Rogue Legacy 2 Review

It'd been nine years since Cellar Door Games released the original Rogue Legacy, an indie title that had found a footing, even being marketed as one of the stronger titles to release on the PSVita. With the second entry into the series, Cellar Door Games brings some quality-of-life improvements, updating the story for a new adventurer while taking a "not-broke, don't-fix" approach to their graphics.

Here, we are going to break down the elements of Rogue Legacy 2 that built it into one of the finest rogue-lites to be released on modern consoles. This game was released on April 8, 2022, though it only recently came to PS5 (where this review was conducted) on June 20, 2023. The game is currently available on PS5, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series S/X.

Improving What Came Before

The entire aspect of this rogue-lites' heir mechanic is that you, the player, gain experience every time you play, and as such, when your character dies, the heir will be more powerful by virtue of the experience points buffing their stats slightly more than their predecessor. The dev team took this motto into their design of the overall game, using their experience on the previous title to make the sequel that much better, improving the game with adjustments and allowing the player to make any adjustments that they may need as an individual. The various changes players can make through the "House Rules" increase the accessibility for those that may be new to the traditionally challenging aspects of a Rogue-Lite, allowing players to lower enemies' health and damage output, among other possibilities. My personal favorite was disabling taking damage when making contact with an enemy, saving me from dying from one mistimed jump.

An essential update from the first game is the inclusion of a home base, one that is upgradable as you continue the game, earning you new NPCs, merchants, and even providing boosts to your random heirs. This home base will be your sense of familiarity as every time you die, the map of the castle gets rearranged with only certain regions remaining locked in place, though once you get past their entrances, what follows is also random. As you improve and learn more about the game (or if you're more comfortable with rogue-lites in general), you'll likely learn the tricks to navigating the castle, but the learning curve was also part of the fun, making every new run a learning experience and thus integral to the growth of the character and the player.

There's A Story Here Somewhere

As is often the case in challenging games (i.e., Dark Souls, Bloodborne, etc.), the main appeal is in the gameplay. The story does exist but is generally littered throughout the map in tidbits of discoverable lore. These bits and pieces may be fun at first, but soon, they become too little in quantity and quality. There are maybe six pieces of lore per region, and most are dedicated to telling the backstory for each region's final boss. Most of the lore detailing why the character enduring this form of limbo is saved for the endgame, which, depending on how skilled the player (or how many house rules are enabled), could be anywhere from hours to weeks since starting the game. A point where the player may have lost any interest in the lore and instead is only seeking the joy of being able to say they finally beat the game.

As for the characters featured in the game, they also suffer from the strong focus on gameplay, with the NPCs you unlock at your home base only revealing their personality traits to those who take the time to stop and talk to them every time they are reborn. There are sentient fighting dummies, a blacksmith who has a crush on the mystic, and a pizza delivery girl turned hero who helps you by turning on fast travel points for a cost. The characters are generally more used for their gameplay benefits, though some players may enjoy the break in monotony after hearing the tidbits of these character's lives.

If the Art Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It

The general art style didn't change much from its predecessor. There isn't much of note to praise or critique on the art, and given that the game was being performed on a stronger system, one would've hoped that more could be done to make the maps pop a bit more, whether it be more striking colors or an intense palette swap from region to region. The design of the monsters you face is an impressive aspect, with the bosses standing out amongst the pack in a clear hierarchy of order. Some enemies are classic callbacks to common fantasy monsters, with monsters taking on the powers of mimics being both a fun ode to Dungeons and Dragons and a fun change to the way players think roughly halfway through the game.

The audio is an intriguing mix of techno beats and ominous hymns that are befitting this dark, fantastical tale. The only nitpick on this front is that there weren't any tracks that stuck in my mind after playing, much like other fantasy franchises like Final Fantasy and Legend of Zelda. A theme that helps to get the blood pumping or fully encaptures the appearance of a terrifying boss could have made a big difference in the game's presentation. That said, none of the tracks were bad, so, much like the graphics, sound quality was a hit-or-miss aspect of the game.

Final Thoughts

If I were to be grading this game as anything other than rogue-lite, it would be given a 5. The story can be easily missed, the graphics and audio, while not bad, are often mediocre and good at best. But gameplay is the most important aspect to rogue-lites, to such a degree that if the team hits it out of the park, even a bad story or poor sound could be easily forgiven. While I wasn't enraptured by the design or the story, I kept returning to this game with fervor. Not the desire to finish so I could write up a review but the determination to beat that next boss.

The gameplay was punishing but not to the point that it was unbeatable. I found myself learning new tricks and saving in-game currency to help purchase permanent boosts so that my next character would survive. I learned the different classes on offer, discovering which fit my playstyle best, and when all else failed, I finally relented and lowered the difficulty with house rules, an option that I was thankful to have, instead of walking away with my head in shame at an unfinished project. I still have to nitpick at the little things, such as framerate issues when multiple enemies and projectiles populated my screen and the fact that there were a couple times I had muted my TV for a call only to realize I had forgotten to unmute, owing to the fact that the music genuinely didn't add anything to the experience I had missed. It's not a perfect game, but it succeeded despite its shortcomings. And if that's not fitting of a rogue-lite, I don't know what is. We're giving this game a 7 out of 10!