Rogue Lords
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Rogue Lords Trailers
Critic Reviews for Rogue Lords
Under its air of colorful horror tale, Rogue Lords actually hides a formidable roguelike of efficiency and original with it.
Review in French | Read full review
With Halloween season at the doors already, Rogue Lords can offer some nice time in the company of ghouls, zombies and vampires. The battles will be tough for sure, but don't fret because Devil will always play by his own rules.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Rogue Lords’ approach to turn-based combat — with or without cards — isn’t radically different, but the Devil Mode and ability to “cheat your way to victory” offers a new mechanic that will have you rethinking your usual strategies. Some issues with bugs, balancing, and its overlong, weariness-inducing campaigns are made less egregious thanks to its amusing writing, great music and fantastic gothic horror art direction. Unlike some of the games in this style, Rogue Lords demands a bit of patience, thought and tolerance for complexity while still be accessible to fans of the genre.
The terror and hindrance effects make each run feel uniquely challenging, and the story events and Disciple traits are where Rogue Lords really shines. Unfortunately, as it stands, Rogue Lords suffers significantly from its lack of balance and the repetitive nature of both runs and combat. It can be difficult to strategize when RNG constantly feels stacked against the player, and being forced to restart a book after a surprise, impossible boss fight is demoralizing. With some retuning, however, Rogue Lords could better capitalize on its great ideas and innovate for the roguelike genre.
Rogue Lords is a fine lead-up to the spooky season, with a genuinely addictive gameplay loop and a satisfying combat system. The ability to mess with the game’s own mechanics as the Devil is an absolutely inspired idea, and the experience is only made less than perfect by a few glitches that need patching out. The game would feel a little more complete if there were more to do in each chapter’s overworld, but what is there is a delightfully challenging roguelike. The inability to lower the difficulty may turn some people away, but other people will relish the challenge.
Rogue Lords is very pretty. They nailed the art design and character models, which I imagine will attract many people to this roguelike RPG. However, I am afraid that the attraction is surface level. With any roguelike game, you expect each run to feel different from the next and reset that excitement and engagement. Still, with Rogue Lords, once you've completed three books or so, it doesn't feel like it has any more to offer. Getting through three books is an achievement, as the gameplay and battle system is tedious, hard and repetitive. With a bit more streamlining of some mechanics and improvements in pacing, you'll have a more polished title that I'd be more comfortable recommending.
Rogue Lords is an extremely fun spin on the roguelike genre, featuring addictive Devil Power design, thoughtful gameplay, a variety of choices and a highly enjoyable atmosphere. However, as always, the Devil is in the details: the game's RNG-based nature, repetitiveness and lack of balance can spoil the otherwise good impression.
Rogue Lords offers an interesting Roguelike offers but fails to really live up to its devilish premise
