Release Date: 14 June 2013
Date Played: 16 December 2021
Introduction:
Rogue Legacy was one of the first big releases in the rogue-lite boom of the early 2010s. Along with Spelunky, Faster than Light, and The Binding of Isaac, Rogue Legacy was on the tip of everyone's tongue when it came to what was going on in the gaming world. The developer, Celler Door Games, took classic sidescrolling action platformer and mixing it with randomized elements that served to create addictive gameplay that is still as compelling and fun as it ever was. Personally, I originally played and finished this game on PC back when it came out in 2013. I was excited to crack open my PS4 copy and give it another go around almost a decade later. Since then, I've played my fair share of rogue-lites and would consider myself to be somewhat of a connoisseur of the genre and was hoping the game would remain fondly remembered in my mind. Would this game still be able to hold up after all these years and after so many great games came after it? Unsurprisingly, the answer is still yes.
Story and Gameplay:
The game begins with a valiant knight venturing into the castle to find and save the king who has been reputed to have fallen deathly ill after an injury. The word around the land is that the king has disappeared and no one has seen or heard from him in far too long. Not long after, as a double whammy, you learn that this savior knight has not returned from the castle either and you must traverse the castle yourself to discover what terrible fate has befallen him. You play as the descendants of the missing knight and in typical rogue-lite fashion, when you die your run is all over. You then begin the next run as one of the decedents of your previous character; and so on and so forth until you finish the game. It won't be long until you've seen countless generations pass in your attempts to conquer the castle. Along the way, you'll discover journal entries from the very first knight to enter that sheds a little bit more light onto the story. It's very basic, but intriguing, and does serve to help keep the player engaged over the dozens of attempts it will take them to conquer the castle. The game's resolution is pretty strong and makes the somewhat arduous and lengthy journey worth it. I won't spoil anything for you, but rest assured that the storyline of Rogue Legacy has some nice flavor and plot to it that is a real plus in an indie community more focused on novel gameplay ideas rather than narrative.
When you begin a new run, you select from one of three randomized characters who, as I previously mentioned, are the offspring of the character which you previously played. These characters have various classes like barbarian, knight, wizard, hokage, and more. They do have their strengths and weaknesses but mostly play the same way at first. As you progress and unlock more classes, things start to feel more and more different between them and can certainly make different runs feel more unique. However, this "uniqueness" is definitely on a smaller scale and most of the time you'll just be jumping and slashing with your sword the same way in almost every run. In addition to this, every character has randomized physical and psychological traits that add a spin to the game. One character might have gigantism that makes them twice as large, or ADHD that makes them hyper fast; while another will have visual impairments like color blindness, nearsightedness, etc. Alzheimer's makes your map disappear, OCD rewards you for destroying all items in a room, and many more give a lot of flavor and humor to the game. While a lot of these are only more for novelty than actual gameplay changes, they are still a nice touch and add to the already fantastic sense of comedic thoughtfulness that was clearly in the forefront of the developer's mind.
After this, you'll enter the castle properly and begin to explore it, gather wealth and collect items, slay enemies, and platform your way through its plethora of rooms as you uncover more and more of the map. Of course, everything is randomized in true rogue-lite fashion and every journey into the castle will have the rooms shift and change into a new configuration that is sure to keep you on your toes. You have a basic sword attack, a jump, and a sub-weapon/magic attack. It is very reminiscent of Castlevania and even the sub-weapons are taken from that beloved franchise. There's the dagger the shoots straight ahead, the axe that is lobbed out in an arc, a chakram that works like a boomerang, a circle of fire, and several more I won't spoil here. Suffice it to say, if you're used to those sorts of games you'll feel right at home here. Keeping with this theme, there's the frustrating and difficult enemies, perilous platforming, knockback when hit, and spikes all over the place. Luckily, the platforming is much, much better in this game and you have superb control over your character not only while on the ground but also when jumping and falling. Unlike the inspiration for this game, you're not committed once you press the jump button. Maneuvering while in the air is integral to your success in this game and mastery of the tight and responsive controls is a must. In addition to this, you're given a downward pogo stick attack like in the NES Ducktales game. This is an essential technique and you'll need to employ it as you make your way through the castle's 4 main areas.
You'll travel through the stony castle, the surrounding forest, the haunted towers, and the caverns below. As you go through these, you'll collect tons of gold, blueprints for new gear, and runes to help you out. Eventually you'll come to a boss in each area that you'll need to destroy before unlocking the door to the final boss. This is nothing new and is a gameplay style as old as the genre itself. Of course, even getting to these bosses is easier said than done and even the most basic rooms can spell disaster if you're not ready.
