⚔️ Rogue Legacy 📽 Through the Lens

I was wondering whether this game was too new to make the cut for this series. But then i saw the date (June 27, 2013) and was like: naaaahhh. 9 years is more than enough to make the cut. 😁 I think I said somewhere that 5 years is the tipping point? Oh well, who actually cares? 😂

This game was massive when it first released. Everyone and their grandma was talking about - with good reason. It blended procedural elements with tight controls like we'd never seen up until its release. It might seem like your run-of-the-mill indie game, but this shiz was a trend setter. I tell yer. // old man voice, or pirate

Sooo, in this edition of Through the Lens 🎞, we will be taking a look at one of the most important indie games of the past decade. Cellar Door Games's (these indie dev names man 🤣) coming out party from 2013: Rogue Legacy, Roll it! 📽

The time around this game's release was something of a Golden Age for indie games. They were just becoming popular, and in comes Rogue Legacy to 'revive' an undead genre in Rogue-Likes. Rogue-lites technically, but who's counting? I know I ain't. Will be calling it Rogue-like henceforth so there's no confusion. 😤

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8J4pTNZFjc&list=PLhNV2nTV_ROuIpDuJPeTcdshmfhNeVhwg&index=3

Mannnn, it was a great time to be alive. Totalbiscuit the legend was doing WTF is, I think FTL had just released, college had just started. Phew. Great times, great times.

And this game was near the center of it all. I would come home from wherever and Rogue Legacy would be calling to me. Whispering. Begging for me to play it. 🤤

It was cool because you could play a quick session and be done in 5 minutes. Feel pretty fulfilled, then carry on with the rest of your day. Dopeness. This is true for most Rogue-likes, but Rogue Legacy especially, since every run was done with a different character with different skill sets. Or near enough, anyway.

Do you guys have 30 minutes to talk about gene manipulation? 😋 No? Well good, me neither. 👍

The gameplay varies tremendously depending on the heir you've chosen. Heir = character, in this case. And each Heir is procedurally generated, meaning no two will be alike. Meaning a different experience every time.

The 'class' is set in stone, however the traits you receive are all procedural. For instance, you might have 3 Barberians to chose from. But one would be color blind, one would be dyslexic, and the third just plain crazy. 😁 Now, there's a plethora of these traits, and each affects your game in various ways

You also get a procedurally selected spell to go along with your mishmashed heir.

This combination of a pre-designed thing along with several procedural elements, was a trend setter for rogue-likes. 💯 The formula just works on multiple levels, allowing for varied yet controlled experiences. It's intoxicating. A deadly combination that will have you wondering where the time went. ⏲

OFC, we have yet to scratch the surface of this formula. So let's:

The more pre-designed elements your rogue-like has the more it becomes a rogue-lite.

For those curious, this distinction comes from the originator of the genre: Rogue. Released in 1980, it would become the progenitor of this genre.

And this game has several of these elements (I will henceforth continue to refer to Rogue Legacy as a rogue-like 😂). The first of which is the base building! 😱

I say this, because each permanent general upgrade creates a new segment of your castle. Super cool idea. 😁

So. All upgrades are done using Gold. 💰 And all Gold is taken away from you before you start each run. Meaning, you have to spend as much as possible before it's all taken away.

You have two types of upgrades in the game: general - which is what you see in the pretty picture above; and specific. These terms aren't official terms, they're mine, so hands off goons. 🤡

The general upgrades are irreversible, each acts like a standard step in a progression. While the specific ones are more like buying an item in an RPG: you find the blueprint for an upgrade, you pay the associate price, and then you can switch between each before runs.

WHAT RUNS YOU ASK??

Look... not all headers can be winners. Sometimes its a swing and a miss. Forrest Gump is an amazing movie tho, just sayin'.

The game's procedural nature in the levels comes in the form of rooms. Each room is predesigned (traps, enemies, treasure etc.) however their placement is procedural. Since each room has a simple block shape, their arrangement is very flexible - allowing for a large variety of room combinations. This ensures that each run is unique, which in turn ensures that you have a good rogue-like game. 👍

There are 4 areas. Each with a different biom, enemies, traps, you know how that goes. Each area has a boss, defeat all 4 bosses and get access to the main boss room. Defeat the main boss and lose the game! 😱

There are a bunch of other stuff that you can pass by your travels. Like a treasure room, challenge rooms, teleportation rooms that let you traverse the map faster. You cannot imagine the amount of room duuude. 😋

WHen I started writing this article, Rogue Legacy 2 wasn't out yet. But by now, it is! And i gotta say it's awesome! Which is rare for indie sequels like this.

RL's legacy tho is unquestionable. I don't know how many rogue-likes/lites that have come after it have drawn inspiration from it - but I'm gonna venture a guess and say all of them. 😁 It's impact is superb because it's ideas are so fresh and fun, or at least they were.

RL2 is the same game, but better. In every way, in fact. Well, almost every way (gotta say, Rogue Legacy's soundtrack is better than the sequel). But ye, it will ensure that Rogue Legacy's legacy remains in the minds of gamers for yeeeeaaars to come.

Because of this article I'be been playing Rogue Legacy 2 in bunches. Might do a review on it, but... this can basically act as a review for it. 😅

It's super dope tho, if you want something simple yet challenging to pass the time then you can miss with either of the Rogue Legacies.

Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

👊 Follow me on my HIVE blog 👊

Have a great weekend! 🙌 (and don't get into trouble!)

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