Rogue Legacy

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 703 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 496 out of 703
  2. Mixed: 147 out of 703
  3. Negative: 60 out of 703
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  1. Kattsylt
    Jun 28, 2013
    6
    A castlevania-ish platformer with an interesting twist.
    You dont play a single character, you play a branch in your family tree. You will begin with an almost useless character and quickly find out that evil castles can be deadly. But hopefully you got the chance to gather some gold for your dear descendants, because they will continue the quest.
    And thats basically the game. You    A castlevania-ish platformer with an interesting twist.
    You dont play a single character, you play a branch in your family tree. You will begin with an almost useless character and quickly find out that evil castles can be deadly. But hopefully you got the chance to gather some gold for your dear descendants, because they will continue the quest.

    And thats basically the game. You gather gold, upgrade your family castle in order to improve your fighters and crafting items, die, die again, die some more, gather gold and die.

    The game itself feels fresh, interesting and is initially very addictive, but it actually gets old pretty quickly. The lack of story that makes it me wonder why im still entering evil castles generation after generation.    … Expand
  2. Kluge
    Jun 29, 2013
    10
    Expect to win the game about as frequently as in vanilla Nethack. RL offers a challenging, fun, casual (hardcore-casual, though!) experience. You can pick the game up, head off and die a few times, then set it down and go do something else the dying actually serves the game very well to break the overall game up into bite-size chunks.

    In RL, you're effectively grinding the game to get    Expect to win the game about as frequently as in vanilla Nethack. RL offers a challenging, fun, casual (hardcore-casual, though!) experience. You can pick the game up, head off and die a few times, then set it down and go do something else the dying actually serves the game very well to break the overall game up into bite-size chunks.

    In RL, you're effectively grinding the game to get gear, stats, and abilities for the "over-game" which is the point in which you actually have a shot in Hell of getting through to the final area. There are a few glitches here and there, usually which'll kill you by, for example, having a character apparently undecided if he's on or off a ledge, so he can't jump but dying is fun.

    RL adds quite a bit of fun easter egg type content throughout the castles to ensure things are always fresh, and that you always want to explore. The best part about this content is that it's very rare. You can die 50 times and never see more than a small handful of the "fun" rooms, so the freshness of these unique rooms doesn't wear off quickly like if you were seeing repeats so often, they become "normal."

    I would say, if you like games similar to Binding of Isaac or Nethack, you'll appreciate the intentional imbalance in this game.    … Expand
  3. Dimonte
    Jun 29, 2013
    5
    When you start the game, it feels really fresh. Traits are absolutely wonderful, upgrades look enticing, all is well. The bit where you actually play the game is much, much worse. Controls are imprecise, randomly generated rooms often present insurmountable obstacle for average gamer, and some enemies' semi-cheating attacks are outright infuriating.

    If you are very good at platformers,    When you start the game, it feels really fresh. Traits are absolutely wonderful, upgrades look enticing, all is well. The bit where you actually play the game is much, much worse. Controls are imprecise, randomly generated rooms often present insurmountable obstacle for average gamer, and some enemies' semi-cheating attacks are outright infuriating.

    If you are very good at platformers, you certainly should try this game. If you aren't and do mind endless die-restart-die-restart cycle, then skip it.    … Expand
  4. Bunkerfox
    Jun 29, 2013
    4
    I came into this game expecting an enjoyable side scrolling Castlevania style game. Full of challenge, exploration and just overall fun. But, with added replayability thanks to the random designs. I was very disappointed.

    What I found instead was a very poorly deigned fighting game with atrocious platforming. The jump controls are awful, and it all feels so floaty and poorly done.    I came into this game expecting an enjoyable side scrolling Castlevania style game. Full of challenge, exploration and just overall fun. But, with added replayability thanks to the random designs. I was very disappointed.

    What I found instead was a very poorly deigned fighting game with atrocious platforming. The jump controls are awful, and it all feels so floaty and poorly done.

    The combat. Well, you have a few spells that are either not that useful or just taken straight from Castlevania. The actual sword combat is crap too. Only a few characters can block, and that takes up MP, so that makes it mostly useless. Enemy attacks are very hard to avoid thanks to the floaty jumps and the fact that you often have several coming at you at once, making them unavoidable. Thankfully the stunlock has a good invincibility length, so that somewhat lowers the frustration. A major problem seems to be fighting anyone or anything that is slightly above or below you. jump attacks are dodgy, at best, and more often than not just result in you getting hit. The combat never fells like you are actually physically hitting things, and this, what should have been the main thing in a fighting game, just feels very amateur.

