My greatest desire worst nightmare* is being answered realised! Long have I desired a graphical roguelike that was less savage than IVAN, and a nicer play than the standard 'land in random dungeon, and head off' fare that comes with the likes of Vulture's Eye and Lambda Rogue (trailer) - both good games but just missing something for me.
* These things can swallow days and weeks of a man's life!
The first thing to notice is that TOME4 is gorgeous. It has lavishly detailed sprites and stunning particle effects. Movement is smooth, and the UI is shaping up nicely.
T.O.M.E. is not a new game series and is one of the better roguelikes. It looks like they are merging the depth of a traditional roguelike with the atmosphere of modern graphics in TE4/TOME4 and we are in for a treat if the latest betas are anything to go by.
The last release, TOME4 1.0.0 beta28, was on the 4th of June. It is already a fairly polished experience, with a nice tutorial mode (Charlie approves of tutorials!), good music, and plenty of the aforementioned graphical panache. There are still a few ascii-style sprites but it is still beta, so that's to be expected. (Unless I am wrong and it will be a gorgeous graphics and ascii mix, which would just be a bit odd.)
*waits with baited breath for future releases*