Rogue Legacy: Randomizing Castlevania

Described as an action platformer with roguelike sensibilities, it was no surprise that Rogue Legacy by indie developer Cellar Door Games popped up on my radar. The trailers were clear: explore a randomized 2D castle killing bosses, upgrading skills, and when you die the castle rearranges itself for your next attempt. I enjoyed the hell out of Spelunky, would the same action platform formula create the same fun with more RPG roguelike elements?

Gameplay

Rogue Legacy puts you in the boots of a hero that needs to explore an evil castle full of monsters, defeat the four bosses, and unlock the a final confrontation. But you will succumb to the monsters your first attempt. And the time after that. And probably about seventy to a hundred more times. But each time that you get struck down by the castle’s denizens one of your children picks up the mantel. You are offered up three randomly generated children to choose from, each with their own class, magic spells, and other genetic quirks. (Everything from being so big you knock enemies away to color blindness.) With each death you’ll be able to use the gold your most recently deceased parent collected to purchase upgrades, unlock loot and special magic abilities. These persistent cross-generational upgrades take the edge off of the typical roguelike frustration without lowering the difficulty.

Rogue Legacy’s inspiration is immediately apparent in how it feels. I was using a gamepad and I felt like I was playing Castlevania: Symphony of the Night all over again. The environments are also filled with familiar feeling floating skulls that zip around the screen, heavily armored knights that throw weaponry, and wizards that shoot fire and ice. The action is solid, the controls are responsive, and the game will brutally punish you for getting hit. But for all of its jumping and sword swinging, Rogue Legacy is still much more simple than a game that would be 100% about the action, so what else is there?

The roguelike elements, having death and randomization be a part of the core game, forces the player to perfect the simple platforming elements. It’s not necessarily a game about exploring the castle fully or finding the best gear, it’s about honing your own button-pressing skills to make sure that your awesomely upgraded hero doesn’t get nickeled-and-dimed on his way around the castle by enemies below his pay grade. The greatest success in Rogue Legacy will never come from upgrades, it’s from your own sword swinging and jumping/flying/teleporting skills.

Presentation

The presentation of Rogue Legacy is spot on for its heritage. The clear pixelated graphics and amazing soundtrack are all conducive for exciting platforming action as well as stirring up your SNES/PSX nostalgia. In a game of split second decisions and lightning-reflex pixel-perfect dodges, the game gives you all of the information you need at all times. The game does lack the variety of enemies and environments that it would take to keep this game from looking same-y after so many run-throughs, but the randomness keeps the repetitiveness form impacting the fun.

The game is also unapologetically tongue in cheek. The idea of being in a dungeon, killing monsters with a sword and with magic spells, and then immediately having your next of kin pick up the sword is just so silly that any tone more serious would have seemed out of place. Genetic quirks like irritable bowel syndrome that makes your hero fart when they jump and the strange dialogue between you and the few other characters keep the mood light for such a failure-filled game.

Rogue Legacy the “Roguelight”

Cellar Door Games describes Rogue Legacy as a “roguelight” instead of a “roguelike”. The term perfectly describes why Rogue Legacy is so pleasing. Unlike most “lite” experiences that want to trade complexity for accessibility, Rogue Legacy uses its simplicity as an asset. The platforming action is exciting but not as nuanced as something like Super Meat Boy or any 2D Castlevania title. The RPG elements are rewarding but no where near as complicated as your typical roguelike. What you end up with is a game composed of essential and quality components, pleasing both action-platformer fans and RPG-roguelike fans. The only reason I would not suggest this game for someone that finds constant set backs to be more frustrating than the game is rewarding, or someone who absolutely despises jumping and swording. (But who hates jumping and swording?)

Rogue Legacy is well worth the $15 price take. It’s polished, unique, and provides you fun whether you care more about sword-ing ghouls or developing a fantasy hero.