A couple months ago, I downloaded a game solely from the recommendation of my friend Jordon at work. We started working pretty closely together on the same Team right after our company was born from the ashes of when KingsIsle was sold to Gamigo. Jordon highly recommended Risk of Rain 2 to me and I had to give it a try. It sounded so outside my wheelhouse of usual games, but at the same time like something I'd totally enjoy. (Plus I think it was on sale if I remember right . . . ) Sold.
My first several runs at the game were absolutely brutal. I don't think I even made it past the first boss on my first few runs, and that's when it struck me exactly how challenging this game was and how that was exactly something I needed at the time. This scratched that itch in all the right ways. I've heard the original Risk of Rain was pretty epic as well . . . same game, but it was a 2D side scroller / platformer, but ROR2 takes all that goodness and rolls it into a 3rd person shooter.
The gist of Risk of Rain 2 here is that you're an expendable robot sent down to an alien planet that is none to happy you've arrived. Wave after wave of enemies pour out and attack you as an enemy difficulty slider continues to get harder and harder. While on the surface of the planet, you unlock crates in exchange for money you earned by killing aliens. Inside these crates you have power up items that give you various boosts. If you're lucky, those boosts will have the perfect synergy and you'll be an epic powerhouse, which can give you just the edge you need to survive. You'll need them because if at any time you die, you're done, roguelike style, and start over as a new expendable robot jettisoned to the planet surface.
My son was so happy to see my playing Risk of Rain 2. He's like, DAD! I HAVE THIS GAME AND I'VE NEVER PLAYED IT! That kid's steam account is much more prolific than mine to be honest. He has a group of friends that make big plans to play games together, which only occasionally come to fruition, but he's always prepared by purchasing the game on sale. So this one I actually got to play with my teenage son and totally played out this wholesome meme together.
So far the highest I've gotten in the game is level 20 somewhere in the "HAHAHAHA" difficulty level after expending an hour rolling around as a MUL-T robot exploding the most ridiculous of enemies. There's a ton of different robots you can play as, but I've only unlocked a few beyond the beginning set.
I believe the world I ended my run on was the world right before the last one from what I've read. I'll get there eventually! This is definitely a game I'd love to quote unquote beat some day. There are a ton of challenges to undertake and characters to unlock and I feel like I've only scratched the surface, which gives this game a ton of replayability . . . which you absolutely need in a roguelike.
It's a great game that somehow scratches that exploration itch while also scratching that try-to-survive goodness from all roguelikes. For an old cat like me, I always go back to that original feeling from playing the game Smash TV or Zombies ate my Neighbor as a youth where you have these hoards of enemies crashing at you.
What I don't like about Risk of Rain 2 is how completely sucked into the game I get and lose total track of time. It can eat an hour of my time and unlike most games, I just don't know where that time went. It just doesn't feel like an hour after you finished playing. It just sucks time away in the most glorious of ways, and during Blaugust, with an already busy schedule, that's a bad thing. ;)
All in all, it's a really fun game that will be there to haunt me until I face that final boss. I will succeed eventually, and it'll stay installed on my computer until that happens. If I get more father and son time out of it while I'm at it, I'll be happy knowing exactly where that hour of time went.
Happy Dueling!
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