Roguelikes have been around for a long time, but one of the factors that made them recently explode in popularity was the addition of meta-progression. This feature is what defines the rogue-lite subgenre, with the same randomly-generated content designed for repetitive play, but also a linear progression path which keeps players feeling rewarded for their time investment. This appeals to the people who enjoy having some extrinsic motivation, and those who don’t like the idea of having nothing to show for an amazing run that didn’t quite go all the way. However, Synthetik exposes the downside of this strategy, in that it could impede the intrinsic enjoyment the format is built for. It has eight character classes to choose from, and they’re the primary source of the game’s playstyle variety, but they require tens of hours of grinding before they unlock the abilities which make them unique. The final class abilities are even locked behind the prestige option, which resets the class back to level one. For players who need that carrot-and-stick to keep them interested, this increases the longevity of the game, but those who don’t are punished with a generally shallower experience for the majority of their play time. If unlockables were kept outside the realm of gameplay depth, such as through character customization and novelty visual effects, then both sets of players could enjoy the game equally. That’s not to say that it’s a bad experience for either group, however. The top-down tactical shooting is absolutely top-notch, and even with the class abilities stripped out entirely, it would be a highly enjoyable game. On top of that, having online co-op and robust difficulty customization puts it in a league of its own, and for the majority of players who enjoy unlocking new abilities, the only flaws will be a slightly disorganized UI and infrequent multiplayer desyncing. The poor meta-progression is just the big, unavoidable parenthetical I have to give for an otherwise great game, one that even an intrinsically-motivated player like me can enjoy, at least with a little patience.