For a lot of, Rogue Legacy’s extra tangible sense of development elevated it above different titles within the rogue-like indie increase. Pioneering the rogue-lite some 10 years in the past, the primary sport was a really stern problem, however one that you simply’d ultimately overcome due to significant, everlasting upgrades. The loop of operating via the sport, utilizing the gold you earned to turn out to be extra highly effective, then doing all of it once more is undeniably good, and the added layer of every character having distinctive traits made every try memorable. Rogue Legacy 2 recaptures all of that, however builds on that easy design with an unfathomable quantity of variables, delivering a greater than worthy sequel.
As talked about, you do not play as only one character, however a complete lineage of heroes aiming to storm a mysterious, ever-shifting citadel and the opposite realms it results in. After a tutorial, you may start your first run via the citadel — which has a randomly generated structure, although the rooms themselves are designed — and inevitably die. With the run over, you select an inheritor to hold on the mission, and every of those characters are additionally randomly generated. A part of the enchantment on this sport is discovering all of the doable traits and talents, which could be useful, detrimental, or simply plain foolish. And that is how the entire sport goes.
Earlier than you set out on a run along with your newly chosen champion, nevertheless, you employ the gold you’ve got gathered to construct your personal manor from the bottom up. That is basically a ability tree, and it begins small with easy well being boosts, however grows to be huge. The speed at which it expands is dependent upon how a lot gold it’s important to spend, however the quantity of choices offered to you on this tree is outrageous. What’s extra, it grants entry to new character courses, which significantly expands the number of heirs you may select from when a run ends.
Up to now, so Rogue Legacy. Nevertheless, the sequel’s character courses are a lot extra various. Each class has a singular weapon, strikes, stats, and talents that make all of them very enjoyable (and really totally different) to make use of. The knight is a secure all-rounder, however you can even play as an archer, which forces you to hold again and combat from a distance. The valkyrie can assault up and down in addition to to the facet, whereas the gunslinger makes use of a rapid-fire revolver however cannot transfer whereas attacking. There are 15 courses, they usually all have their professionals and cons, however what’s exceptional is that all of them really feel attention-grabbing and, extra importantly, viable.
On high of your character, the sport rapidly layers on a bunch of different components that may significantly influence your possibilities. The blacksmith can outfit you with higher gear as soon as you discover the suitable blueprints, and there are every kind of concerns right here to make alone. Then there’s the enchantress, who sells gameplay-altering runes you may equip. Ultimately you may unlock the soul home, which opens up a complete host of challenges in addition to but extra game-changing upgrades. You may even degree up every class, and doing so completely buffs your total stats.
While you first begin out, it is a lot to soak up. You are unlikely to know every part till you’ve got put in just a few hours and wrapped your head round what impacts what. Whereas this info overload could be intimidating, the excellent news is that every part feeds into every part else brilliantly. Regardless of the way you play Rogue Legacy 2, you are making progress, or unlocking methods that will help you try this. It is a complicated, layered sport pretending to be a captivating, cartoonish motion platformer.
However additionally it is that. As talked about, each class feels actually enjoyable to make use of, and a part of that comes all the way down to simplistic controls. Although they’ve totally different strikes and talents, all of your actions are the identical whatever the character, and all of it feels responsive. Every room is stuffed with obstacles and challenges to check your expertise. Enemy layouts could be devilish, and mixed with hazards, are surprisingly powerful to take care of. Ultimately you may see the identical rooms popping up so you may be taught the layouts, however when you attain one other biome, it is a complete new story.
Not like the unique, biomes are very totally different from each other. The second is a sequence of lengthy, horizontal ranges as an alternative of the Metroidvania structure of the citadel. The third is a snowy panorama with its personal distinctive hazards. Oh, and every space introduces new mechanics, like an air sprint and a double leap — fundamentals that you will marvel the way you managed with out. Capping off every world is a boss, and once more, these are much more superior than within the first sport (though could be fairly spongy). They’re visually very distinct and tremendous powerful, with plenty of assault selection to maintain you guessing.
Whereas they’re mechanically enjoyable fights, we are going to say that we weren’t very enamoured by the narrative. There is a story permeating Rogue Legacy 2 that is largely informed via diary entries. Whereas we’re certain it would be an attention-grabbing story for those who lay all of it out, in-game, whenever you’re flitting round amassing gold and dodging fireplace traps, it simply would not really feel crucial. The sport, fortunately, is greater than compelling sufficient with out a plot to tug you thru it. We respect that it is there, nevertheless it would not actually do a lot for us.
As we mentioned, the sport is doing greater than it must with a purpose to maintain you coming again. The sheer quantity of selection when it comes to character construct, plus the modifiers you may apply, plus the tight controls, makes for an expertise that is extremely addictive. Except you are stupidly good, runs hardly ever last more than 20 or half-hour, and these bitesize chunks of motion solely add to the overwhelming “yet another go” enchantment.
There’s lots we have barely talked about right here. This model of the sport contains all of the updates it is acquired over time, which signifies that, whenever you’re completed with the vanilla marketing campaign, there are further modes to get pleasure from. The Home Guidelines perform is a superb accessibility characteristic that permits you to tune the problem in minute methods. The visuals are nice; it has a brilliant detailed cartoon-like high quality that is way more interesting than the chunky pixels of its predecessor. There’s lots to love about this sport.
