Rogue Legacy Reviews
The visual glitches and lack of enemy variety do little to take away from what is a lovingly crafted game unlike any other I've played before. This is a game that won't just eat up your time, but devour it. If you somehow manage to stop playing after one or two runs, then you are a stronger-willed person than myself. I still feel as if I have a lot to master and can't wait to do so for months and months to come.
Rogue Legacy is one of the shiniest gems to come out of the Steam Greenlight program – it really does a fantastic job of mixing the better parts of a Roguelike experience with a solid 2D platformer, with a whole lot of polish on top of it all.
It becomes difficult to tear yourself away from Rogue Legacy, as the repetitive flow is brilliantly augmented by randomly generated traits and dungeon layouts. Before you know it, three hours and 20 generations of heroes have passed, and you finally realize that your cheeks are where you feel the strain the most from smiling the entire time.
Rogue Legacy rewards patience with non-stop surprises.
Rogue Legacy gives a fresh take on old thoughts, plays well with a keyboard and better on a controller, and stands strong even if some of its own biggest traits are ever-so-slightly underdeveloped. Superbly designed and balanced, this game rides the line of frustration and fun to deliver that one-more-go feel that will have every barbarian king and queen roaring a battle cry, then gearing up to take on that ancient evil one more time.
Rogue Legacy is just about as close to perfect as a randomized action platformer could hope to be. The constantly changing challenge, and character to face it with, make every game feel different.
This isn't the best challenging platformer in recent years, nor is it a replacement for Symphony of the Night and its ilk, but it's an interesting experiment with a compelling reward loop
An inspired mix of roguelike and platformer that dares to be fair with its rewards and its penalties for death – although not necessary its random medical conditions.
The roguelike gets an inventive jolt of genetics in this gloriously witty dungeon crawler.
A wildly inventive 2D Roguelike with a 30-second gameplay loop that lasts for 20 odd hours.
Which all adds some persistent reward to what would otherwise be a ten-minute experience, repeated ad nauseam. You feel like you're moving forward tangibly instead of just merely growing your knowledge of the game, and with each boss only needing to be bested once, there's a strong sense of progressing through the game world past each playthrough, too. There's a slight monotony to the enemy design after some time, but each complaint we try to construct feels all but meaningless in the face of how pure and satisfying an experience Rogue Legacy manages to be.
Amazing old-school mechanics meet modern conventions.
Rogue Legacy is not a casual game, it is one that requires you to put a lot of time and effort in to get the most from it, accept that you will make little progress early on and need to learn how best to approach certain scenarios, but those who are willing to put the time in, you will be handsomely rewarded.
A hugely triumphant take on the Metroidvania formula that delights with its fresh take on roguelike gameplay elements, Rogue Legacy empowers the player, rather than punishes them and is simply one of the finest games you can play on a PlayStation platform.
Rogue Legacy's greatest strength is that you'll always want just one more try. Whether it's the fast paced platforming action, well realised RPG mechanics, or simply the desire to see what crazy things you can uncover in the castle, there's plenty of reason to keep your armour polished and ready to go. Frustrating gameplay niggles aside, this is an indie release that executes a tried and tested formula well, while also building upon it with some enjoyable, fresh systems.
Rogue Legacy harkens back to an older era of gaming. The art style is pixelated and colorful and the music is reminiscent of the more-limited chipsets of yesteryear. Akin to such games as 1001 Spikes and Dark Souls in difficulty, Rogue Legacy will give most players a run for their money, however, the slick progression system, rich sense of humor, and overall cadence of the game is perfect for hardcore gamers or those wanting to play in bits on a commute or with only a couple minutes of downtime.
Taking cues from multiple genres like RPGs and roguelikes, Rogue Legacy is an insanely creative, fun and addictive game that's full of humor and challenge.
This PlayStation release of Rogue Legacy is undoubtedly the definitive release of the game. It might not get the hype and praise that the 2013 launch did, but those who happened to miss out on Rogue Legacy for PC/Mac should definitely take a look at this early release in Sony's Summer Play Program.
Great exploration and combat make Rogue Legacy a game you will want to play (and die in) over and over again. [OpenCritic note: Britton Peele seperately reviewed the PlayStation (8) and PC (8.5) versions. Their scores have been averaged.]
Rogue Legacy hooks you immediately with speedy action, and keeps you hooked with deep character building and exploration.