Unlike most other rogue-lites, you don't really find any new items during a run to change up the gameplay. Whatever you set out with when you enter the castle is going to be what you're going to be stuck with for the duration of that character's life. While this keeps things simple, it does make a lot of runs feel the same and deprives the game from having those zany and fun item combinations that you find in so many other rogue-lites with randomized equipment. I was really longing for item synergies and crazy off-the-wall situations that can result from having this sort of randomized game progression during a run. While it isn't game ruining, this is certainly my biggest complaint about Rogue Legacy and I wish there was more variability during an individual run; and even between the different runs themselves.
Where the game DOES vary from its peers is after you die in an attempt. And, trust me, you will die... plenty. Your next character inherits all the gold and items of your previous one. You can use the gold to purchase upgrades, new abilities, new classes, weapons, armor, and runes to help you on your journey. These are permanent upgrades that apply to every character you use from now on. So, even though the game is tough as nails, no run is ever wasted and you will slowly become stronger and stronger over time. I really like this system in that it allows you to tailor your characters' progression to the style that you prefer. Want to focus on defense, go for it. Melee, magic, critical chance, money farming, etc. ; go for what playstyle you like. Over time you can max out everything if you want to put in the hours. Any gold you don't spend though, is forfeited when you enter back into the castle, so you'll need to use every last coin that you can before you dive into the next attempt.
Even if you're terrible at these games, you'll eventually become strong enough to succeed. In addition to this, you'll soon realize that after you slay one of the area's bosses, it stays permanently dead. That means you only have to kill each boss a single time during all of your attempts. You'll also be able to unlock the Architect, an NPC that allows you to lock down the castle and prevent it from randomizing in between runs (for only a 60% cut of your future gold!). This cuts way down on having to redo the same areas over and over again and can really help with the monotony that can tend to set in with this game after a while. This prevents the terrible situation of having to clear 75% of the game over and over again just to make a new attempt at the 3rd boss. If you die on a boss fight, just have your child lock down the castle and you can teleport right to the boss room and give it another attempt. This certainly makes the game more manageable and forgiving. Without this, the game would wear thin far too quickly.
Presentation:
The best way I can describe the art style of Rogue Legacy is that it looks like a more cartoony version of Castlevania. Everything is mostly bright, colorful, and while basic, is pretty nice to look at. There is a whimsical and campy charm to it that makes it memorable. It's not going to shatter your mind in the graphics department, but it has that early indie-game look to it that is pretty tasteful and nostalgic. There's a definite "from the early 2010s look" that, thankfully, never really ventures into the "Free Online Flash Game" territory that was so sadly extremely prevalent from the time period.
As for the music, that's another story. The soundtrack to this game absolutely brings the talent. There are no shortage of awesome hooks, creepy Halloween-pop bangers, and slick ambient and atmospheric songs to keep you humming along. They are presented in a sort of psuedo-chiptune style that is very endearing and likable. These songs are so good, in fact, that the developers put random little jukeboxes around the castle to allow you to change the music to your favorite track whenever you find one. They knew they had something special on their hands in this regard, and they weren't wrong. In addition to this, the sound effects are also amazing and fit with the game perfectly. The weapon, enemy, combat, and item breaking sounds are charming and a pleasure to hear over and over. I would try to smash every item I came across when I played, and even if I didn't find any gold, I still felt rewarded with the sound design. Honestly, even sound of your character taking a hit or dying sounds punchy and meaty. It will be branded into your mind not only from how often your hear it, but also from just how well it's done. Honestly, I can't say enough about the sound design in this game and I have to give it up to Judson Cowan and Gordon McGladdery on their phenomenal work on this soundtrack.
Conclusion:
Rogue Legacy is still as fun today as it was when it came out 9 years ago. Yes, there have been more innovations in the genre since then, but the fun and addictive gameplay is still there. Upgrading your characters never gets old and it's a joy to see each generation becoming more and more powerful. Clearing a boss in each area of the castle is still a challenge that makes you want to give it another shot when you fail and is all the more rewarding once you finally put them down for good. Many times, I would sit down to play for an hour or so and would find that 3 hours had passed in the blink of an eye. Like any good rogue-lite, you have that desire to do just one more run. Yes, the game can start to feel a little heavy on the grinding as you do run after run just trying to farm gold to upgrade your character for the next attempt, but it never gets too bad or kills your desire to play more. I do wish each run itself had more variability after you entered the castle through item pickups or something similar. Once you begin a run, there's no real sense of progression other than the gold you collect. Still, it's always fun to explore the castle and its surrounding areas as your hack and slash your way through countless enemies, platform over perilous spikes, and avoid fireballs from all directions. I also really like the cavalier and blatant disregard for life that the game drives home as generation after generation of adventures die again and again in pursuit of conquering this castle. It's comical in a macabre sort of way that really hits on my twisted sense of humor.
This game is considered one of the classics in the genre for a reason and I would recommend it to any fan of 2D platformers. You can finish it in about 15-20 hours on your first playthrough, but you could put in more than 100 hours if you wanted to go for New Game + and beyond.
Final Status: Beaten (Twice)
Final Score: 8/10
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