With a scribblecore aesthetic and a story so unhinged it’d make even Suda51 smile, Stupid Never Dies is not your average roguelite.

I think that’s important, because this debut action effort from Japanese dev GPTRACK50 is entering a genre that’s quickly becoming overstuffed with options.

Davy’s descent into the inner-sanctums of the earth’s demonic core doesn’t really do anything different to its peers, but it packages it in such a bizarre bundle that I think it deserves your attention.

You play as the aforementioned teen, a pop punk prodigy who’s been turned into a shuffling corpse at the end of the world.

When he stumbles upon the frozen body of a beauty named Julia, he flushes himself down a toilet to take on an evil deity named KOM, all with the ambition of bringing her back to life.

The game’s opening hours are overstuffed with exposition, and I think the dev could have used a less heavy hand here, as I suspect it’s going to turn people off.

But effectively this is a run-based action game, where each jaunt into the khazi sees you work your way through “layers”, pummelling enemies pulled from various different fantasy realms.

There are werewolves, cyclops, and harpies – to name just a few – many of which can be “eaten” by Davy so he can “absorb” their powers.

My initial impressions of the combat were negative, because it’s all a bit loose in Davy’s standard form. But once you start masquerading as many of the abovementioned monsters, it feels a lot better. (Although it still lacks the punch of a proper character action game.)

The more enemies you pummel, the quicker you’ll be able to level up, giving the game that “one more go” factor which the best roguelites thrive on.

I’d argue the title has a little too much going on, but there’s no doubt it’s constantly layering in mechanics which make subsequent runs that bit more manageable.

For example, you can “buy” perks from a burger vendor named Bessie using in-game currency, which expands your available build options in each run.

You can also find body parts in some layers, which come with statistical attributes and even some active gameplay modifiers. For example, one “head part” I discovered surrounded Davy with landmines when he got knocked to the floor – useful.

The game loop is about optimising Davy’s loadout for success, then.

As with many roguelites, like Saros or Hades, sometimes your success will depend entirely on luck and the perks you randomly unlock during your run.

I found the game a bit restrictive at times; early on in the campaign, it’ll constantly stop your momentum when you beat a boss, taking you back to the beginning to lob fresh exposition and systems in your direction

But I did ultimately settle into a steady rhythm here, because you’re constantly edging forward, increasing Davy’s power and his capabilities in combat.

I was quite surprised by the overall attention to small details. For example, when in the real world, the protagonist shuffles like a zombie – but you quickly unlock a Roomba which allows you to zip about, minimising frustration.

The game’s hub area is presented like a mall, and it’s absolutely bursting with pop culture references, like the names of the families from Romeo & Juliet which adorn some of the shop signs.

Its presentation is chaotic, with random “sticker bombing” occurring all over the screen. I love how as you unlock perks, they slowly layer up around the user interface in the top-right corner.

But it’s absolutely an acquired taste; if you’re not into doodle art and the homemade “punkzine” aesthetic, then it won’t land for you.

And the sense of humour toes a fine line between juvenile and straight-up surreal, with certain characters suddenly breaking out into musical numbers and all sorts of other oddities.

It worked for me, but I’ll readily admit this is a vibe I’ve always quite liked. Your mileage will absolutely vary.

I personally found the allure of the next strange scenario motivating enough to keep me pushing forward, because the game does ultimately get repetitive once you get into the meat and potatoes of it.

Like any roguelite, the majority of your playtime here will be spent whaling away on fodder enemies, and I found some types – like the flying harpies – a little irritating to deal with. It’s not the end of the world, but I do think Davy’s movement could have been tightened up a touch.

But if your gaming diet is founded on oddities like No More Heroes, then I do think you’ll get a kick out of this barmy debut effort.

At a time when many games can start to look and feel a bit samey, the kitchen sink approach here helps this particular title to stand out – even if it’s garish and bordering on ugly in places as a result.