    The difficulty just feels too artificial as well. It's not a game made hard by good design to make it challenging but not frustrating. It's just hard because they throw loads of enemies at you and give you crap ways to fight them

    Now, we have the major selling point of the game. The hero legacy, where when your character dies and his or her heirs take up the fight, but with new and improved bonuses that your previous generations have unlocked. An epic time line of heroes fighting to overcome the evil castle, getting stronger and stronger. Shame it's crap as well. there is ZERO sense of connection to the previous characters. This in no way feels like a line of heroes fighting, just some random characters kicked out of some random number generator. It is, in essence, a very crap levelling system. You go in with a terribly underpowered character, get some gold, and when you die (Which will be soon) you spend some money on upgrades so you can repeat this seemingly endless progress. There is no sense of progress, it's just grinding done poorly. Even upgrading the manor is taken from a cool idea into a levelling up menu.
    Even the randomness of the castle doesn't help the grinding feel of the game. It changes a lot each time, but seeing as you do pretty much the exact same thing and each room in an area looks exactly the same regardless of shape, it never feels like I am exploring a whole new level each time. Just one where they've muddled stuff around so it doesn't flow together well.

    The end result is a game that just isn't all that fun and has a very poor feel to it. Bad controls, bad combat, bad levelling system disguised as another feature it isn't.
    The graphics are nice, the sounds are good and I give it a bonus point for it's portrayal of homosexuality. In fact, I may say it's one of the best I've seen in a game. I take that point back again after it uses disability's as a joke for it's traits. "We wanted to show anyone can be a hero" You don't do that by making fun of serious conditions for a few laughs
    Overall, a title with great promise let down by very sloppy execution    … Expand
  5. pacoda
    Aug 30, 2013
    6
    Its a fun and mechanically difficult metroidvania-like game. I lost interest half-way through though because it just became too repetetive. You earn gold by looting chests and defeating enemies inside the castle which has 4 "settings". These settings with its rooms and enemies are randomized each time you die. You use the gold to unlock items, classes etc. and buy stats. All of this isIts a fun and mechanically difficult metroidvania-like game. I lost interest half-way through though because it just became too repetetive. You earn gold by looting chests and defeating enemies inside the castle which has 4 "settings". These settings with its rooms and enemies are randomized each time you die. You use the gold to unlock items, classes etc. and buy stats. All of this is fun, yes, but after 24 hours of playing it just feels like a grind and i cant find the motivation to complete it.… Expand
  6. Sjalka
    Sep 10, 2013
    5
    the concept is sound, a fast paced, short lived and rather challenging experience for both the casual and the hardcore (more the hardcore though). there is good progression and feeling of improvement via upgrades.

    what i personally do not like is the art-style; but maybe i am just tired of the "wanne-be-nostalgic-retro-look" which just too often feels like they were too lazy or    the concept is sound, a fast paced, short lived and rather challenging experience for both the casual and the hardcore (more the hardcore though). there is good progression and feeling of improvement via upgrades.

    what i personally do not like is the art-style; but maybe i am just tired of the "wanne-be-nostalgic-retro-look" which just too often feels like they were too lazy or uninspired to make it better looking. the 8 bit or is it 16 bit look does not do much to the game play other than being a reminder of games from another era. (yes, i know that was probably the intention)

    in terms of game play, i wished there was more attachment to my char. it is just a "bit" too short lived. i did not care for any of my chars like at all. and while it is an aspect of the game to go through heirs like nothing a little bit more attachment would have done nicely and with that in mind maybe a bit more longevity.

    also the balance between the classes and characteristics are not well enough. some are worthless, some are really just a joke. there was a feature wasted imo an AI that would evaluate the progression of what the player picks and determines a sort of evolution due to "survival of the fittest" along with a lot more characteristics.

    but in the end after a while, you start to wonder why you seem to grind as if it was an old school mmo. there is little to explore or be surprised about and it becomes a bit repetitive.
    but every game has flaws, every game can be better but for me, RL is but an average plat-former with very good ideas that are not fully realized.    … Expand
  7. SlyguyTheCritic
    Aug 11, 2013
    4
    A boring, utterly dull game which feels fresh at first, but then boils down to ceaseless tedium. Go into the dungeon, die, go back into the dungeon, die, go into the dungeon, die. People have compared the game to Dark Souls, saying it's a 2D Dark Souls, but that, apart from the fact both games have poor keyboard controls, is an utter lie, as while Dark Souls for the most part is fair, andA boring, utterly dull game which feels fresh at first, but then boils down to ceaseless tedium. Go into the dungeon, die, go back into the dungeon, die, go into the dungeon, die. People have compared the game to Dark Souls, saying it's a 2D Dark Souls, but that, apart from the fact both games have poor keyboard controls, is an utter lie, as while Dark Souls for the most part is fair, and expects you to win the game as frequently as one would in another hard game, i.e System Shock 2, whereas Rogue Legacy expects you to die as part of the game.… Expand
  8. M0HAX
    Jul 19, 2013
    1
    I am an extreme fan of roguelike games. ADOM, DC, IVAN, even DF(more or less roguelike). This game is not what a true rl game should be. Now I'll expand on that thought.

    First requirement for the rl game is a permadeath. Well this game doesn't have it. Instead it "fakes" death in order to reroll some of the stats in a way that usually doesn't change a single thing. Character doesn't    I am an extreme fan of roguelike games. ADOM, DC, IVAN, even DF(more or less roguelike). This game is not what a true rl game should be. Now I'll expand on that thought.

