Risk of Rain 2 Review

 

Flowing Across Dimensions-A Risk of Rain 2 Review

I am gonna subvert expectations here and just spoil the score for this game at the very start: It’s a ten, it will always be a ten, and the continually love and care that Hopoo games have put into Risk of Rain 2 will always keep it at a ten. I wanted to highlight this game because, even at over 350 hours of total playtime, I am nevertheless stunned at how utterly fantastic this game remains. 

Commitment to tradition

Like the first title, ROR2 revolves heavily around its unique difficulty system. In short, as you spend more time in a run a meter will continually move and the level of difficulty will continue to rise endlessly. Immediately, you are given a reason to move quickly and not waste any precious seconds as the game’s enemies continue to scale up and up and up in health and damage. 

The second core feature from the first title is the idea of item stacking. Every single item in the game features unique effects that get stronger and stronger the more you stack them. For example, a pair of lens maker's glasses will award you with a 10% chance to crit, but another will make it 20% and so on and so forth. With the myriad of special items and effects, an end game run in Risk of Rain 2 becomes a lucid trip of visual effects, damage indicators, and explosions flying across a canvas of monsters and bosses. 

Transitioning from 2D to 3D

The original risk of rain was a 2D side scrolling platformer of sorts with a similar level of roguelike combat mechanics. The sequel represents how the addition of depth adds an unprecedented level of complexity to the mechanics of a 2D game. In a way, ROR2 is the Mario 64 to Super Mario World-taking what worked on a flat plane and expanding it to a whole next level. 

So what was initially a more platform heavy 2D game has blossomed into a more movement and evasion based third person shooter. The combat of ROR2 is utter perfection, offering the player multiple ways of handling situations in which a ton of enemies are thrown at them. 

You also see this dimensional shift in how characters from the original game translate into this new engine and combat system. Take the engineer, who’s turrets could lock down areas in the original but were not necessarily used to their full potential. In the sequel, the engineer can tactically place his turrets in 3D space to lock down specific areas, using rocks and elevation to keep them out of harm’s way. Some characters even became much better in 3D, take the huntress for example, who’s lack of hp was a problem in the more defensive ROR1. Huntress is now a sort of glass cannon, whose movement speed and evasion abilities offset that low health and defense. 

The enemies have also gained much more in terms of functionality in the new game. The magma worm boss fight was initially limited in scope to only being able to fly through the screen in a linear fashion, but in a 3D space the boss can weave all around the map in a spectacle of fire and sparks. 

Risk of Rain 2’s unprecedented scale makes the more simple bosses of the first title far more impressive 

More Fun With Friends

Risk of Rain 2 is truly what every single Roguelike should aim to be. With an incredible amount of secrets and unlockables, there was never a moment of ROR2 in which I wasn’t enthralled with what I was doing. Utter indie perfection.

10/10-But you knew that already!