Rogue Legacy (2013)

The first Rogue Legacy entry is a roguelike platformer that cleverly combines challenging gameplay with a unique generational twist. Each time your character dies, you continue as one of their descendants, each with random traits that can be advantageous, like extra mana or better armor, or hilariously inconvenient, such as colorblindness or ADHD. This unpredictability keeps every run fresh and forces you to adapt constantly.

The game’s procedurally generated castle is full of secrets, traps, and enemies that test both your reflexes and strategy. Progression is satisfying, gold collected during runs can be spent on permanent upgrades for your lineage, unlocking new abilities, classes, and equipment. The pixel-art visuals, charming animations, and energetic soundtrack create a whimsical yet tense atmosphere, making exploration engaging even after countless deaths.

It's visuals and OST is what had my attention, but I stayed because of the addictive gameplay loop that roguelikes usually have, when executed correctly, and this one delivers one of the best implementations of this genre. While the difficulty can be punishing at times, the combination of skill-based platforming, strategic choices, and RPG-style upgrades makes Rogue Legacy incredibly replayable.

And since the don't take itself too seriously, I also advise doing so when playing this, because otherwise it'll be a very frustrating experience due to it's high difficulty level that can sometimes be unfair. It’s a game that rewards persistence, experimentation, and clever adaptation, delivering an addictive loop that keeps players coming back for “just one more run.” I highly recommend not skipping this title if you like roguelikes to any extent.

It's interesting what time and exposure to more games has done to my perspective of this one. Back when steam and indie games were all relatively new in my life, many games my brother introduced me to were just plainly GREAT, as long as the overall design was solid, the mechanics felt tight, and the gameplay loop fed into my "ADHD" brain. I played this just at the cusp of teenagehood to adulthood, and it fit nicely snug with other games I wanted to spend all my time playing (like Super Meat Boy, Braid, Blocks that Matter, Volgarr the Viking, Downwell, 1001 Spikes, Rocket League) and honestly I still hold all those innocent open-minded feelings towards these games because I'm just strongly conditioned to, with the prospect of just existing to sink my teeth into the fun of all of them (and more to find at any given moment). That really does feel like a key for me to un-jade my usually jaded self. Like yeah this game is technically pretty ugly to my sensibilities nowadays, but that didn't matter before so why should it suddenly matter much now? It's nice to channel back into the more simplistic fun-loving mindset where a new video game in and of itself is a treat regardless of anything. :) I don't believe I've shifted too far from this mentality actually, more that it just gets clouded and distracted by the busyness and stresses of life that otherwise has nothing to do with video games.

Now onto the actual game. Weirdly easy compared to how I did as a teen-adult. Couldn't beat it back then, the final boss had me stumped despite my vast pool of upgrades. I played a LOT more back then than I did this time around. I bought it on Switch this year and beat it in 10 hours. (Look at me! 😌) the key is totally in just stacking damage-back runes and playing as a barbarian with massive health, lol

Rogue Legacy looks a little intimidating first as it flashes its high difficulty curve and rogue-lite premise but the lite part gives way to a really engaging upgrade system and methodical exploration that makes many of these runs meaningful and addictive.

The player is one in a long line of dungeon explorers who take on a changing castle with their big sword and bigger lineage. The castle is randomly generated (but can be fixed with an architect's fee) and death produces three randomized descendants. Different classes can be utilized to turn the tide of battle (high crit, high damage, high money, high magic, etc) but some aspects can be tricky to strategize around. Queerness and IBS aren't much of a concern to the player but when sight is limited and the mind plays tricks on someone the player may have to work with a bit of an additional challenge.

That said, the upgrade system can mitigate some of the high difficulty curve/jumps the castle is likely to throw and the player can invest in base stats (attack, magic, armor), equipment to get more bang for one's buck, increased gold gain (and less lost when you die) and upgrades to classes that are truly essential to playing well in the game. There's even a randomize upgrade that can help re-roll classes and makes it much better to get the classes you need to advance.

The castle isn't fully linear - bosses in each of the areas surrounding the castle have to be killed in order to unlock the final boss but apart from the initial area the player can just make a beeline for that specific boss and area of their choice. Exploration is rewarded in the form of chests, extra mini-bosses if you're feeling tough, and punished in the form of trap rooms, enemy gauntlets, and challenges that may end a run more than benefit it. Still, the game encourages players to make every use of their quirks and upgrades, and essential double jump and dash equips help make use of tricky platforming challenges.

As for the way the game looks/sounds when playing more than ten years later, the sprite work looks simple but endearing, with a handful of enemies that have palette swap upgrades later on and additional baddies that do things like shoot bullets through walls, rush up and attack, or fly around the player and force them to act carefully. Every enemy type is very memorable and (unless the game's traits make it difficult to see) they all stand out with distinct behavior. Sound-wise the game has great audio cues for sensing enemy types and music that can range from morose to exciting within the same song. While there is a melancholy air to the game (and its backstory), it's just cute and silly enough to counter-balance that gloom.

Rogue Legacy has a reputation for being HARD, but rewards persistence. While the game eventually rewards sheer persistence with upgrades it's careful exploration and mindful class building that will eventually win the day, and evenings will pass by in a flash as the player strives toward that new exciting power that makes the game feel truly worthwhile. It makes sense to why a lot of rogue-lite games follow in its footsteps!

ROGUELITE ACTION-PLATFORMER - Follows a family of knights who, generation after generation, explore a cursed castle in a quest to break a curse, with each descendant inheriting unique traits and abilities to continue the fight.