    First requirement for the rl game is a permadeath. Well this game doesn't have it. Instead it "fakes" death in order to reroll some of the stats in a way that usually doesn't change a single thing. Character doesn't loose progress, as this game's only progressing parts are upgrades. He simply gets reborn as a farting balding female...

    However the one thing that gets lost is money, which makes the game all the more frustrating. As frankly you will die well over a hundred times w/o having a chance to upgrade anything, often being 1 or 2 gold short of the damned n k gold upgrades. Even more times you will have more than enough money to buy all the equipment you have already bought several times over, wishing you found a new blueprint or rune during the last run.

    Deaths may have been less often if the controls were actually precise or at least semi-accurate. Yet again, there is a huge "NO" painted all over the screen. You will bump into monsters, fall on the spikes, miss your aerial drop-hits and "enjoy" deathscreens again and again. Game doesn't challenge you with monsters hard to fight, it challenges you with controls that make monsters hard to fight.

    To make it worse, after dying you let your heir wander the castle. Going through exactly the same places, just in the different order. And again. And again. And again. And again. Quite fun isn't it? And again. And again. Getting slightly boring? Nah... And again. And again. And again. RAAAGE. Thats what the game feels like after a few hours of playing. Very soon player gets the idea that there is NO exploration at all. Maya at the top forest to the right, dungeon below. Now just wander through around 100 similar rooms bam! game ended, there is the King slayer. Unless you enjoy heavy-duty grinding most likely you will have to quit for a bit, maybe look out of the window to make sure world outside is actually diverse.

    But thats not all there is. Classes are the same. Absolutely. Ninja/Archmage/Paladin who cares? You will not get to use different play-styles. Its all the same jump-hack-spell routine. And there is only a little handful of overall useless spells. The ones that actually matter cost a lot of mana and make you burn through your bar in mere moments.

    Boss fights. You will be hit. It is impossible to kill bosses without being hit. So if your gear is low you won't be able to outskill them. It is simply not possible. So in order to kill them you have to have a gear of at least level n, where n was set by devs. And yeah, it won't work trying to go up from start, or left, or down for that matter. You MUST level to win. And to level you need gold... and so on, etc., etc.

    Overall I severely disliked the game. While I was waiting for an interesting roguelike sidecrawler, I got an annoying boring meatgrinder with terrible controls, somewhat nice graphics and almost impossible to notice music.    … Expand
  9. Ganscaile
    Aug 4, 2013
    5
    I'm sure Rogue Legacy is a really fun game, but having such horrible performance issues on a machine that plays 3D games quite decently is just a no-go. Playing in slow-motion with considerable control lag has a huge impact on my experience. And considering the technically simplistic nature of the graphics I really can't understand why the game performs so bad.

    Thus, a 5 is the best I    I'm sure Rogue Legacy is a really fun game, but having such horrible performance issues on a machine that plays 3D games quite decently is just a no-go. Playing in slow-motion with considerable control lag has a huge impact on my experience. And considering the technically simplistic nature of the graphics I really can't understand why the game performs so bad.

    Thus, a 5 is the best I can give, until those issues are resolved.    … Expand
  10. kissmygrits
    Sep 20, 2013
    0
    Rogue Legacy is side scrolling grind fest with not much going for it. The graphics suck, and this is coming from someone who loves retro styled graphics, but Rogue Legacy's character and level designs just suck. If you like getting cheapshotted by traps and the endless amounts of flying enemies, then this game is perfect for you. The difficulty is punishing with absolutely no rewards forRogue Legacy is side scrolling grind fest with not much going for it. The graphics suck, and this is coming from someone who loves retro styled graphics, but Rogue Legacy's character and level designs just suck. If you like getting cheapshotted by traps and the endless amounts of flying enemies, then this game is perfect for you. The difficulty is punishing with absolutely no rewards for the player. Also, the price of this game is ridiculous. I got it at 66% off on Steam, and it was still $15, so you're not really getting value for money. You probably won't want to play this game for hours on end, it's really only playable in ten to twenty minutes bursts, which makes it a crappy non-portable game. I am seriously getting tired of developers choosing to make games punishingly difficult with no reward in it for the player and/or not adding more difficulty levels. I would have given this game a 7 if they had added difficulty levels.… Expand
  11. fabio77
    Jun 26, 2014
    9
    I don't know why, but I'm addicted to this game. Is an old style platform with many modern elements that make it a joy to play.From the beginning to the end is probably too frustrating, but then you have that particular session in which everything goes right, and you feel you are playing one of the best games ever.
    I think it deserves a sequel with a bigger environment, now the levels    I don't know why, but I'm addicted to this game. Is an old style platform with many modern elements that make it a joy to play.From the beginning to the end is probably too frustrating, but then you have that particular session in which everything goes right, and you feel you are playing one of the best games ever.
    I think it deserves a sequel with a bigger environment, now the levels graphic is flat and boring.    … Expand
  12. eternalsnows
    Jul 6, 2013
    4
    The first thing you notice starting up Rogue Legacy on a 1920x1080 screen is that it's not a very good looking game. Yes, the designers were going for a retro pixel art look, but frankly they just didn't do a very good job. Animations are clunky, character designs are silly, and foregrounds and backgrounds are utilitarian at best. I hate to say it, but this looks like a game that was putThe first thing you notice starting up Rogue Legacy on a 1920x1080 screen is that it's not a very good looking game. Yes, the designers were going for a retro pixel art look, but frankly they just didn't do a very good job. Animations are clunky, character designs are silly, and foregrounds and backgrounds are utilitarian at best. I hate to say it, but this looks like a game that was put together by a team of programmers doing double duty as artists. It's passable, but barely.

