I'll be honest, I don't like unforgiving platformers that often throw you in what seem to be impossible situations. I've moved on from the 90's and i suck at 'em. Yet I don't seem to be able to get enough of Rogue Legacy. I've had numerous "alright, one more go" moments after dying.
So why is it that something that i usually steer clear off mainly because i'm not all that good at it and has me dying 14 times in 30 minutes, doesn't frustrate me as much as it should and instead makes me come back for more?
Then , while upgrading my health and buying a new piece of armor after dying for the so many-eth time, it suddenly hit me. It's because the game gives a positive spin to dying imposed to it being the negative experience it usually is by rewarding you .
But while rewarding you with upgrades after death that make you stronger in the process (which you do have to buy with the money you gathered in your pre-death run) and give you a sense of progression , there are also the rogue-like elements this platformer implements that help a replay from becoming repetitive, unlike your typical (classic) platformer. I remember playing the original Super Mario Bros. and making it to world 7 or 8 or so where i had to clear this massive chasm in the ground by jumping over it and using this tiny piece of ground sticking out in the middle of it as a stepping stone of sorts. You had to do a speed run, jump, then land on this little bit of ground and straight away do another jump to reach the other side, and i just couldn't clear it, up til the point i was game-over and i would have to start the whole game over again. This was so utterly frustrating. Not so much because i wasn't able to make the jump, though it didn't help, but more because i now had to go through all those levels again just to reach that one bit where i would probably die again like i already did so many times before and start the whole thing over yet again. It's a vicious cycle i tell ya, and i hate it.
Rogue Legacy doesn't have that. Well it does, but not in the classic 'game-over, start-over' kind of way. By randomly placing and re-using different rooms in the castle your adventure takes place in each playthrough, it will take away a bit of the frustration that comes with character death and at the same time creates a new and different playthrough for your next try. You will come across rooms you've been in before eventually but by that time you will most likely be ready to try it again, or not and you'll just head the other way as soon as you can.
This together with the upgrading system that will make you stronger and give you better abilities each time you die creates a game that makes parts of it progressively easier over time while still giving you a different experience every playthrough. Not to mention that with every playthrough you will play with a different character, a descendant of your former deceased character, who each have their own abilities combined with both good and bad qualities which on a side note often make for very clever and hilarious outcome that also affect the gameplay in either a positive or a negative way, or both.
Does that mean the leveling up system and becoming more powerful in the process will make the game too easy for the veteran platformers among us? Well no, because here's the beauty of the whole thing. While everyone will go through the same tough experience at the start of the game, the more experienced players will have less trouble progressing through the game while still on a lower level, where as someone like me who is not all that good at avoiding hits and has the reaction speed of a sleeping baby will have to grind longer and level up a bit more (a lot more) before he'll be able to defeat the first boss without too much of an issue. This works really well and is genius in my opinion. It just opens this type of genre up for a wider audience.
As for the presentation Rogue Legacy does it right as well. The visuals are simple, but it's no 8-bit retro look either. It's just enough to appeal to most modern gamers and pull of a convincing creepy castle atmosphere that with it's sense of humor creates a very enjoyable experience all together.
There are numerous treasure chests to be found scattered throughout the castle(grounds) of which some can only be reached by successfully completing challenges. There are 4 dungeon bosses to be defeated before you can confront the final boss and as far as completion time, well, as mentioned before that will be entirely up to you and your play-style. Will you grind up your stats until you're a double jumping ninja tank before you proceed any further in to the castle or will you aim to beat the game by relying entirely on your skills alone and level up as little as you can.
So yes, Rogue Legacy is a pretty solid rogue-lite platformer with a well implemented upgrade system that give it a lot of replay value. Well worth a buy at full price and a real steal if it's on Sale.
