Rogue Legacy 2 Review (PS5) | Push Square

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For many, Rogue Legacy's more tangible sense of progression elevated it above other titles in the rogue-like indie boom. Pioneering the rogue-lite some 10 years ago, the first game was a very stern challenge, but one that you'd eventually overcome thanks to meaningful, permanent upgrades. The loop of running through the game, using the gold you earned to become more powerful, then doing it all again is undeniably brilliant, and the added layer of each character having unique traits made each attempt memorable. Rogue Legacy 2 recaptures all of that, but builds on that simple design with an unfathomable amount of variables, delivering a more than worthy sequel.

As mentioned, you don't play as just one character, but an entire lineage of heroes aiming to storm a mysterious, ever-shifting castle and the other realms it leads to. After a tutorial, you'll begin your first run through the castle — which has a randomly generated layout, though the rooms themselves are designed — and inevitably die. With the run over, you choose an heir to carry on the mission, and each of these characters are also randomly generated. Part of the appeal in this game is discovering all the possible traits and abilities, which can be beneficial, detrimental, or just plain silly. And this is how the whole game goes.

Before you set out on a run with your newly selected champion, however, you use the gold you've gathered to build your own manor from the ground up. This is essentially a skill tree, and it starts small with simple health boosts, but grows to be enormous. The rate at which it expands depends on how much gold you have to spend, but the amount of options presented to you in this tree is outrageous. What's more, it grants access to new