    Visuals aside, the game fares better in the gameplay department. The controls (using a 360 controller) are fluid and responsive, exploration is rewarding, combat is well balanced and the boss fights are well done. This is a challenging game, but the developers did a great job walking the tightrope between frustration and enjoyment. This is what gives the game its initial appeal and keeps you playing for at least a few hours. Each time you die you'll keep saying "just one more try," looking to gather more money and upgrade your character.

    In the end though the game just isn't that fun. It really turns into a huge grind. The more difficult bosses are pretty much impossible unless you've purchased a ton of upgrades, so that means countless runs through pretty much the same areas over and over and over again. Yes, the world is randomly generated each time you play (unless you lock it down), but it's always the same general layout and is always built from the same drab components. Boredom kicks in very quickly as you realize there's nothing much to see and hardly any plot to carry things forward. The gimmicky "traits" that affect your chosen character don't do much and can often be annoying. Who wants to play with the screen inverted? Nobody. You'll try it once for a minute and then never ever pick a character with that trait again.

    The random nature of character selection can be frustrating as well, because you'll mostly want to pick a character class that fits with the upgrades you've been buying. Rolling three mages after pouring all your points into fighting skills is a huge pain. Yes, you can unlock a skill that allows you to reroll the character select screen once, but you're not going to get that until later on, if at all. Even then, your reroll might not be any good.

    In closing I'd say Rogue Legacy is worth picking up just to experience the fluid gameplay and kill a few hours. Wait for it to go on sale though. I think the price is steep in light of the many flaws in the game and its variable quality level.    … Expand
  13. DevanK
    Jun 29, 2013
    9
    Rogue Legacy is a fantastic game that combines the classic action-platforming style (and look) of Castlevania & Ghosts & Ghouls with a modern compulsion based structure that is as clever and innovative as it is challenging.

    The game is far from easy, designed to be a "Rogue-Like" game where upon each death, you have to start over and delve once again into the randomly generated castle.    Rogue Legacy is a fantastic game that combines the classic action-platforming style (and look) of Castlevania & Ghosts & Ghouls with a modern compulsion based structure that is as clever and innovative as it is challenging.

    The game is far from easy, designed to be a "Rogue-Like" game where upon each death, you have to start over and delve once again into the randomly generated castle.

    However, Cellar Door Games have lightened this hardcore feature in a creative and intelligent way through their Lineage System, allowing a sense of advancement and progression in a game fundamentally about perma-death and skill runs.

    Upon each death, you are asked to choose an heir to your legacy. Your heir inherits the gold collected on your previous runs and can use it to upgrade Castle Components for new classes and permanent benefits, Forge New Weapons and Armor with statistical upgrades and powers and Enchant Runes that slot into each piece of equipment which grant you important skills to customize your character to your play style. All these upgrades carry forward to each heir in succession, slowly growing your legacy and power and allowing you to more quickly dispatch enemies and make more and more progress.

    Humorous randomly assigned Traits (some cosmetic, some debilitating, some extremely beneficial) keep things fresh and endearingly hilarious on each run. This allows you to stay invested until your skills are good enough that the challenge of the level matches your understanding of the system and you to begin to use strategy to plan our your next assault choosing the hero with the class, traits or spells that would best suit your next run's goals.

    Secret Areas, Chests and Skill Based Challenges make each new room of the castle an intriguing surprise as you hope for another armor blueprint, magic rune, or pile of gold that will allow you to purchase more upgrades and finally defeat that next ridiculous boss that has haunted you for generations.

    The game's nostalgia value, smooth, simple controls and delightful humor draw you in, and it's upgrade and advancement system keeps you eagerly playing. The game overall is an impressive, innovative and rewarding title and aside from the difficulty, there is little not to like about this incredible indie game.    … Expand
  14. orctown-troll
    Mar 9, 2014
    1
    Game is OK but it is basically TOO HARD to be enjoyable. This is made worse by the way the map resets after each death. With each death accumulated (money) progress is lost so the game basically wastes your time by denying any progress. You might die 20-30 times before you luck-out and get enough money to get an upgrade. Don't waste your time with this garbage.
  15. sonofslobodan
    Jul 3, 2013
    4
    Really disappointed with this one. It really caught my interest when I saw it initially because I'm a huge fan of the castlevania games (both old and new style) and thought this would be something like that. It's a shame the developers spent so much time on all the features of the game without making the core gameplay fun. The character physics feel a bit too floaty and could reallyReally disappointed with this one. It really caught my interest when I saw it initially because I'm a huge fan of the castlevania games (both old and new style) and thought this would be something like that. It's a shame the developers spent so much time on all the features of the game without making the core gameplay fun. The character physics feel a bit too floaty and could really benefit from some heft to the movement and jumping. Additionally the whole game is tuned way too sensitively so even small movements will send you further than you'd like and you'll end up bumping you against enemies (which makes you take damage by the way) as you jump for attacks.

