A serviceable roguelike




I'm a huge fan of roguelikes - Slay the Spire, Enter the Gungeon, Binding of Isaac etc. This game just doesn't really sink its teeth into me like those other games.
I think where Risk of Rain 2 kind of falters is in what abilities you get, and how those abilities are given to you. It's a bit of a slog to get started in a RoR2 run. The fun of the game comes from having a ton of stacked abilities/variations of abilities later on. Most abilities on their own are fairly generic and pretty bland (gain life after a kill, do some fire damage when shooting, run faster when not fighting etc).. Getting a single powerup rarely is a gamechanger, and is not very exciting on its own.
RoR2 is about the quantity of powerups, whereas the other games mentioned above have a more interesting quality of powerups. I rarely feel let down when grabbing a new gun or powerup in EtG or BoI since each pickup is meaningful. In RoR2 the fun is later in the runs when all 30 of your powerups make you unstoppable.
RoR2 is still unique each run, and the different characters are fun to play around with. I just feel like this genre has been done much better elsewhere. The 3D aspect is interesting, but it by no means makes this a better game than those mentioned above.
I'd give it a 3.5 if this site allowed because its not a bad game by any stretch, its just not a standout in its field.