There are types of games that really make you judge why you play them. Then there is this new roguelite platformer from Cellar Door Games, and it is a sequel to the acclaimed Rogue Legacy. That’s right, it is Rogue Legacy 2. Having never played the first title, I figured I would jump into this one and see what it was all about. This is my review.
Like so many games recently, this one was in early access for a little while. I did not touch it until this last week and am glad it was a fresh view without any previous beta testing. I have had a lot of fun with the mechanics of this title. After going through the tutorial, you figure out exactly what you need to do and just go for it in full force. Rogue Legacy 2 has very simple-to-learn game mechanics, which makes it easier for new players to learn. It is fun to learn that this game has you playing as each of your chosen heirs until you beat it. With every run, you try to get as far as possible, while earning gold to upgrade your castle and your characters.
The fun part about this type of roguelite is the children that you use are unique to each run, as are the levels you’re playing through. When you die, your characters are offered based on the setup of your castle. You can become a mage, ranger, warrior, or barbarian and they are all fun with their own little quirks. Spells, shields, and normal attacks are given to each character with specific class weapons. Throughout your runs, you may find pedestals that will gift your weapons to use other than what your class gets. These are fun too. Upgrading your family castle opens up potential health upgrades and more, along with training skills to become mages and other classes. Adding in a training hut that increases your character’s skills and power is nice to have as well.
Rogue Legacy 2 has a unique adventure every time you play as a new character. The castle that Charon takes you to is a new layout with new traps and monsters every time. You won’t be able to time your jumps or anything for this playthrough because it is going to change constantly. I mentioned a few of the classes you can take earlier, and there are more, but I will let you discover them yourself. Areas of the castle have different biomes to explore too. These can include, for instance, tunnels underground or flaming lava areas and more. These areas will also rotate differently each run through as well. These areas have higher levels of loot because of the increased difficulty. The addition of heirloom items is part of the new addition to Rogue Legacy 2. It is hard to find them, but they have to level up your character’s abilities and powers when you do.
I love that the story is given to you a piece at a time every time you find a desk with papers. It tells you more about what is happening in the story and could also give you details about items in the game like the curio shop that is found mid-run. It is a shop-type spot where you can get a weapon or magic to replace what you have, but you don’t have much of a choice on what it is. This goes along with the heirlooms and where you can find them while making a run but don’t necessarily need them. New game + is available once you beat the game the first time, opening up further difficulty levels for you to enjoy. With this Metroidvania side-scroller, and graphics that are in excellent form, it is hard to find anything wrong with this title, and I have been playing it on the Nintendo Switch. There is a lot more involved, but I haven’t figured it all out myself yet. Keep playing and keep exploring, everyone.
Rogue Legacy is available to purchase now on Nintendo Switch, Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, macOS, Windows, and Linux for 24.99 USD. It is a lot of fun, and I think you will like it.
Note: This review was provided by PR on Nintendo Switch for review.
