Rogue Legacy
A friend of mine sparked my interest in indie-gaming once again, and I managed to miraculously stumble upon quite a quirky little gem. This gem is known as Rogue Legacy, and it is both one of the most fun games I’ve played, and one of the most angering, annoying, and intense games on the market. The name sounds generic, but the gameplay is far from it.
Rogue Legacy’s storyline is quite simple, and includes your family being tasked with freeing the castle of the evil that has plagued. Each time you die, you may purchase upgrades, but this is where the quirk starts. Each character dies permanently, and instead of keeping whatever traits you had from your previous character, you get to pick the heir to the quest. This is where the term “legacy” comes in. Not only this, but the castle will change each time to provide a new experience each run. You use the gold earned from your previous run to purchase upgrades, armor, runes, etc. Anything you don’t spend has to go to Charon, the gatekeeper, meaning you cannot save up. You may eventually buy an upgrade that forces Charon to leave you a percentage, but it will take a while for that to see effect on your gold.
Along with your generic upgrades like more health, carrying capacity, mana, you may purchase the ability to throw more classes into your choices. These classes range from upgrades to the original three such as Warrior into Paladin or Barbarian into Barbarian King, to completely new classes like the Shinobi or Miner. The sheer amount of upgrades available is a telltale sign of how long one may spend playing this game; that is if they don’t get too angry at it beforehand. The gameplay is designed around you doing your best to get as far through the castle as possible with as much loot as possible. It is not designed for you to win it in one life. Many gamers today will find this frustrating as we have been trained to die as little as possible. As angering as a game being designed around dying can be, it can also make it exhilarating as you will notice your ability to get farther and farther through the castle, eventually defeating the bosses in each of the 4 areas and unlocking the giant gold door in the first room of the castle.
The last major quirk in this game is what actually sold me on buying it, as it added a very interesting gameplay change each time you attempt to run through the castle. Your characters not only have their classes as traits, but may also be afflicted with diseases that can range from anything like the common ADHD or Dyslexia to some that aren’t so common but provide interesting gameplay nonetheless like Gigantism or Peripheral Arterial Disease. While most will affect the gameplay quite dramatically, there are some that do very little or even nothing at all. It can be important to understand which ones will help you, hinder you, or be there just for fun.
Although the gameplay will most likely feel a bit different every run, there are some general processes that take place and it can be important to master these. There are various types of enemies, and their attack patterns differ immensely. Some can hit through walls, some cannot. Some can only hit you in melee range while others may shoot you from halfway across each room. Dodging can be difficult, and timing is essential. The Barbarian class will typically have the most health, and it is recommended to play this class a lot in the early levels until you get a better feel for the game. It is also important to stay in the castle area until you feel that you are experienced and strong enough to venture into areas such as The Forest or The Maya.
Once you accumulate enough experience, upgrades, equipment, and whatever else you feel you may need, challenging the bosses is the key part of the game. There is a boss in each of the 4 areas, and defeating each one will unlock the gold door in the first room of the castle. I have no idea what is behind this door, or even what some of the bosses look like, as this game in intensely difficult. It is better to experience these challenges on your own, though, as the gameplay will eventually begin to feel very rewarding. You will feel like you really are becoming stronger as you start to 1-hit enemies to the ground or dodge foreign attacks without batting eye. While the start is very slow, the enjoyment in the game will ramp up immensely, eventually leading you to the victory you long for.
The key elements in this game remind me of 2 very popular titles, Castlevania and Spelunky. The enemies will often bear references or resemblances to those from the Castlevania series, while the difficulty and changing environment brings memories of the more recent Spelunky. Castlevania, Spelunky, and Rogue Legacy are all highly recommended games that won’t dent your wallet and can provide weeks of fun. The world of indie games is massive and is growing more and more every day. With projects that became major successes like Minecraft or Dungeon Defenders to the little guys that are creating games just for the enjoyment of creating games. If you have not yet taken a dive into the world of indie games I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the amount of fun you can have and may even find a home in this quirky but quaint world.
P.S. this game is Xbox-controller compatible which is why you will often see Xbox controls in the photos.
Steven DesBoeufs