Failure can be Fun

So the great Steam Summer Sale has come and gone for this year, with its slew of discounts and marketable trading cards. I bought a couple of things I'd had my eye on for a while, but one of my best purchases was a new game one of my friends recommended to me. It's called Rogue Legacy, and the basic idea is that you are playing a dynasty of adventurers trying to uncover the secrets of this one castle. Your character can actually die on their adventure, but that's where your offspring come in. Every time you die you get a choice from one of three possible children to avenge you. The only catch is their class is randomly chosen and they may come with a few...interesting genetic traits. For example, I was recently Lady Henrietta III, a gay paladin with ADHD (which makes you move really fast). You can also be colorblind or near-sighted, among many other traits.

The fun doesn't stop there, however. The castle itself is randomly generated each time a new adventurer enters it, which means your descendants won't be able to rely on your prior knowledge of the castle's layout. And speaking of entering, be prepared to give your friendly local gatekeeper Charon all of the gold you currently have as a toll. He never charges more or less; the price is always however much happens to be on your person at the time. Because of this it's best to spend as much as possible of your hard-earned wealth on equipment, runes, and improvements to your family's ancestral manor, which is how you raise stats and unlock new classes. Every time you buy an improvement in a new area, it unlocks more of the manor with further upgrades. Tip: Health and Carry Weight are pretty important. Some of the items weigh a surprising amount.

All in all, a very solid, challenging game that's already provided me with several hours of entertainment. I defeated the first boss at about 3.5 hours of gameplay in a fight that cost me eight generations of champions, giving a very rewarding feeling when he at last succumbed to Sir Harold, a giant shinobi. Point of frustration: Dying several times without getting enough gold to buy anything. Usually this works itself out after a few heroes, but it really made me hate Charon's toll even more. On a scale of ten, I give Rogue Legacy a 9 for taking a simple concept and convincing me to come back for more. Check it out on Steam if you haven't already.

-Arcthos

News Update 7/19/13

Hey everyone, I'm back! When I got back from vacation I had some computer issues and wasn't able to prepare much in the way of posts. I think I've found a reliable workaround for now, at least until I build a new desktop PC. Here's a look at what you can likely expect over the next few weeks:

Completion of the Tale of Five Empire series
Various game reviews/anticipated upcoming titles
Possible news of an Indiegogo/Kickstarter Project I may be starting soon
Any other topics I find interesting

I will also be posting my desktop build here once it's finished, for all of you hardware enthusiasts out there. Thank you to all of my readers, however many or few, who are staying with me. I am thinking of looking for guest posters to fill in from time to time, especially in case I run into an issue like this again.

-Arcthos