Rogue Legacy

Rogue Legacy(PC, PS4, ViTA)

Time played: 30 hours. (!!)


Story: 3/3
A family of knights swore an oath to vanquish the evil hidden in the castle. generation after generation, those knights depart to the castle never to be seen again.
You play as those knights. on every playthough you choose the heir of the family who embarks on a journey to the castle where he'll meet his demise (he will.. unless you'd clear the game).
The story is mainly told by two cutscenes, the opening cut scene and the one you see before the last boss. to call it minimalistic would be an understatement. yet it managed to surprise me. the ending IS cool.

Gameplay, separated into:

Rogue-like-ish-ness: 4/5
Every time you pick a character, you'll have all the gold your forefather managed to collect in the castle before dying, alone.. in the dark.. on the bright side, teleporting money!
you can use it to upgrade your castle (which gives your family permanent bonuses) or buy equipment. any money you didn't spend (or couldn't spend because you were missing exactly one penny) will be taken away from you when you'll enter the castle.
where you'll try to earn just enough for the next upgrade before dying violent death.
At that time, the castle is randomized and each playthrough is different.
It's one of those games TB defines as rogue"light"s. there is some persistence between playthroughs, but not too much.

Combat: 3/5
one of the things that persistent between playthroughs is dead bosses. it IS logical. if your grandma killed the giant eyeball of doom, it won't resurrect by the time it'll be your turn to enter the castle.
The combat is simple to learn and hard to master. it's based both on learning enemy patterns and adapting your playstyle to the heir you just chosen, (who can for example be bad with spells).
It's an active combat. people who liked symphony of the night will love this one.
still a bit more variation would be welcome.

Platforming: 4/5
The castle is filled with traps and obstacles. you'll be pushed to your limit trying to dodge that fireball or spike pit (or lance attack).
It isn't as crazy as, let's say meatboy, but it's far easy either. and remember that you're playing a roguelike. death can be bad.


Graphics: Solid colourful 2D. unless you picked a colour blind heir, if so then Solid colourless 2D. :P

Replayability: 1-2 Playthroughs.
Notice that I'm using "playthrough" here in different meaning than before.
every time you start the game, you start a "new playthrough" with new heir to the family.
each help you progress just a little bit, till you finally manage to beat all the bosses in the castle, open the door to the last room, see the ending and .. start a new game+ with harder castle.
My first playthrough took 25 @#$%! hours. then i played a bit in the NG+ and moved on.
If I had more free time I'm sure I would have beaten NG+ as well (then comes NG++ ^^) but I decided to cut it short because the overwhelming weight of title bought in the last steam sale.


Final Score: 8/10, polarization: -1
Recommended for Metroidvania, Roguelights and Platformers fans. if you aren't interested in any of the generes, you probably won't like this game.