Rogue Legacy IOS Review

"Another One Bites the Dust"

Campaign

August 12, 2019 at 7:29pm
By Jason Stettner

I wasn’t sure I’d be playing Rogue Legacy again after having reviewed it on Xbox One many years prior, but here it is again. I’m definitely glad I had an excuse for a revisit as this is one solid little rogue-lite dungeon crawling experience. With this port to mobile devices it comes with some additional items such as new rooms, extra mini-bosses and a brand new control scheme.

It actually works quite well in this new space, while leaving nothing behind in the process. In general, the game is about the lineage of your family. You’ll end up dying a lot, and then exploring the next heir in the line. There are multiple class types, and each person entering the deadly castle area will have unique extra abilities. These come in the form of helpful skills, or perhaps detrimental ones. You may have a flipped perspective, or it’ll be black and white for examples of the odd ones.

There’s an interesting use of death here as it is permanent. Upon each new heir entering the area prior to the castle you’ll still have the gold earned from the previous attempt. You can then use that gold once before entering to unlock new extras before the next run to give you a better chance. These in turn add some specific bonuses that can greatly affect the success of this latest family member heading into an area of death.

Gameplay

The control scheme works quite well on the mobile devices. It’s fairly smooth, and easy to understand. It also feels relatively responsive when it comes to combat. One of the key aspects of this game is actually battling it out within this castle. Now, the castle actually changes every time as it is procedurally generated. This will ensure that you always have some neat new spot to die within as you attempt to collect loot. This offers lots of replayability, which is nice.

There are over sixty unique enemies to take on, with everything from regular run of the mill skeletons to vicious flying books. The environments are quite detailed, colorful and distinct in design. There are a number of classes, and some variations past that aspect. You can even upgrade certain items which is nice as you go further and earn more down the road bonuses. For those returning this offers the base experience with the Anniversary Update alongside the Wanderer Edition.

The Conclusion

Rogue Legacy on IOS delivers the full rogue-lite experience of the title, but for mobile devices and it certainly is great. This really is a well done title, that’s fun and definitely challenging. The controls may make it a bit harder to be intense in, but they work well enough considering the platform. It plays smoothly, and looks great with many unique challenges to discover as you progress.

The procedural generation will always keep this fresh if you find the core mechanics enticing. It’s a game of lineage, trying to survive and then coming right back with some extra coin if you don’t manage to be successful. The extra little tweaks to the upcoming heirs are fun too.

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Rogue Legacy IOS Review on iPhone XS
Review Code Provided by Novy PR

Rating Overall: 8.0