Cellar Door Games - 2013 - PC
Another game oozing with really smart game design, Rogue Legacy is probably what you’d get if you crossed Castlevania with a “bullet hell” game like Ghouls N’ Ghosts. Like Castlevania, the main objective of Rogue Legacy is to explore a castle and defeat several bosses within it.
But what sets Rogue Legacy apart and makes it really fun and interesting is that, when you die - and you will die a lot - you get to choose between 1 of 3 children of the character you were just playing to avenge their parent and explore the castle. Each child may have genetic abnormalities or traits that make the game play differently each time. Some will directly affect gameplay, while others are just for flavor. For example, you may have a child who’s a midget. They’ll have a smaller hitbox and be able to go through small openings, but they may also take more knockback. Or you might have a child who’s colorblind. Then the game is played in black and white until you die again. And each time you die, the layout of the castle is randomly rearranged, so it’s kind of like playing a brand new game each time. You’re also free to swap out skills and equipment to experiment with different playstyles if you’re stuck on a boss. Really cool stuff. On top of that, you’ll inherit your items from your parent when they die, but the game makes you spend the money you inherit on upgrading new items or skills before you reenter the castle. So each time you die, there’s a kind of moment where you think “Crap I died…But now I get to choose a new character and upgrade their items and skills!” A neat mechanic because it makes you never feel overly frustrated when you die. Which is good, because this game is hard. And you’ll die. A lot.
Summary:
I can’t really think of too many negative criticisms of this game, it’s very solid and well designed. Again, not too pretty to look at, but that doesn't matter to me for a game like this. Maybe the soundtrack was a bit unremarkable, but that’s nitpicking. Check out Rogue Legacy if you can handle a challenge.
But what sets Rogue Legacy apart and makes it really fun and interesting is that, when you die - and you will die a lot - you get to choose between 1 of 3 children of the character you were just playing to avenge their parent and explore the castle. Each child may have genetic abnormalities or traits that make the game play differently each time. Some will directly affect gameplay, while others are just for flavor. For example, you may have a child who’s a midget. They’ll have a smaller hitbox and be able to go through small openings, but they may also take more knockback. Or you might have a child who’s colorblind. Then the game is played in black and white until you die again. And each time you die, the layout of the castle is randomly rearranged, so it’s kind of like playing a brand new game each time. You’re also free to swap out skills and equipment to experiment with different playstyles if you’re stuck on a boss. Really cool stuff. On top of that, you’ll inherit your items from your parent when they die, but the game makes you spend the money you inherit on upgrading new items or skills before you reenter the castle. So each time you die, there’s a kind of moment where you think “Crap I died…But now I get to choose a new character and upgrade their items and skills!” A neat mechanic because it makes you never feel overly frustrated when you die. Which is good, because this game is hard. And you’ll die. A lot.
Summary:
I can’t really think of too many negative criticisms of this game, it’s very solid and well designed. Again, not too pretty to look at, but that doesn't matter to me for a game like this. Maybe the soundtrack was a bit unremarkable, but that’s nitpicking. Check out Rogue Legacy if you can handle a challenge.
No comments:
Post a Comment