When I started this game I thought it would be a fun distraction for a Sunday afternoon, a cute little game that would remind me of the old games I used to play in the past. It turned out that it was those things, but also so much more. I didn’t realise how addictive this thing was going to be.
Rogue Legacy is a 2D platform game from Cellar Door Games. It’s described as a ‘rogue-lite’ game, as you will find yourself dying a lot, but each time you will return a little stronger. When your hero falls to the monsters within the castle, their portrait will appear in a corridor of ancestor pictures, and their child will then take over the fight. You can use the gold your father or mother gathered during their exploration to increase various stats, buy better armour and weapons, unlock new classes, or upgrade equipment with special runes, and then re-enter the castle to try again.
In the beginning stages of the game you will die a lot, leading to a long corridor full of rather feeble ancestors. But it’s not long before stat increases and equipment upgrades (not to mention a bit of practice fighting the many monsters inside the castle) start to make a difference and your family tree begins to look a little less shameful!
I thought this idea was really fun – it took the sting out of dying by making each life worth something, and every attempt part of the ongoing family saga. It means that although you start the level from the beginning again each time, you don’t start entirely from scratch, and progression isn’t based purely on player skill alone (hence the ‘lite’ aspect of ‘rogue-lite’). The game is often challenging, but rarely frustrating. And because of this feeling of continuation – of building a legacy – we also found it a great game to pass between players, taking it in turns to control the next family hero and seeing who could get further each time. For me, this gave the game an unexpected 2-player element that makes it very fun to play with a friend or partner.
At each new attempt, you can choose from three randomly generated heroes with their own unique traits. These traits are definitely a highlight of the game, affecting gameplay in some form, adding humour, or simply giving each new family hero their own quirky personality. Gigantism gives you a greater reach with your sword, and dwarfism lets you access small spaces. When a hypochondriac takes damage, the number that pops up is much higher than the actual damage taken. Nostalgic heroes play in sepia. Clumsy heroes will cast their spells backwards. Not every trait carries an advantage or disadvantage, but ensures that each child feels like a unique person and shows that anyone can be a hero. Baldness, colour blindness, dyslexia and irritable bowel syndrome – nothing is a barrier between you and your adventure. Discovering new traits is one of the best parts of the game; even if they’re devastating to gameplay (vertigo), you’ll be laughing as you die.
Inside the castle there is a good mix of monsters and traps to fight and navigate through. Though at the beginning you’ll be able to do little more than slash and jump, soon you will begin to add other useful skills that are vital for getting past tricky areas (get the dash rune as soon as you can!). The castle rooms are randomly generated, and though the castle layout is unique every time, certain elements are repeated and do become recognisable. It can be a bit jarring when similar or even identical rooms appear next to each other, and annoying when the switch-platforms generate too close to the opening into the room above, making them difficult to operate properly. But these are really minor issues.
The story is very minimal – basically an excuse to get going – but this isn’t really the focus of the game and I never felt like something was missing there. The graphics are deliberately reminiscent of the slightly pixelated look of old platform games, and are charming and fun to play with. The game is bright and bold with music that complements it perfectly.
The theme is very definitely fantasy – you can play as paladins, barbarians, mages, liches and more. Fight with swords, throw fireballs and daggers, don vampiric armour, try to guess which of the miserly elf’s chests contains the loot (and bear his mocking if you guess wrong), and face a variety of foes typical of fantasy games, ranging from flying eyeballs and walking skeletons to creatures that mimic paintings and treasure chests. The world is surprisingly alive and engaging, with so much personality and a lot of humour worked in. Although the randomly generated rooms and enemies soon become familiar, the game is still addictive long after you would expect to tire of it.
This game was a surprise hit for me: it combines the difficulty of rogue-like games with a sense of progression and gain even in defeat. It never takes itself too seriously; it’s a little bit goofy, very addictive, and a lot of fun!
Jennie Ivins