A couple months back I saw this quirky game on Steam Greenlight. and the trailer had me a little bit skeptical as there's a lot of games on there that are funny but have no substance. And after watching the initial trailer I was on the fence as this being one of those joke games. The idea sounded ingenious. You fight until you die then your progeny takes up the fight to avenge your death. This itself is the premise for a lot of games. Castlevania and Legend of Zelda was built on the very idea of it being the family thing to kill all supernatural stuff.
The thing that sets Rogue Legacy apart are 2 things. One is your children all have different biological traits. These can make gameplay challenging, awkward or downright funny. For instance you can have a color blind, near sighted, gay, hero with IBS dwarfism and brittle bones. Being gay doesn't really have any effect on your fighting as far as I can tell but color blindness causes your screen to be monochromatic during your play session. Near sighted makes everything outside your immediate field of vision blurry and brittle bones might mean you get knocked farther back when hit. Death is a big part of this game. You will die... often. So there will be plenty of children to choose from to continue your legacy.
In this game something like dwarfism works to your advantage as you can get into small spaces that regular sized heroes cannot. And IBS well that just causes your hero to fart. Not so much useful but makes the game funny. Also like many action rpg rogue types your heroes will have different classes, such as mage, paladin and barbarian, adding different attributes.
Of course there are other things in this game that are helpful despite whatever flaws your child might have. That brings me to the other thing that sets you apart. While you're fighting your way through the castle your next hero inherits whatever gold coins your previous descendant gained in the castle. With that you can upgrade your keep to include things like an Enchantress, Architect and Blacksmith. You have to make sure you spend as much as possible before heading back into the fight as every time you enter the castle you pay the remainder of your funds as a toll to go back in the castle, to die.
With procedural generated rooms the castle is indeed different every time you fight. But don't worry as there are other locations and environments you'll be able to die in, if you make it that far. And an array of enemies all wanting to kill you and increase in difficulty the farther in you get. Boss battles are challenging and even if there isn't much in the way of health power-ups there is plenty of loot to be had. Including rooms with rare chests that have certain challenges to be met before opening.
Now I'm not a big fan of rogue type games but as I said the game intrigued me enough to try it. Definitely something I've never played before. I encourage anyone who's thinking about it to try the demo. This game is hard. There is no easy mode. You will die a lot and there are times I got frustrated at having to start over I wanted to toss my gamepad. But that's part of the appeal. It's a hard game. If you hear anyone say different they either don't know what they're talking about and have never played the game. Or they've sank 70+ hours into it that hard for them is normal. The dungeons, unless doing some stuff beforehand are never quite the same each playthrough. There's a light story as you come across journals throughout your journey in the castle.
Gameplay: (@__@) - It fits well into the rogue-lite category. Platforming qualities are reminiscent of Ghost and Ghouls, early Castlevania variety but also features a number of side challenges to keep a player entertained. There is only one difficulty level and that's hard but the challenge makes up for lack of story. In most cases your goal will be don't die. Or die, depending on what character you end up with. The giant SHIELD sword spell did NOT defend against projectiles. I got mad finding about that the hard way.
Graphics: (^__^) - Splendid. Sometimes you wonder how a disability would manifest itself visually and the developers did a wonderful job in representing almost all the game's traits.
Controls: (>__<) - Playing with a gamepad is a must and even with a controller I found myself overreaching that all too important jump or missing the final blow but controls are straightforward and easy to use. Can't map your own though.
Sound: The music is decent. Better than the average chiptune-y stuff most "retro" titles have but this isn't a retro game so the music should be good in the first place.
Overall: If you buy this game it will not disappoint you. Unless you were looking for something more comical than the serious hardcore game that is Rogue Legacy. Don't curse your bloodline for not taking my advice.
Find Rogue Legacy on Steam, Direct DRM Free
