Risk of Rain 2: Early impressions on PS5

So it's a new month and for PS-Plus subscribers, of which I am one, have access to a bunch of new free games and they mostly look pretty good thins month.

Of the offerings the one that is rated the highest is something that I have never heard of before but screw it! I'll try anything once that doesn't involved needles.

src

I knew nothing about this game when I went in other than the fact that it is really highly rated by basically everyone. This is normally a good sign and just like I usually do, I just pushed whatever buttons necessary to get me to the start screen and off we went. The loading times were acceptable and it was an enjoyable process. My character selection screen is very limited at this point though, just a mere 2 options.

src

I chose Commando because it is the first one and well, there must be a reason for that, hit the square button to start and off you go!

To say that they truly throw you to the wolves in this one would be an understatement. They don't tell you SQUAT. You just land and then while I was standing there trying to familiarize myself with the buttons I was getting attacked. I ran, not even knowing at this point that the game is a roguelike and wandered around unlocking anything I can and well, about 20 minutes later I died and had a pretty damn good time doing so. So much in fact, that I fired up another game right away.

src

I'm just running and gunning, picking up items activating everything that I can and for the most part not being overwhelmed by enemies. I got a few helper bots that come along and do some damage for me and heal me a bit and this was fun and I was hoping that these are something you always have access to because it is quite nice to stand next to a turret and have them protek you. Unfortunately, after my first death I came to the discovery that just like every other rogue-like game I have ever played, the level is different every time. The landscape looks the same but the stuff is in different places.

On my next 2 runs I managed to have a better grasp on the controls but my little bot friends were not where I remembered them being because there was nothing to remember. There is a reason why there are no maps of this game available online because it must be procedurally generated. of course there is always the opportunity that I am just a bit of an idiot and can't remember the layout. They seem different, let's just say that.

Now after dying a certain number of times I wouldn't say I actually know anything really about the game other than the fact that I have been enjoying myself even though I am essentially doing the same thing over and over and over again.

src

When this happens to me I can't help but wish that the game kept the gameplay that it has but instead it was a game where your progress was saved and there was some sort of mission other than "make it all the way through." However, this is just the very nature of rogue-likes and yes, I know this.

I always kind of feel like these sorts of games are kind of a waste of time and other than Hades I've never played a rogue-like where once I finally stopped playing it I was happy that I had played it and found it to be an overall enjoyable experience and something that was worth my time. While I do enjoy Risk of Rain 2, I know already that this is unlikely to hold my interest for very long nor will I have any sense of satisfaction once I get further into the game.

Unfortunately, this is just an aspect of ME personally, and is not a reflection about the quality of the game itself. It is a fantastic game but much of your ability to advance in the game appears to be based on what items you end up with early on... you now, just like literally every other rogue-like game that has ever existed that I am aware of.

Therefore, I am probably going to put this one down but want to make it clear that this is completely because of my personal preferences. It is an absolutely fantastic game with a perfectly bangin soundtrack as well. If you are a rogue-like fan, I think that this game would be just amazing for you to have. For me, I am more of a quest, saving your progress, kind of guy and will begin the search for exactly that soon. In the meantime I will keep ROR2 on my console to return to for downtime here and there.