Rogue Legacy Review (RIP DOOM)
Kind of a weird one for me, cause RL2 is objectively good. Movement+Platforming and combat is snappy, runs great with a consistent and appealing art style. All the different playable characters are fun and dynamic, as well as unique to each other. If that's all you need, this is an easy recommend but the devil is in the details.
First things first, this isn't a roguelike. It's not even really a roguelite. You don't make a build over the course of a run with unique item synergies. You choose a procedural generated class based character at the beginning and pick up passive buffs along the way, with options to replace (not augment, not buff) your active skills occasionally popping up. Those passive skills you pick up also have a cost in the form of resolve where if you spend too much resolve to pick up perks, you start to lose TONS of max health.
Eventually meta-progression slows up and you'll have to grind for gold to get back to unlocking new fun stuff to play with.
By the far the biggest thing that makes this one hard to compete with its contemporaries is that there's no story. There is one but it is entirely optional and entirely unengaging. Pretty quickly you'll find a "question mark" room hoping for a secret only to get dissapointed when it's another wall of text with as much flavor as boiled chicken.
So yeah, I prefer the first Rogue Legacy as it just benefits from being more bite sized and focused. Even if that means it's not as deep