Risk of Rain Returns

The original being one of the most fun games I've ever played, and this being that, better, and with bonus content, should be a given that it is just the superior version. However, it is in dire need of a single patch. I won't even ask for an Artificer redesign, but this game could be so much more fun with just a few changes. [h3]1) Survivor balancing[/h3] - This only matters in the early game for most survivors anyway, since runs mostly depend on items. After getting a few, gameplay tends to homogenise somewhat between survivors. - This imbalance is very apparent in the hardest content (Judgement, Monsoon). As balance hardly matters on lower difficulties, this should really be the reference point for balancing. - Huntress is too strong compared to every other survivor in this aspect. Not a problem in and of itself, but when her skillset is already similar enough to Commando while he gets a severe movement penalty and has about half the base damage and less reliable piercing and multi-target damage, picking him feels like a gimp rather than a tactical choice. - Artificer is too weak compared to every other survivor in this aspect. Even disregarding her clunky skillset that hardly synergises with herself and her awful alt abilities, her damage is very low. Even giving her one more chakra for example could make picking her feel at least somewhat fun. - Acrid's main sources of damage don't scale with or proc most items, often making them feel mundane. Making his dots able to proc items with a chance divided by the amount of total expected procs of the ability would drastically improve his intended dot-and-run style design, even if that means making his skills weaker (his early game is already quite strong to begin with). His dots (aside from the main attack's) don't stack either, making him feel inhibited in the mid-game and making those skills not feel good to use. - These are just a few examples, so much more could be done with very basic, simple tweaks. [h3]2) Trial balancing[/h3] - This is a real shame because this one issue is singlehandedly responsible for the discrepancy between some trials feeling like the best, most challenging and rewarding content in the game, and others feeling like the worst, most annoying grinds in the game. Some of the gold times/scores are meant to be very hard, but I feel like the line between 'difficult' or 'challenging' and 'annoying' or 'tedious' is crossed on a few. Redesigning/adjusting either the abilities these challenges spotlight or the trials themselves is an option, but simply slightly reducing the target time/score would already make it feel much more rewarding, rather than relieving. (Looking at you, Danger Orbits.) - Even putting survivor balance aside, Judgement would be much more fun to grind if the items were either randomised (either fully or in curated pools as is the case in a few other challenges) or consisting of more interesting options to build something with. There are plenty of items that have synergy, but almost every survivor is forced into the same build, every single run. This quickly becomes more stale for completionists than it needs to be. Alternatively, this randomisation could be an option or even an unlock after completing the challenge. (- Stats and run history like for regular runs would be fun, especially for Judgement.) That's it really. One patch just tweaking a few numbers here and there and the game could improve drastically. (And maybe a fix for esc not working in the Trials menu.) [h3]Bonus) Damage recap[/h3] This would already be a luxury. Improving the hardest content becomes frustrating when you don't even know what to improve. So much happens basically all the time, making it difficult to see where your damage is good and where it is bad, as well as where you are taking damage and where you aren't. Damage recaps can help immensely by visualising what you have to look out for and what you should be building for. Still a good game, but the new content has an undercooked taste just a few times too often. With just a few changes (though I'm sure much more could be done even without new content), it could be one of the best of all time.

Nice revision of the first game, graphics polished, online co-op game play improved , same as the soundtrack ,playing alone or with friends is an amazing experience overall.

great game. if you like risk of rain, you'll probably like this one too. common thing I've heard is that people don't like the pixel graphics and the side scroller aspects. honestly i find that it adds to the difficulty not being able to dodge like you might in ROR2. the graphics look fine and you still get that risk of rain feeling to every level. from someone who religiously played ROR2 on monsoon, i have yet to touch that difficulty because rainstorm has proven difficult enough. 5/5 stars