We're seeing a lot of interesting mixes between roguelike and other genres right now, and roguelike and fast-paced top-down-shooter didn't exist. As far as I'm aware, there's nothing that does what Nuclear Throne does as good as Nuclear Throne does it.
And yes, game feel is *enormously* important. My fellow Vlambeer J.W. gave a great talk about that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJdEqssNZ-U
This talk very specifically focuses on action games, but it applies to each and every genre of games - because what J.W. is doing there is mostly improving feedback to player actions, rewards and failure. This is something that should be near or at the top of your priority list - in an RTS, your clicks should feel good. In a puzzle game, failure and success should be clearly distinguished. In a racing game, speed needs to feel great. Think about what *meaningful* interaction your player is executing most of the time, and what the supposed feeling for that is.
Usually the things you'll focus on are the obvious ones (muzzle flashes, anyone?), but the honest truth is that those are just a result of people not 100% understanding what game feel is. In a shooter, it's not just shooting - it's also in movement (and stopping to move). In puzzles, it's not just scoring the points, it's also moving the pieces. In racing it's not just the drift, but also the acceleration and brakes.
And then finally, there are things that (almost) all games use: camera and audio. Make sure that, whatever you do, you consider these things very, very carefully. They are such a huge part of your game feel - and they can very easily make or break a game.
View more