I ended up losing count of the hours I put into the first Rogue Legacy on PS Vita, one of those safe haven games that I came back to when I didn’t feel like playing anything else. But that was another time. The genre still felt fresh and it was all new ideas waiting to be discovered.
Much has happened since then, almost 10 years, and the number of games that have followed that roguelite It has also been counted by dozens. What used to be novelty and surprise is now repetition and laziness. Good thing Rogue Legacy 2 is here to change that.
In the variety is the spice
The biggest problem I have with gender roguelike and the roguelite it is in variety. The lack of it, actually. Ok to repeat an area 20 times until you get the hang of it and move on to the next to continue the loop, but if it is with timid variations it is a bite that goes better.
Beyond the randomness of the scenarios, the variation that almost everyone clings to and the one that probably least gives you that feeling, Rogue Legacy he intended and managed to make each new attempt feel like new.
The idea is that, with multitude of unlockable classes, each time you die you are faced with the choice of your next offspring. Three characters to choose from with very particular characteristics not only in class, attack pattern and skills, but also in both positive and negative passive effects.
From playing a giant archer whose visual impairment makes the screen black and white, to jumping a samurai whose only point of damage is a small heart that makes it easy to dodge projectiles and hazards.
With that alone, sticking to giving you the option to play a slightly different character each time, the 20 times you could replay the same area without blinking easily turns into 200. terribly addictive.
A sequel that tastes like new
Just as striking for those who did not play the original as for those who know to what extent that “one more and i quit“could last until you see the sun rise, it may be the seconds that have the most doubts about a Rogue Legacy 2 that, at least on paper, can give the feeling of being more of the same.
Supported by a new hand-drawn graphic style that feels incredible, there is a good collection of mechanics designed to erase at a stroke any hint of doubts you have in that regard.
There are, of course, the new classes, spells, powers and genetic traits, but also a crucial change in each of the options that we will have available in each new generation of fighters: the unique weapons. Spears, katanas, pans, bows… Each class has its own weapon and, beyond them, we will have the option of finding special weapons in the middle of our adventure.
As if that were not enough in order to establish that long-awaited variety that gives life and meaning to the game -in addition to a crown to reign over all the others-, at the level of progress it is just as abundant.
Not only will you have the option to acquire classes and upgrade characters with the money earned on each attempt, the roguelite soul of the game, but it takes the idea of persistent a step further by including a bit of metroidvania in the mix.
A game that always adds up
From the hand of permanent special objects that we will find, the possibilities of going further and further and to new places in each game will continue to pile up in an overwhelming and insane number of options and unlockables capable of doing that even the most one-armed in the place can beat the game.
The feeling that each new game is useful to move forward does not make you lose the desire to do better and better, but it does help a lot to deal with frustration when you run into a wall
You know that the money obtained will be used to get a new class, unlock improvements such as armor or passive abilities, or to improve the life and attack of all of them for the next attempt.
But even in the unlikely event that you walk out of there without enough gold to buy yourself a new hat that modifies your critical chance, you know that the short time you spent with that character has served to improve the experience of the entire class, thus boosting the probability go further next time that you use it
It’s not just the fact that you’re enjoying the game even when nothing goes right, it’s the feeling of progressing even when the universe makes you scramble in the most noisy way possible. Has it gone bad for you? Well, the next one will be better, and then the “one more and i quit” it lengthens until the eyelids give no more of themselves.
VidaExtra’s opinion
I knew it would come and that the chances of me liking it would be high, but not that Rogue Legacy 2 I was going to go straight to my list of favorite games of this 2022 and of life in general.
It is not a game to burn in a marathon, although it also lends itself to it, but it is one of those that you want to try from time to time. One that, as the first one already did, responds wonderfully to the idea of a shelter game capable of entertaining you, making you smile and, on the rebound, reminding you why do you love videogames.
Rogue Legacy 2
platforms | Xbox and PC(reviewed version) |
---|---|
multiplayer | Do not |
developer | Cellar Door Games |
Company | Cellar Door Games |
Launching | April 28, 2022 |
The best
- The variety of each new run
- An overwhelming number of options and unlockables
- A formula of action and platforms of the most fun and addictive
Worst
- The damn thing about some curses capable of screwing up a good character