    Additionally the whole lineage system is gimmicky and poorly thought out. Instead of actually giving you interesting gameplay choices, most of the characters have cosmetic, annoying attributes instead. I find myself avoiding traits like color blind and near-sightedness because its stupid to play a game with a filter that obstructs your vision. These guys needed to really nail down the core of the game before they started adding superficial BS to the game that makes it even worse.    … Expand
  16. jonizerror
    Jun 30, 2013
    5
    this game is fun at first but after you die a million times without accomplishing anything you realize that this game is unrealistically hard because theres no point to it. just a randomized castle with the goal to reach the end. if it was at a fair difficulty setting then this game would be beaten in 5 mins top
  17. Steamers
    Jul 14, 2013
    2
    Rogue Legacy is a side scrolling randomly-generated hack and slash that brims with lots of unique ideas but the execution falls flat. The hero and his long line of decedents are on the quest to track down and kill Johannes; the immortal traitor who escaped into a shape shifting castle and cannot escape. Seems strange to go after him, but the family-line seems too vengeful to care. ButRogue Legacy is a side scrolling randomly-generated hack and slash that brims with lots of unique ideas but the execution falls flat. The hero and his long line of decedents are on the quest to track down and kill Johannes; the immortal traitor who escaped into a shape shifting castle and cannot escape. Seems strange to go after him, but the family-line seems too vengeful to care. But story doesn’t matter much here, it’s all about gameplay! Let’s see how this fish flops.
    In the grand tradition of rogue-likes you have one life. However, this one life is not meant to last you the game. Instead it’s a money-bag. Your goal is to loot the castle for as much money and upgrades as you stuff in a suit of armor. Instead of attempting to beat the game on one life, you are expected to die until you amassed enough gold to purchase the best equipment available and smite everything in yawn-inducing short fashion. However, gold cannot be horded as Charon, the castle guardian, demands that you fork over all your hard earned coin as an entrance fee. This means ill-fated runs that fail to produce a new upgrade mean nothing. In a game where you are expected to increase in power steadily, multiple "empty" runs can be particularly disheartening.
    But wait! It wouldn’t be rouge-like without something random, right? Characters are randomly generated before each play through and have 0-2 traits and a class. Traits may be anything from P.A.D, which disables traps, to Baldness, which changes a few in game texts, to vertigo, which renders the game nearly unplayable. Classes have a few advantage and disadvantages to mold to an archetype like “mage” or “barbarian”. Mages have good magic attack but crummy physical stats. Barbarians can take more damage, but don’t have poor magic stats.
    Despite the "randomly generated" dungeons, the room-types are in short supply. It feels more like the rooms are shuffled rather than generating a whole new set of challenges. Within an hour of play, I came across all the rooms available in the first stage. In addition, the game gives the illusion that you can choose different routes to play different states in whatever order you like a la Megaman. The reality is that it is best to go in a set pattern as enemies can evaporate the hero in a single hit if not upgraded properly.
    Enemies are rather dull and fall into two types- laughably easy melee beefcakes or projectile spamming cannons. As the game progresses you fight the same enemies with more beef and more projectile. Patterns are simple, which isn't bad, but most enemies have little thought in placement and are punching bags riding on player error in order to sneak a sword swing or a projectile in.
    Bosses are as exciting as the enemies and simply regurgitate large heavy-hitting projectiles and enemies in easily avoidable patterns. Like the enemies, they bank on human error rather than having the player learn a set of patterns or have gamepad dexterity and reaction. The final Boss is an exception and does prove to be moderately fun.
    In the end, the game is not challenging but punishing. The game punishes a player for not having “stats X” or dieing too early. The game can be summed as one giant grindfest where the bosses are gear checks and little skill is needed on the player’s part once enough upgrades and equipment have been acquired. This game is for those who enjoy grinding for hours to work up to point where a player can easily smash through the game in a laughable fashion. For me, not only is this magic play though too little in entertainment value, but asks for too much time.    … Expand
  18. Ian277
    Jul 6, 2013
    2
    This game is horribly flawed, i don't care that you are suppose to die a lot. i have gone through about 30 ancestors and haven't made a dime since my 6th upgrade. mostly because the controls for the keyboard are horrible, and the fact that the dungeon keeper takes all your money when you enter. i have yet to live long enough to kill more than half a row of monsters. the platforming isThis game is horribly flawed, i don't care that you are suppose to die a lot. i have gone through about 30 ancestors and haven't made a dime since my 6th upgrade. mostly because the controls for the keyboard are horrible, and the fact that the dungeon keeper takes all your money when you enter. i have yet to live long enough to kill more than half a row of monsters. the platforming is tricky and if not for the floaty movement and crappy controls might be OK. the bad controls also negatively impact fighting, you really don't the precision to dodge what this game throws at you. I'm sure i would be dazzled by the amazing and expansive upgrade system if i could get enough gold to upgrade. now i am determined to get good with these horrible controls and do better. this game is addictive but i don't see myself ever beating all the bosses just because i don't have the patience to sit through hours of the same and dying over and over. i like difficulty but i like it when i am challenged by things other than controls movement and money things that are supposed to help you in games so maybe... just maybe if i get better with the controls i will start to enjoy this.… Expand
  19. UnclearImage
    Jun 27, 2013
    9
    Great game, hard difficulty, alot of replay and a huge upgrade system.
    My only complaint is you upgrade certain types of charas (knights, mages, or barbarians) and the game still won't let you specifically pick that type. So you die and get a knave (nothing at all) a bard and a mage, but you've been leveling knights.... Basically you're gonna just spawn, run into castle and die because    Great game, hard difficulty, alot of replay and a huge upgrade system.
    My only complaint is you upgrade certain types of charas (knights, mages, or barbarians) and the game still won't let you specifically pick that type. So you die and get a knave (nothing at all) a bard and a mage, but you've been leveling knights.... Basically you're gonna just spawn, run into castle and die because playing that class is pointless. This add nothing to my fun at all, huge downside for me. Going to try and get either cheats, or a mod to fix it.    … Expand
  20. Freakwood
    Jul 7, 2013
    3
    I really don't know how people can give this 10 of 10 possible points. Rogue Legacy is one of the worst attempts to have someone playing a game more than it takes to "beat it" or to see everything the game has to offer. If you die, you can only spend the gold that you have, otherwise you'll lose it at the point you enter the castle. Long story short: you grind. If you'd invest the time inI really don't know how people can give this 10 of 10 possible points. Rogue Legacy is one of the worst attempts to have someone playing a game more than it takes to "beat it" or to see everything the game has to offer. If you die, you can only spend the gold that you have, otherwise you'll lose it at the point you enter the castle. Long story short: you grind. If you'd invest the time in a MMO-RPG you'd be more successful with your character there. The only positive thing about that game is that it's not pay to win.

