Hades

If you go into other roguelikes expecting them to be as good as Hades, you're going to be disappointed. That said, you might also want to check out Crypt of the Necrodancer, Dead Cells, Enter the Gungeon, or Atomicrops, all of which are broadly cast into the same mold. Necrodancer less so than the others, but it's the only roguelike I have nothing bad to say about, it's such an immaculate masterpiece. 

Story-rich roguelikes are comparatively rare. There's writing-heavy roguelikes like Sunless Sea and Cultist Simulator, but the structure of try-die-repeat is hard to fit into a traditional narrative, making it all the more impressive that Hades does this with such grace and style. I would honestly recommend the other Supergiant games, Pyre, Transistor and Bastion, over other roguelikes if another game like Hades is what you're after.

Thanks very much for the response - very good of you.

No probs

Another vote for Dead Cells. Combat is really tight.

Yeah, as others have said, your flavour of roguelite after Hades will depend on what you liked about Hades.

Combat: probably Dead Cells

Variety: Isaac, Slay the Spire

Story: Sunless Sea, I guess?

Personally, my favourites in the "run-based game" genre (which to me makes more sense than calling them roguelikes or roguelites) are turn-based strategy. So, Into The Breach, or Invisible Inc.

But they're not at all like Hades, and that could be said about pretty much all the recommendations you're getting here. It's a very, veeeery broad genre, if you could even call it a genre at all.

Is there a way to see how many runs/attempts I have made?
Reading through people's posts here is making me feel inadequate..
Feels like I've made 20+ runs and I only made it to the Asphodel boss for the first time last night. Admittedly I beat it first go (seemed quite simple..) and got a few encounters through Elysium.

I've unlocked all 6 weapons, not sure where to focus my titan blood.
Didn't like the rail. Sword and bow probably favourite with spear and fists in second rank.

My underlying plan is to get enough darkness for the second level of death defiance. Currently in the high 300s/500

Oh, and after you get the pact of punishment, I think it tells you how many attempts youve made with that weapon maybe.

alastair regarding the "inadequacy"- I was having a similar wobble about a month ago, I'd only beaten it once or twice out of 50 attempts and it seemed I'd reached the limit of brute-forcing it by buying the mirror upgrades.

I'm now on ~100 runs and winning something like one run in three, really enjoying all the endgame stuff that happens after you see credits for the first time. And that's on roughly the same mirror upgrades. It really does reward practice and getting to know the bosses moves and timings.

Opinions may vary, but I'd say there's no rush to beat the game by only using the weapon(s) you're best with. I tend to just pick whichever one has the bonus 20% darkness. That way you get decent with all of them, and you may find even the ones you hate have game-changing upgrades via the Daedalus hammer.

I’m a major roguelike/lite addict across all genres, and I have two strong recommendations for you, both of which are similar isometric action titles:

Dreamscaper - Very good combat, excellent presentation. There is a good story here, with some very nice characterisation, that unfortunately feels like it falls off during the later third of the game. Unlike Hades, the narrative does not effectively endure alongside the extended gameplay loop. Still, it’s a very strong 7.5/10 game for me.

Curse of the Dead Gods - This has my full attention at the moment. It is fucking great, and will probably be one of my games of the year. However, it’s a straight up combat room game. There is no narrative, no characterisation, and only a splash of lore associated with the enemy types encountered. But, man…the presentation is superb, and the combat system is insanely good. In some ways, the combat is superior to that in Hades, though it adheres to a notably different methodical, strategic rhythm. They are very different games, despite surface similarities. It’s also a brutally difficult game, more difficult than Hades, so please bear that in mind. It’s a very strong 8.5/10 game for me, and I cannot recommend it enough.

For possible consideration: Metallic Child - This is a recent release that I picked up, but I have only played the tutorial thus far. It seems very cool, with fast, crunchy robot smashing action. I’ll have more detailed impressions after I finish Curse of the Dead Gods. 

You do get to uncover some interesting Skelly back story, though he is a bit of a wind up merchant.

It's worth getting up to at least 10 escapes.. I'm on 30 odd now but may not go too much further..

It is really well balanced in that it always feels like you’re making incremental progress.

Come within spitting distance of escaping twice now but always lose it at the last minute. Great game.

Theres a series of vids about it by noclip on youtube. I havent watched all of them, just the launch and this one about the voice acting and whatnot but they were both really good. And, yes, as you say love and effort