Rogue Legacy 2

Genre: Action-Platformer / Roguelike

Players: 1

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Review:

Rogue Legacy 2, released in 2022 on PC, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, follows in the footsteps of its predecessor. This is an Action-Platformer and Roguelike, falling well on the “lite” end of Roguelikes, with players making progress with each run that they can use to better their chances in all future runs. Players take the role of a warrior in a medieval fantasy setting heading into a constantly-changing castle, hoping to collect loot, get upgrades, defeat the various bosses guarding key progression points, and ultimately taking on the castle’s master. The catch here is that when you die, you don’t restart as the same character, but a descendant of theirs, with potentially a different skill set, and who is able to take advantage of a family castle that has been improved by the earnings of their dear departed parent.

I won’t bury the lead here, Rogue Legacy 2 is a sequel that improves on the prior game in just about every way, while retaining what made the first game great to begin with. The core Action-Platformer gameplay and Roguelike mechanics haven’t changed at all here. Each generation will provide you with a few different choices for the heir you’ll be taking the role of, who gets to decide how to spend the cash their predecessor earned to build up their family’s castle, which in turn represents bonuses to the characters’ stats, various additional abilities, and access to new classes. The game even keeps the hilarious traits of the first game, that mix things up by giving these descendents all sorts of silly benefits and maladies.

However, while the game starts with the same core formula, it does not rest on its laurels at all. For starters, the combat is now more nuanced, with recovery rolls and bounce stomp attacks. The class system has been thoroughly revamped here too, and now each class feels genuinely unique. The ranger, for example, can aim a bow and arrow in any direction, create platforms to stand on, and use said platforms to add a status effect to their attacks. Meanwhile, wizards get access to two spells simultaneously, and they recharge magic more readily. This results in the two classes playing very differently now. There’s a lot of new classes too, like the chef, who can heal himself, deflect enemy projectiles, and add a status effect to melee attacks.

Rogue Legacy 2 also adds more ways to upgrade your character. Most notably, this game’s new heirlooms transform Rogue Legacy 2 into more of a Metroidvania, granting new permanent abilities to each descendant in the family line, which in turn make for easier traversal. This really helps to build the feeling of progression in this game – even if you die immediately after getting one of these heirlooms, you’ll be significantly more versatile in every subsequent run. In addition, getting these heirlooms requires players completing a specific “challenge” that usually pertains to that specific upgrade, making this feel even more like a Metroidvania.

Another area that’s been improved here is graphics. The game’s description page claims that it uses 3D characters against 2D backdrops, but if that’s the case, the 3D characters emulate the look and style of the first game’s 2D characters so well that it might as well be 2D. However, while the style hasn’t changed much, there is now an incredible amount of detail in the environments, and animations are much nicer. The first game sometimes felt like the visuals were sorta’ slapped together, and this game makes it absolutely clear that everything in the game was very deliberately designed to look this way, because there is absolutely nothing lazy about this game’s animation. Likewise, some effects, like the way water looks, are really nice (while maintaining the game’s cartoony art style). These visuals are all backed by a pretty catchy soundtrack that outdoes the original game, though I can’t point to any one song I feel particularly strongly about.

When it comes to flaws, I think that the game’s difficulty curve is a bit steep at the start – you may have an expanded array of abilities and upgrades, but enemies now foll the area with attacks pretty early into your quest, and you’ll need to use those abilities smartly to avoid getting killed too early in a run. That said, players can mitigate this challenge level somewhat with the new House Rules menu, allowing players to tweak elements of the game to make it more accessible.

One other issue I can point to is that there are so many different kinds of upgrades and bonuses, I feel like it would be nice if the game did a better job indicating what was being influenced by what and to what degree. Sometimes it just feels like… a lot.

Still, while there are still a few areas that could benefit from some tweaking, Rogue Legacy 2 is a highly rewarding game, and a magnificent sequel that improves on its predecessor in virtually every area. If you’re a fan of Action-Platformers, Roguelikes, or Metroidvanias, Rogue Legacy 2 is definitely a game you should give a try.

tl;dr – Rogue Legacy 2 is an Action-Platformer and Roguelike about a family line trying to explore the depths of a dangerous shape-shifting castle. This game improves on the first game in virtually every way, while keeping what was great about the original game intact. There’s so much variety here, so many ways to upgrade your characters, and countless new elements that make different character types even more distinct and add Metroidvania elements to the gameplay. An absolute must for anyone who enjoyed the first game, and well worth a try for anyone who enjoys Action-Platformers and Roguelikes.

Grade: A-

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2022 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Action Game

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