, so the difficulty shifts as you go deeper. This is an HD remake of the original webgame Vertical Drop Heroes, rebuilt from the ground up as a randomly generated platformer RPG by Nerdook Productions, a one-person developer.