IIWYM Reviews... Rogue Legacy

IIWYM presents...
A review of...

Rogue Legacy

Available platforms: Steam Games, X360 Arcade.

Salutations, fans and other! This is Nev, with IIWYM, reviewing Rogue Legacy, and heading into the dark and foreboding castle for the last time, on an adventure that Charles Darwin would readily approve of.

Rogue Legacy is an... Interesting game. On its surface, it's a 2d action-adventure. The closest game that I can come up with is Super Castlevania in terms of stylistic format and gameplay. And I mean seriously. All the castlevania weapons are here, from the boomerang weapon to an arcing axe and so on, which are much more useful than your sword *Ahermcough*Whip! *Ahremcough* in general. It's clear what the inspiration is for this game, but it does alot of things differently. Alot of, I think, good games.

The game, as well, is HARD. There are casual games, and there are hardcore games, and this is SQUARELY in the latter's territory. Especially early on, enemies WRECK you. It has alot of the feel of "Bullet Hell" games, such as the rather infamous Touhou, especially the bosses, who absolutely fill the screen with bullets. And if you die, you lose all the money you have collected, and you HAVE to collect money to advance the game...

Now, you'd be right to think this is frustrating. And, it is.
But.
And a rather big, juicy but it is.

Every time you die, you pass on all of your stuff to your next heir... Immediately. Seriously, when you expire, you're about two screens away from starting the game again, with a newly minted son or daughter with a wide selection of wacky traits, ranging from Irritable Bowel Syndrome to ADHD and Alektrokophobia (The fear of chickens). This makes the game SO MUCH more enjoyable, and much like the last game I reviewed, I did get frustrated. However, frustrated is not bored. I have logged roughly thirty hours in the game and still have three bosses to defeat before finally beating the game, and unlike other roguelikes where you start every game from the basic zero starting point and are SO prone to getting absolutely #%@!&$ by the roll of the dice, this game is much more friendly, and much more appealing to ME, as you just have to be a little bit better than before every time, as you upgrade your facilities to improve you each time, making it a bit further and surviving a bit longer, making a bit more money. Again, though, the game is hard, as if you don't do better, you've wasted your run, as your upgrades get more expensive and as earlier stated, you give up all your money with each new generation after spending it on upgrades.

In short, this is a game about the Evolution of Species. Like I said before... Charles Darwin Approved.

However, we now get to the point that I've been dreading while thinking of this review. The rating. Because, try as I might, I simply CANNOT give this game my highest rating, despite how much I REALLY love this game.

Because, simply put, it's not for everyone. For some people, the frustration IS a major problem, and you have to have quite a bit of patience to make it any distance. However, unlike Sword of the Stars: The Pit, another game of similar style that I'm reviewing next, this game is rather friendly for a game that's in the "Roguelike" park.

Rogue Legacy recieves a score of RENT IT, for those new to this type of game, or the casual player. However, I would recommend it to hardcore gamers because of the massive feeling of satisfaction you get from working your way from peasant to hulky slab of monster slaying beef.

This has been Nev of IIWYM. I've paid the toll, and I'm on my way back once more into Castle Hamson and Rogue Legacy. See you in the next generation.

UPDATE: Quite recently, I've finally finished the game, and can say it had a really excellent ending. I didn't touch much on the story in the main review, but it is well written and goes hand-in-hand with the gameplay...mostly. Going from a total zero starting point to knowing alot is great, and there's a good twist in the game as well that I didn't quite see coming. I won't say what it is, of course, just that I think the ending and last boss are excellently done. I can't wait to see if there's a Rogue Legacy 2 coming in the future!

UPDATE UPDATE: Upon further reflection, I'm beginning to think that I was wrong. Rogue Legacy is a far more accessible game than I gave it credit for. Sure, I still think it's hard. Sure, the difficulty is rough. But I think that it's worth it. It's easily the biggest surprise hit for me of the year, and I don't think anyone should miss out on this game. It's far too good, far too well crafted to miss out on. Hense, the game's score is hereby changed to Buy Any Price. So Sayeth the Nev.