First of all this game is extremely similar to Rogue Legacy 1. It is still a 2D action rouge platformer. It still has barely any story other than IMHO quite boring journal entries. There are still biomes and each has a boss. This one relies a bit more on Metroidvania terms where you actually earn skills needed for areas by finding artifacts (such as a down kick launch off of lamps). It is very straightforward like the first and is quite grindy also like the first.
First of all the graphics are very good now. They have a clean feel and aren't pixel like the original, but a smoother look similar to games like Hollow Knight. The areas are clean and distinct for all the biomes as well as the enemies. The sounds are quite good other than some questionable choices (the gun for the gunslinger sounds silly) and add to the game. Overall these are improved quite a bit from the original.
There are some new classes and returning ones, although the classes feel a lot more distinct now. Some have improved moves like the Barbarian's shout freezing enemies. Like the original there is a basic attack, secondary move, magic and stuff like dashing and jumping. The action feels similar and you go through biomes getting ready to kill a boss and move onto the next. Once you're powerful you can run through previous biomes and grind for gold and other things needed like ores and blood. There are still classes considered kind of weak IMHO (I really don't like the boxer much), but nothing feels terrible. The ranged classes like the archer actually feel quite excellent and are one of my favorite characters. Overall it feels a lot like Rogue Legacy 1 along with the story told through books (I wish there was more cinematics or something here), but there are key differences I'll go through below.
First of all I'm going to say that this game feels more like Dead Cells. You generally use specific artifacts to traverse areas like Dead Cells. There is an original system for artifacts in the game called the resolve system I believe. Most artifacts take resolve and as long as you're 100% or higher you're fine. Once you go under 100% resolve you get penalties in the form of your max life being depleted. It is very hard to get more resolve, so it's best to be picky and choosy once you have enough artifact descriptions unlocked. You can get more resolve from some items as well as swapping out I believe your class skill to get resolve bonuses. You can and sometimes should swap out weapon/class/spell skills in game to get bonuses. Weapon gets a weapon strength buff %, spell gets a magic strength buff % and class skills get a resolve buff %. This is good and bad as the weapon and class skill are really what the class is (other than some passive buffs and the stats being different). There are some weapons too good to give up like the bow, but it is a neat idea. All this resolve stuff comes from passive buffs and I believe your equipment as well. It is there so you don't just load up on a million artifacts to cheese the game. Also not to spoil but you can permanently unlock teleports to the biome entrances which is a gods end for beating the bosses and also farming gold. Harder areas along with negative traits give more gold with the negative traits giving a gold % bonus.
There are some downsides to this game as well. Mainly the rouge lite random generation of the biomes is very, very weak. Everything feels so similar every game as rooms are repeated over and over again. It almost feels like a non random Metroidvania with how often rooms are repeated during runs on the biomes. Magic feels a lot better in this game, but still feels week at times. They did a smart thing and let just about every class gain mana on hits. Mage like classes get more mana overall, generate mana better and do more magic damage. Everyone gets some spell though which is cool and should be used to help the character. I also feel that attacks that don't knock back much and are short range just feel weak (the boxer's punches for an example). These things help you to get hurt. Also bosses are massive HP sponges, and sometimes enemies too, although the strategy to beat them is much better than the original. Also you unlock challenges which can be taken on by multiple characters to get orbs to get permanent buffs. This is a horrible idea as this is entirely seperate from the main game. This should be a side thing to just get gold/ore/character experience. I've done 3 of them and unlocked some permanent buffs, but this should really just be part of the main game and the orbs gotten from that. These buffs help though, so it's worth doing some when they unlock anyway. Just adds more time for not much more fun.
Overall I feel this game is Rogue Legacy 1 ++. I still don't feel it's a great game, but it's improved in every way. There is a lot to unlock although not every unlock is explained well (weight % huh?). It is extremely grindy, but the overall game feels better. I've beaten 3 of the bosses in about 11 hours, so the progress is nice. The lack of a good story (has any game with story told mainly through codex/books had a great story?), samey feeling areas, and overall repetitive feel of runs bring it back some. It's still well worth it bundled or on sale as this is quite a bit better than the original. You hit walls for grinding and there are still way too many somewhat boring passive bonuses to unlock. 7.5/10