    How can you give a game like that perfect score? Rogue Legacy is the worst try to bind someone on his PC for a long time. While the artstyle is really nice to see and the people creating the sound really did a great work, neither the game mechanics nor the gameplay are innovative or "new" as some people here mention. Briefly, at a certain point the game you realize that all you do is grinding around senselessly, hit things with your weapon and wait for the gold to drop because that's the only thing this game is about. Getting the gold together to buy new weapons problem: you lose the gold as you enter a new run through the castle. Actually the only positive thing I can say about this game ist that it's not pay to win and 4 of 10 points is really well-meant. If you want a challenge, go play Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts instead..    … Expand
  21. fenrishero
    Jul 1, 2013
    9
    I normally hate games that have unforgiving learning curves and an element of randomness to them, but this game, for some reason, has been incredibly addictive to me. I will play it for an hour or two, then give up, feeling sick of it, only to come back after an hour for another round. It's hard, but it's fair, and once you learn what does and does not work for you, it gets much better.I normally hate games that have unforgiving learning curves and an element of randomness to them, but this game, for some reason, has been incredibly addictive to me. I will play it for an hour or two, then give up, feeling sick of it, only to come back after an hour for another round. It's hard, but it's fair, and once you learn what does and does not work for you, it gets much better. You learn how to play each class, which classes you prefer, what equipment loadouts work best for you with each class, and when you should avoid certain rooms and when you should go for it.

    The random traits can be fun, and you also learn which ones are good, which ones are minor annoyances, and which ones you have to avoid. And the best part about that those three will vary from player to player. I personally can't handle the Colorblind trait, but some of my best playthroughs have come with the Vertigo trait, because it forced me to slow down and think.

    For all the randomness, though, it's got little touches that keep it from getting out of hand. The castle's floor plan can be locked in, the areas are almost always located in the same general orientation (though I've had 2 runs where they were not correct), and there are little touches that prevent you from getting blindsided by damage, if you pay attention.

    Only two real problems occur: there are a couple traits and runes that are far better then others (lots of areas only accesible by those with dwarfism, P.A.D. can make challenging rooms a joke, O.C.D. is always good, while siphon and vampirism runes will be your go to runes) and there are still some minor bugs ('Invulnerable' enemies die without seeming to take damage).

