Risk of Rain 2 is an underappreciated masterpiece of the Rogue Genre. It is one of the only 3D games to truly capture the essence of the genre while also keeping itself interesting and in line with the genre by having a simple but compelling story that you can get through subsequent playthroughs and deep diving into the item descriptions.
Key Takeaways
- Risk of Rain 2 challenges the traditional classification of Rogue-like and Rogue-lite, presenting a modern take on the Rogue Genre with its death-and-reset gameplay loop and randomized items.
- Breaking from 2D norms, Risk of Rain 2’s 3D gameplay delivers chaotic and memorable experiences, distinguishing it from its peers.
- With unlockable characters boasting unique abilities, Risk of Rain 2 enhances replayability and offers diverse play styles.
- Its energetic soundtrack and multiplayer support make Risk of Rain 2 a must-try for both solo and cooperative play, ensuring hours of enjoyment.
First, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Is this game a Rogue-like or a Rogue-lite? If you are asking what is the difference then I’ll explain it as simply as possible.
Rogue-like; once you die/lose the run you reset to the start with no permanent or overarching upgrades/advantages between runs. Rogue-lite contains some aspects of progression, this could be stat boosts or level-ups outside the primary gameplay loop.
My opinion on the matter is we shouldn’t have these classifiers since they are quite outdated and fail to properly classify modern Rogue Genre games, hence why I call them Rogue games rather than any other derivation since the core gameplay principles are relatively the same and follow the death = reset format with an aspect of randomized items.
Think of games like Spelunky, Dead Cells, and Enter the Gungeon. These games follow the formula but have certain derivations that make them somewhat hard to classify as either Rogue-like or Rogue-lite.
Taking It To The Next Dimension
Going to what separates Risk of Rain 2 from all of these is the fact that it’s 3D while 99% of the genre prefers the 2D format (with a pixel art style for some reason?). This leads to making the gameplay loop more addictive by adding more dimensions for the player to focus on or get distracted by while going through the run.
This can lead to more chaotic moments which you will remember, and believe me this game gets quite chaotic on certain stages. I still get flashbacks to those Bowling Bells (that might not make sense to you but it will once you play the game for yourself).
New Challengers Have Appeared
Alongside this extra dimension, we have characters that need to be unlocked and take advantage of this with crazy movement and abilities such as my favorite the Void Fiend. Now this character is part of the DLC but if we talk about the base game then the Mercenary has to be my favorite.
The mercenary has the mechanic of staying in the air almost indefinitely by chaining his attacks while the void fiend is a form-switching menace that requires some resource management to truly bring out his shine. The game has a cast of 13 characters (14 if you include the secret one you have to transform into and can’t select at the start of the game).
The game also offers a soundtrack that is an absolute jam with certain songs I keep in my playlist and listen to often, the best one being The Rain Formerly Known As Purple.
Are You Ready Captain?
If I had to recommend any game for you and three of your friends to try and it was in the Rogue Genre then it would have to be Risk of Rain 2, simply because of how much fun and replayability it offers even on solo playthroughs and the dumb fun it can allow you to experience.
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I’m an avid gamer turned content writer, my hobbies include but are not limited to different forms of content creation. Not a complicated person, I play games and write about them. Currently attending university for Data Sciences. My favorite past-time is trying to different challange runs of Soulsborne and Souls-like games in the goofiest way possible for my own amusement. You can check my Gaming Profile on Steam And Xbox!
