Rogue Legacy 2 is the follow-up to the astoundingly popular indie title Rogue Legacy that released back in 2013 from Cellar Door Games. Housing a difficult adventure within a fun family-based romp through a castle and its surroundings, these games capture the roguelite genre with its unique take on short runs. With each death you take control of a descendant of varying classes and traits in the hopes of defeating all the bosses of the castle and getting to its final chamber.
Heir to the Estate
Rogue Legacy 2 takes the formula of the first game and continues to roll with it. You play a king or queen who aims to take control of a castle besieged by dark forces. Sadly, you die pretty easily, and must pass this task onto your offspring whom you also control. Death after death you gain power in the form of forging your own castle and making use of tradespeople to upgrade your gear.
The story of Rogue Legacy 2 is told mostly via journals you find in the procedurally generated dungeons, alongside a lot of dialogue shared between your character and the NPCs you save or hire to your docks. A sparing number of scenes also play between deaths that tease other story tidbits or phrases to get you pumped for another run of the dungeon.
As Rogue Legacy 2 is a roguelite with death at its centre, play times can vary widely between skill level, difficulty setting, and even the RNG of your offspring and dungeon layouts. The Main story is around 20 to 30 hours long, though you can easily add another 20-30 hours for a NG+ run to see the new additions or those you unlock as you play. A true 100% run is closer to 90 hours. You may find your playtime vastly increases if you want to grind for even higher stats, though.
Swords, Armour, and Runes Oh My
Rogue Legacy 2 plays like many other Metroidvania entries with a 2D perspective. You have a normal attack, special attack, jumping or plunging attack, plus a spell to boot. All of these vary between classes and relics you pick up within the levels from swords and scythes to fireballs and Kamehameha waves. All of these can be upgraded via the blacksmith and your own castle as you gain gold from several incursions in the dungeons.
Bringing in a form of EXP, with each kill you gain mastery experience with your current class, gaining small universal boosts to all characters with each level. These range from increase capacity, armour, and even bumping up your several stats like Intelligence.
Expanding the resources from just gold, you will need to acquire red aether to unlock runes and ore to unlock and upgrade weapons and armour. These are less common, mostly found in chests after challenge rooms or from elite foes. Adding in these new resources means that grinding runs are tempered to suit what you’re after, and making them less brain-dead endeavours.
Another change from the original is the heirlooms you find amongst the different zones, granting double jumps, the ability to strike ghostly foes, and passing through the darkness that is overtaking the castle. These are imperative to progression, and you will need almost all of them to even get to the harder parts of the castle. You’ll be able to go two screens before finding one of these new traversal methods blocking any further delving.
Dude, Where’s My Settings?
The music of Rogue Legacy 2 hardly feels subdued, many areas have well-fitting tunes that suit the atmosphere and aesthetic. The iconic main theme of the first game prevails into the second, and fills me with nostalgia whenever I hear its new version. Chilling haunted-house tracks fill the first area with a foreboding sense of dread as you come to somewhere new, whereas the music for challenges and bosses give off an aura of energy and adventure.
This sequel feels like everything of the first game was polished to a T, and this is instantly noticeable with the graphics. While Rogue Legacy 2 keeps the same graphical style as the first, the quality and smoothness of the drawings are so much better. Everything looks clean and cool, while holding a bit of grunge where the areas of the dungeon that would warrant it. Spell effects are flashy and several steps above those of the first game.
As with the original, Rogue Legacy 2 is a difficult roguelike, though that is par for the course in this genre of death, rebirth, and getting a little better each time. Though Rogue Legacy 2 brings with it several new advanced house rules options to change the difficulty of the game. Altering damage numbers from 50% to 200%, enabling flight and turning off traits entirely. There is no penalty for these options and really opens the game up for those who have trouble with this genre, or those that need a journalist mode.
Does It Please You, My Liege?
Overall, Rogue Legacy 2 is an amazing improvement on an entry that was already pretty darn good to begin with. Everything is upgraded, though some players may find it a bit too similar to the first with how a lot of the game is structured. As there is no voice acting you will have to do a lot of reading, but you can skip the journals if you don’t care about secrets and making bosses easier… can’t you?
With two years of early access, Rogue Legacy 2 is also quite a stable full release. Through my time playing it I found no glitches or bugs, though I could swear there were times the map hinted at a hidden wall that I just never found. For fans of the first, or roguelike Metroidvanias in general, I highly suggest
Developer: Cellar Door Games
Publisher: Cellar Door Games
Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows
Reviewed on PC, Grab your copy here https://store.steampowered.com/app/1253920/Rogue_Legacy_2/
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