Risk of Rain Returns - First Thoughts
Grab an umbrella
When Risk of Rain first came out I picked it up on a whim. This weird, side scrolling, combat game absolutely possessed me for a while. It’s a roguelike game where the core mechanism is the ticking of a clock.
As time progresses the game gets harder. More enemies and harder enemies appear as the clock ticks up. Each stage sees you finding the teleporter and beaming to the next level. A few jumps later you find the ship that crashed on this planet and leave before the game becomes so hard you can’t survive. Simple. Sort of.
I found it a really compelling game with that ‘just one more go’ core that the best roguelikes have. I played it for countless hours unlocking almost everything. I picked up Risk of Rain 2 when it came out, hopeful they had recaptured that magic, but it fell flat for me. The move to 3D just didn’t feel like it fitted the core of the experience. Now the original game is back in a new version, and it makes some interesting changes.
Zoomed in
The game camera is zoomed in. This has the effect of making all the status effects easier to see, which is a welcome change. It also means they’ve go into more detail on the character and enemy models making them have a bit more personality. The downside is that you can’t see as much of the world so it can take a little longer to find the teleporter. This will no doubt get better as I get more familiar with the maps.
It is Harder (maybe)
The game feels a little harder to me, but this is only after a few runs through. It feels like to me it has been tuned to a bit tougher, with more elites turning up quicker and double bosses appearing earlier in the timer. That may just be me though.
Combat feels more satisfying
Partly to do with the zoomed in, but I think also down to better character models and tweaking of the sound and feel of weapons. You see shots connect, feel monsters react, and can parse what is happening on screen at a glance.
Loads of new
Its not just that the game looks better, there are loads of new items to play with as well. New survivors, new pickups, new artifacts most likely but I haven’t gotten that far yet. They’ve added in the attack, healing, utility, and equipment chests from Risk of Rain 2 and a bunch of the items from that game as well. I always liked the specific chests as it meant you could tailor your build a little more at the cost of having to maybe spending a little more time getting cash.
The maps are familiar but different and I think there are some new ones as well. They are full of secrets, new ways to get around, and look absolutely beautiful.
Lots of Options
Do you want to use the original controls. You can. Do you want Risk of Rain 2 controls instead? You can. There are loads of options, and hopefully you’ll find some good accessibility ones in there as well though I can’t really speak to that as much.
I’ve been really enjoying my first few hours with Risk of Rain Returns. It feels like an old friend has turned up with tales of their adventures. I’ll let you know how that story plays out in a full review on the site once I’ve spent more time, likely a lot more time, with the game.