Rogue Legacy – PC

Platform: PC

Developer: Cellar Door Games

Release Date: June 27, 2013

Rating: RP

Score: 9 out of 10

Reviewed by Giant Metal Zorio

Greetings, readers! Welcome to what I hope is the first of many informative and entertaining reviews by your friendly neighborhood PC gamer GIANT METAL ZORIO. I’ve recently had the pleasure of sinking an unseemly number of hours into the charming and incredibly entertaining Rogue Legacy by Cellar Door Games. It is available for digital download on Steam or via www.roguelegacy.com.

Rogue Legacy is a side-scrolling dungeon crawler with some roguelike elements thrown in for good measure. The primary goal of the game is to explore the randomly generated dungeon which takes the form of a castle, collect treasure, fight monsters, and defeat the bosses that reside over each of the castle’s four primary zones. Each time you die, that character is gone for good. Your next journey into the castle will be as one of your previous hero’s descendents. Each new hero has a class type and one or more of a number of randomly generated attributes such as gigantism (the character model is significantly larger and has a larger attack range but is a larger target) or color-blindness (which makes that playthrough appear in grayscale). I’m wary of revealing too many details about the random character generation because so many of them are hilarious and I would hate to spoil the jokes. Some are beneficial, some are purely detrimental, and others constitute a tradeoff. Class types are pretty standard fare, incorporating knights, thieves, wizards, and a few other surprises. All classes wield a sword and are primarily delineated by their base attributes and a special skill. Paladins can block, while Barbarians have a shout that knocks back all enemies on the screen. Each new character also receives a randomly generated spell which can range from throwing a dagger to summoning a spinning ring of fireballs.

As you explore the castle, you fight monsters and gather gold. It is also possible to find blueprints which allow you to purchase equipment that improves your character’s overall attributes. There are a lot of different equipment sets, and it will take you a tremendous number of treks through the castle to unlock them all. When you die (and you WILL die), you’re returned to the title screen to start your next playthrough. Before you enter the castle again, you’re allowed to use your gold to boost your stats, unlock new character classes, and purchase new gear. Nearly all of your unspent money will be surrendered to the guardian at the castle gate upon entry, so you have to be productive on each playthrough; you can’t stockpile gold from multiple trips. While you have the option of locking the castle in its current configuration, doing so incurs a percentage gold penalty on your next trip and detracts from the experience in my opinion. I found that it was really only useful if I had failed a boss encounter and wanted an immediate rematch.

Rogue Legacy can be frustratingly difficult at times and you’ll have plenty of runs that are effectively an instant death. However, you’ll grow a little stronger with each trip and make headway eventually; try not to get too discouraged. There is a lot of variation in enemy types, and the randomization of the castle each time you enter adds a lot of replay value. In addition, you’ll generally be motivated to unlock the next upgrade or piece of equipment. It’s a game you have to be careful with, as it’s extremely addictive. The controls are tight and the game handles well, but I definitely suggest playing with a gamepad. I can’t imagine trying to play this game with a mouse and keyboard. When you finally finish the game, there are multiple new game plus options with sharply scaling difficulty. The starting areas you were crushing on your previous game are probably going to kill you early and often. By the time I was on new game++, the game had essentially become a bullet hell populated by screen-filling demon beasts that would murder me in a flash if I gave them half a chance.

The presentation of the game is phenomenal. The visuals are intentionally retro and very well animated, and the game has a healthy sense of humor. The four primary zones have very well established visual motifs and generally look great. The limited soundtrack can grow tiresome after a while, but it is effective at establishing the mood for the area you’re currently exploring. While I would like to see more variety here, I do understand why they made the decision to keep it simple.

Recommended specs:

Recommended specs are a 2 Ghz processor, 2 GB of RAM, and an Nvidia 8800 GTS or equivalent. Minimum specs are slightly lower, which in layman’s terms means that this game is not very demanding and will probably run on your machine unless it is extremely low-cost or especially dated. Only Windows XP, Vista and 7 are officially supported.

Overall, Rogue Legacy is an entertaining game with a lot of character to be had for the relatively paltry sum of only 15 dollars. I’m hard pressed to come up with significant gripes, especially considering the price point and the size of the developer. Pick this one up.

Score: 9 out of 10

Reviewed by Giant Metal Zorio