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What’s next after killing a god? Try pulling off the biggest bank heist ever in this great roguelite

2K View2024-01-27

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank

7.8

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SHOULD I PLAY TURNIP BOY ROBS A BANK?

Yes! Especially if you played and enjoyed 2020’s excellent Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion. That game ended with our titular hero defeating an evil god—at least if you got the real ending—and now the rogue veggie is back and looking to break more laws. This follow-up trades in the Zelda-style gameplay of the first game for a roguelite blend of shooting and exploring that feels sort of like a simpler take on The Binding of Isaac or Enter the Gungeon. And while it may not provide the endless replayability of those games, it does offer an extremely enjoyable and funny adventure through a world of mutated food products.

TIME PLAYED

I’ve spent six hours with Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, which has been more than enough time to do dozens of runs at my heist, steal over a million dollars, max out all my upgrades, and make it to the final boss. I’ll admit, however, that I haven’t actually managed to defeat that final boss quite yet. He’s tough and requires surviving a long gauntlet before you get to him as well. I’ll get it yet, though.

WHAT’S AWESOME ABOUT TURNIP BOY ROBS A BANK?

• That fantastic sense of humor. Developer Snoozy Kazoo hasn’t lost its sense of humor since Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion. This sequel is full of absurd scenarios, hilarious characters, and a script with layers of puns that sometimes took me multiple reads to fully comprehend. It’s the kind of game where a fairly standard RPG sidequest—help a poor old lady find her missing husband—is turned on its head with an unbelievable twist—she wants to find her husband because he has her divorce papers, and she’s ready to start her wild single life. It had me laughing out loud in a way that few video games ever manage.

• A tightly designed, rewarding cycle of upgrades. The gameplay loop in Turnip Boy Robs a Bank is based around entering the bank, snagging as much loot as you can before the SWAT team shows up, and then escaping with your money. Then, back at the base, you can spend your ill-gotten goods on performance-enhancing upgrades for Turnip Boy or illicit items from the dark web that will allow you to progress deeper into the hidden depths of the bank. It’s a well-designed system, and whether I was buying C4 to crack open vaults or purchasing drugs to increase Turnip Boy’s max health, I always felt like I was improving my chances to bring home even more cash.

• Tons of weird weapons. While Turnip Boy has a small arsenal that he slowly unlocks at his headquarters, he can also pick up both melee weapons and guns from fallen enemies in the bank. Basic stuff like shotguns and pistols and rocket launchers are here, but there are also much more off-the-wall options, like a cactus that shoots its needles at enemies, and a scythe that not only kills your foes but allows you to collect their souls to trade them in to an underground DJ. I loved trying out the wide variety of weapons; I just wish there had been a way to unlock some of the stranger choices for permanent use instead of just hoping they would drop during my next run.

• It’s a roguelite that won’t take up months of your life. I adore roguelikes and roguelites. They’re legitimately some of my favorite games. They also tend to be a near-unending time sink, the kind that often finds me ravenously playing way too late into the night for weeks at a time. Turnip Boy Robs a Bank offers all of the satisfying progression loop that pulls me into roguelites, but it’s bundled into a more approachable package that most players will be able to blast through in five or six hours. And if you want more of a challenge, there’s an extra-hard mode you can set from the beginning, so even seasoned roguelite heads have something for them here.

WHAT SUCKS ABOUT TURNIP BOY ROBS A BANK

• It’s a roguelite that won’t take up months of your life. Ok, I’m just acknowledging here that yes, part of the reason I and many others love these types of games is because we want to be sucked in for way longer than is healthy. If you hear “roguelite” and expect something that’s going to keep you busy for a long time, Turnip Boy Robs a Bank may disappoint you. And considering you can get a lot of very long-lasting games for a similar price point, that may be a deal-breaker for some.

• The randomness can be frustrating. Most of the bank in Turnip Boy Robs a Bank has a set layout. However, there are specific side areas accessible through elevators, and it is completely random which elevator in the bank leads to which side area on any given run. On its face, that’s fine; randomness is both expected and desired in roguelites.

That said, I found myself annoyed that sometimes I had completed a quest but couldn’t locate the specific side area housing the NPC who I had to speak to in order to finish the quest and get my reward. Compared to the first game, it feels like getting one hundred percent completion on this one will be a bit of a chore that will require reloading into the bank over and over just to hope the right elevator door spawns.