    Overall, a very fun Metroidvania game. Don't be scared away by the roguelite aspect; the game handles it in a way that changes it from source of annoyance to fun way to break up tedium.    … Expand
  22. theNILE
    Jul 6, 2013
    5
    Far from perfect but a challenging hack n slash RPG. A few minor tweaks and bug fixes (having to restart your exe gets a bit old) and this game could of been really good, however you have to run through the weakest area every-time you enter unless you want to lock-down which reduces your income, it gets boring very fast and locking down every time when attempting a boss again isFar from perfect but a challenging hack n slash RPG. A few minor tweaks and bug fixes (having to restart your exe gets a bit old) and this game could of been really good, however you have to run through the weakest area every-time you enter unless you want to lock-down which reduces your income, it gets boring very fast and locking down every time when attempting a boss again is time-consuming, and when you just want a specific character and you don't have the Randomize upgrade (which is conveniently placed behind a class upgrade for some reason), it's not really fun. Another flaw is that bosses are either incredibly irritating and tedious, or incredibly easy if you know the trick. I encountered a bug several times where I actually didn't take damage or knockback when being hit. Haggle is also pretty useless early on, yet it's not far up the tree and it's pretty expensive for what it does at that stage.… Expand
  23. ovinophile
    Dec 22, 2013
    6
    Let's start with the good: The graphics and animations are spectacular, very charming and cute and detailed. The music and writing are also great, with a good bit of light-hearted humor thrown in.

    Now the rest: What could be a very fun game is ultimately doomed by its own rogue-like nature. You're stuck fighting the same 5 or 6 enemies. Rooms are randomized, but quickly start to all    Let's start with the good: The graphics and animations are spectacular, very charming and cute and detailed. The music and writing are also great, with a good bit of light-hearted humor thrown in.

    Now the rest: What could be a very fun game is ultimately doomed by its own rogue-like nature. You're stuck fighting the same 5 or 6 enemies. Rooms are randomized, but quickly start to all look the same. There's zero "legacy" from one hero to the next outside of the gold you inherit. Your character class choices for each new attempt are completely random. You could spend all your gold upgrading your favorite class and then not even see it as an option for the next few runs. Even after hours of playing, venturing into new areas or boss rooms leads a swift and unavoidable death. The real difficulty comes not from learning to recognize and adapt to enemy attacks, but from floaty controls and cheap hits. The cost of upgrades scales so sharply that you'll soon find that unless you have a series of simply amazing runs, you're unable to make any progress at all. It's a fun diversion for a night, but without the ability to steadily progress, it's hard to see myself coming back to it again and again.    … Expand
  24. suneater
    Nov 30, 2013
    1
    Remember how frustratingly hard Super Ghouls & Ghosts was? Well what if a poor, starving indie dev took that idea, made everything in the game randomized, and made all the bosses larger versions of normal enemies? This sums up the over-hyped waste of hard drive space that Rogue Legacy is. I hate everything about this game from the dungeon being randomized every time you die, to your newRemember how frustratingly hard Super Ghouls & Ghosts was? Well what if a poor, starving indie dev took that idea, made everything in the game randomized, and made all the bosses larger versions of normal enemies? This sums up the over-hyped waste of hard drive space that Rogue Legacy is. I hate everything about this game from the dungeon being randomized every time you die, to your new characters having all randomized stats & classes, to the forced meme garbage and terrible attempts at humor.

    Rogue Legacy is what I have come to expect from recent indie garbage: a repetitive, over-randomized, bullet-hell spamfest with shoehorned "rogue-like" elements and hideous graphics that has no redeeming values apart from being a FOTM for streamers & Youtube "celebrities".    … Expand
  25. TitaniumDragon
    Dec 2, 2013
    5
    Rogue Legacy is a 2D action platformer for the PC. The name is a play on the roguelike genre; in most roguelike games, every time you die, you start the game over from scratch. In Rogue Legacy, the central premise is that your character is the descendant of the previous character you were playing as, and you inherit their equipment, though you may not use the same fighting style or knowRogue Legacy is a 2D action platformer for the PC. The name is a play on the roguelike genre; in most roguelike games, every time you die, you start the game over from scratch. In Rogue Legacy, the central premise is that your character is the descendant of the previous character you were playing as, and you inherit their equipment, though you may not use the same fighting style or know the same class. Every time you die is a new opportunity to upgrade the next generation, and over the course of numerous deaths, you slowly unlock the entire castle and every ability and piece of equipment in the game. While the underlying idea of your character dying and your descendants carrying on in your place is an interesting one, the game itself is not good enough to make it interesting. Early on, it is too hard, and later on, it is too repetitive, making the overall experience bland.… Expand
  26. Maitrify
    Jun 6, 2014
    6
    First of all, if you do not have a controller do not bother with this trash game. I would assume that this game would be pretty fantastic with a proper controller, however the default controls that come with it are some of the most ridiculous rubbish I've ever played with in my life. Common sense and my history of gaming make me wonder if the creator even played his own game beforeFirst of all, if you do not have a controller do not bother with this trash game. I would assume that this game would be pretty fantastic with a proper controller, however the default controls that come with it are some of the most ridiculous rubbish I've ever played with in my life. Common sense and my history of gaming make me wonder if the creator even played his own game before releasing it.