PROS:

++ Addicting gameplay loop. To put it simply, Rogue Legacy is incredibly addicting. I just couldn't stop playing. And I think it mainly has to do with how each run plays out. When you start a run, the goal is to collect as much gold so that you can afford to buy upgrades after you die. But the catch is that you have to give all your gold to Charon whenever you begin your next run, meaning you have to spend as much gold as you can (to prevent wasted gold) and you need to enter each run with the mentality of getting enough currency to be able to purchase the upgrade you've been eyeing. This makes it so that you earnestly try your best in every run. Another reason why the gameplay was addicting was thanks to the procedural generation. There were only a few times where I felt that the room was straight up unfair. But for the most part, I loved the consistent challenge these procedurally-generated rooms gave me. Challenging me in my platforming skills, my reflexes, and even my pattern memorization skills.

++ Music. The music was really catchy and I enjoyed every single one of the tunes! The starting area track and Pistol Shrimp were especially great!

++ Premise. The core premise of having descendants with varying traits/skills was a very interesting concept that I feel was executed quite well. Especially in the beginning, these traits & skills did a great job of spicing up the game. They do start to wear out their novelty by the end though, especially the traits like Vertigo. But nevertheless, I'm interested to see how they expand upon this concept in the sequel.

++ Replayability. After beating the game, there is a NG+ option that can easily triple your playtime with the game.

++ Different classes. Although not all classes are created equal, I appreciated that all the classes had their specific uses. Some were good at taking down bosses (Hokages & Barbarians), some were all-arounders (Paladins & Assassins), some were magic-focused (Spellswords & Archmages), and one is specifically made for gold-runs (Spelunkers). Liches and Dragons round up the available classes. Each of them required a slightly different playstyle which kept me on my toes throughout my entire playthrough. But like I said, some classes were superior compared to the others.

++ Tight platforming. I really appreciated that the core platforming felt tight. It was easy to correct my course mid-air. With the rune system, it also allows for not only double jumps, but possibly even triple jumps and beyond! There is also mid-air dash in both directions which is especially useful for dodging. Overall, I had no complaints with the platforming and I felt that none of my deaths were caused by how the game controlled.

CONS:

-- No weapons. Even though there are a variety of classes, there's only one weapon which is the sword you start with. And because there's only one weapon, combat starts to get stale after a while because it doesn't really evolve much over the course of the game.

-- Bosses. I found that the designs of the bosses were quite subpar, and were just larger versions of regular enemy mobs. The fight themselves were also a bit underwhelming. I found that they just hit hard, rather than have any interesting fight patterns.

-- Dungeon level. The castle, the forest, and the upper area are all great progressions in difficulty. But the fourth and final area (the dungeons) is unfairly hard. The difficulty comes from the fact that it's way too dark and I could barely see any of the enemies. It didn't feel like a good step up in challenge. It felt cheap.

-- Downward attack. The downward pogo jump attack was just too inconsistent and had too short of a range to be used effectively. It resulted in me most often landing on the enemy, taking unnecessary damage in the process. I wish it was simpler to input or that it had a much more effective range.

-- Grind-heavy. The end of the game is quite grind-heavy. If you're not into grinding in games, then this could be a potential turn-off for you. The average player would need to get their stats up to an appropriate level just so that they can even have the chance to beat that floor's boss.

An enjoyable and pretty challenging rogue-lite (hehe). Quite a lot of grinding though, which I guess is to be expected from a game like this. There's a basic story as well but it's nothing special. I think I've been spoiled by more modern rogue-lites that have deeper stories. Oh well.

This game pretty much became something I played while listening to podcasts. Had a good time with it overall.

Finally finished this game on PC after starting it years ago on PS4. Not a fan of rogue-likes and this game didn't change my mind.

+I liked getting upgrades.

-I'm not a fan of randomized levels. Each area seems to use similar level layouts, so the only difference between each one is the aesthetics and the strength of the enemies.

-The enemies also get repetitive because each area uses the same types of enemies, but with varying strength.

-Not a fan of random job classes and traits at the beginning of each run.

Wouldn't say it's a bad game, but it just wasn't for me.

Rogue legacy es una hack and slash de scroll lateral, que realmente es muy ingenioso la hora de escoger classes y sus "discapacidades" esto le da mucha vida al juego por que cada personaje se juega de diferente forma, pero la verdad es que aqui se podrian haber esmerado mas en diferencia las classes y en hacer que cada una tuviera un estilo de juego unico, pero esto no es asi, al final queda en un quiero y no puedo por que basicamente exceptuando la de medio dragon medio humano las demas se juegan igual y la unica diferencia es la vida y el daño y alguna pequeña skill unica pero que tampoco es algo increible mas alla de un dash instantaneo o un grito que empuja enemigos.

La dificultat es un punto muy bueno a tener en cuenta por que sin tu elegir nada las zonas ya te van marcando un punto de dificultat al que llegar primero te pones como meta limpiar el primer nivel, despues pasas al 2 y asi pudiendo pasar del primero al 4 directamente para coger mas dinero.

La banda sonora deja mucho que desear, repetitiva hasta hartar.

A mi me ha llevado cerca de 20 horas completarlo asi que dado que el juego vale cerca de 13 euros la proporicon horas euros esta genial, y eso sin contar las horas que le puedes echar en new game + que entonces facil puedes llegar a las 100.

Tiene buenos enemigos muy caracterizados y muy bien escalados.