Rogue Legacy 2 (PC REVIEW)
Cellar Door Games
Rogue Legacy 2 is the sequel to one of the original roguelite games released in 2013. Since then, many different roguelite games have been released to critical acclaims, like Hades and Crypt of the Necrodancer. Rogue Legacy had an early release on August 18th, 2020, and a full release on April 28th, 2022. Our review encompasses the most recent patches released on May 15th, 2022.
Overview
Rogue Legacy 2 starts you in a castle where you have to travel through different areas collecting heirlooms, relics, and various items to help or hinder each playthrough. As with roguelite games, everything changes, and you restart with your new heir every time your character dies. It becomes less challenging because almost all progression is passed down to your heir.
As a standard platform, what makes this game unique are the different character classes and abilities. The other character classes include Knight, Ranger, Barbarian, Valkyrie, Chef, Ronin, etc. Each type is different, and unlocking and playing each one helps guide your choices on what upgrades or powerups to open and focus on.
As you pass down your progress to your heir, things you unlock, upgrade and equip help you with each playthrough. As you keep playing, each character playthrough adds more to the overall experience you build up. Also, each heir is unique as well.
When you play as the next heir, you are given three choices. Each one comes with its abilities and sometimes affliction like colorblindness, where you only see in chromatic or fart when you jump. It also includes the characters’ personalities where, every so often, one of the choices is a pacifist, where they deal no damage to enemies but get an extra coin bonus.
Gameplay
Rogue Legacy 2 plays like your traditional 3D platform, where you use different weapons and abilities. The controller layout is well balanced, allowing for some complicated combos to be done as naturally as a regular one. This ease of controller mastery enables the player to focus on how to play their favorite class.
As I played the game, I found a preference for a particular classes. With the upgrades, it is crucial to focus on your style of play and not unlock everything. If you start unlocking unchecked upgrades, you start having to grind to be able to unlock specific traits for your preferred class.
After a while, the game does start to become repetitive. Even though things change, it still has a sense of familiarity and moments of deja vu. I had to take multiple breaks to alter that mindset of everything feeling the same.
Final Thoughts on rogue legacy 2
Roguelite games are unique and have been growing in popularity recently. Rogue Legacy 2 helps build upon its predecessor and improves upon the genre it helped create. The game is a lot of fun and you to your style of play. It gives many options for players who want to complete everything or just beat it as quickly as possible.
With all the little quirks included, it is easy to find your self lost or confused. I have never played the original, with few instructions or handholding explaining some of the fundamental mechanics that do cause frustration. The few hiccups are easily overlooked after a few play-throughs and understanding how everything works in the end.
If you enjoy roguelite games, Rogue Legacy 2 should be your next game to pick up. It doesn’t alter much from the fundamental concept of the genre but executes them wonderfully that it is perfect. It allows players who are inexperienced or massive fans to enjoy roguelite games.