    So, with that tidbit out of the way, I will admit that I really WANT to like this game. It has a good premise for an indie game and the concept is solid. However the control scheme makes me tend to quit after about 2 playthroughs due to the sheer stupidity of it. Basically, this game is a side-scrolling Metroid-esque game with hack'n'slash features. What you see is what you get really. It has quite a lot of replay value as long as you have some alternate method of control or you enjoy being defeated due to poor control schemes (looking at you Resident Evil, can't run while shooting. Makes sense in a zombie game...)

    Basically you start out as some sort of 'knight' that has no real background or story and the main goal of the game is to wrack up as much gold as possible. The gold is used for progression AFTER dying. Yeah, you heard me, Not going to use that gold while you're alive. The only way to access the 'store' (dubbed 'The Manor') in which to spend all your hard (read: VERY HARD) earned gold is to perish. Once you perish, you get to pick one of three 'descendants' that have varying abilities and skills (called traits).

    There is a wide array of these traits that keep it fresh and replayability high and subsequence playthroughs amusing. After perishing you are brought back to 'The Manor', a series of unlockable options, such as a blacksmithy, more health or mana, additional abilities, etc. They build off one another, with the player unlocking one making it so that three more are able to be looked at and purchased.

    The monsters are pretty standard fare, hailing from NES and SNES times with predictable patterns and bullet-hell firing paths that are usually dodgable sans the terrible controls.    … Expand
  27. Vilio
    Feb 17, 2014
    3
    I expect game like Prehistoric 2 or Titus the Fox. But again fail. Good idea to have new character each game. You can choose clones of your previous character. It will be nice a seems to be promising idea, which allows you to make different after each death.
    But game play is like incorrectly finish student work. Terrible jumping, for simple tasks you need multiple keys what ruins    I expect game like Prehistoric 2 or Titus the Fox. But again fail. Good idea to have new character each game. You can choose clones of your previous character. It will be nice a seems to be promising idea, which allows you to make different after each death.
    But game play is like incorrectly finish student work. Terrible jumping, for simple tasks you need multiple keys what ruins character control. enemies can shoot during walls, jump everywhere, fly everywhere. There is missing any way how to improve game difficulty. It's like last level of game with hard difficulty after first door. Is useless to buy new weapons, as they can do only small damage and you have to be close to enemy.
    Enemies are not colliding with you, you are transparent for them. If you hit them with weapon, they just blink and continue in movement to target - YOU. In reality you have only 1 hit to kill them, otherwise they will start killing you. Because your body is transparent, you have to jump away. And again you have to hit them once and jump away. And here is another black point - character control.
    There are sometimes only terrible platforms which is possible to activate only when you jump, release space, press down key and click left mouse button. I think is really hard to make control more complicated....
    And this is where I finished. I don't want to play game, where I have to fight with control. At this moment I can only say, very good idea was killed with terrible character control and wrong level/creature design. I'm going to play mark of ninja, limbo, trine 2, prehistoric 2, titus the fox. These game is no match for them.
    I want to have delete game from library button on Steam !    … Expand
  28. Outlander999
    Nov 16, 2013
    6
    Note: my true vote should be 6.5/10 but Metacritic doesn't permit that, so I give it a "6".

    Rogue Legacy is an addictive rogue-like game, but its lack of variety makes it boring quickly. The controls aren't extremely reactive and the gameplay isn't enough deep. Could have been better, but if you love the extremely hard games, you'll appreciate it. VIRTUALINN.IT
  29. NestriReviews
    Dec 15, 2015
    10
    A pretty awesome 2d rogue-like RPG platformer. Every gamer should play this very awesome game, because it's charming, fun, addictive and so awesome. It also has a kick ass soundtrack, don't forget that.
  30. HeartsTM
    Jul 2, 2013
    2
    I've played this game for about five hours and gone through about forty "generations." Having said that, I would not recommend this game. The controls are frustrating to get the hang of and not nearly precise enough for a game where you are often required to dodge arrays of bullets. Success feels too much like luck. The upgrades for the most part are uninspired and dull and change veryI've played this game for about five hours and gone through about forty "generations." Having said that, I would not recommend this game. The controls are frustrating to get the hang of and not nearly precise enough for a game where you are often required to dodge arrays of bullets. Success feels too much like luck. The upgrades for the most part are uninspired and dull and change very little about the game except for allowing for flat statistical increases. Even the boss battles are pretty bland. Overall the game feels like a slow grind that never changes much and grows tiresome quickly.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

25
#25 Best PC Game of 2013
54
#54 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 43 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 43
  3. Negative: 0 out of 43
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Mar 11, 2014
    86
    If you look up the word addiction in a dictionary, you will find out what that word means. But the dictionary might just as well display a picture of Rogue Legacy. [Dec 2013]
  2. RPG Fan
    Dec 9, 2013
    85
    Amazing old-school mechanics meet modern conventions.
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  3. D+PAD Magazine
    Oct 16, 2013
    100
    Roguelike games have become increasingly popular of late and it’s great to see one which rewards you for all the time spent by allowing a form of character progression. It’s mitigated to a point by having you lose all your money before entering a castle and each purchased bonus makes all the others more expensive.
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