Risk of Rain 2 Review – Still Worthwhile In 2024?

The Risk of Rain franchise is notoriously known for its gruesome difficulty, extreme replay value, and an array of unique and enjoyable characters that all allocate themselves within different playstyles so that every player has something that works for them.

With frequent updates, an active community, and the newest title in the franchise ‘Risk of Rain Returns‘ set to release soon, we take a step back and review the title that set the studio behind the marvelous franchise on the path to greatness.

Story And Setting

To put it bluntly, the story of Risk of Rain 2 is somewhat complicated and mostly unknown to those who just play the game head-on. Of course item descriptions, environments, and other factors can contribute to overall world-building, but many players will be surprised to know that the mass majority of this title’s story takes place way before we set foot on Petrichor V.

This tale begins with two brothers and how their different philosophies and constructs created a rift between them, effectively leading Providence, the brother who nurtured the soul of his creations, to betray Mithrix, the brother who demanded efficiency from his creations.

The story is beautifully written, but it is something many players might never even notice unless they really go out of their way and do a lot of item reading and watch multiple lore videos.

Providence traps his brother on the moon of Petrichor V with all of his soulless creations. Now here, eagle-eyed players will realize that Providence is the final boss from the first Risk of Rain, and in the sequel, when the UES Contact Light returns to the planet to look for the survivors of the first game, they are met with an ultimate end-game with Mythrix.

The story of Risk of Rain 2 is unnecessary to truly enjoy the game, but knowing small details like these can definitely add to the experience as a whole. The only major problem of its story isn’t the narrative itself, it is the way they chose to tell it.

In short, the medium in which they chose to convey their beautiful story, is the biggest flaw here. Some people might even prefer the plot to be delivered this way, but I know for a fact that many other fans and I do not. But at the end of the day, it’s a matter of preference and nothing else.

Gameplay

Risk of Rain 2 is a roguelike survival game built on a time mechanic that advises players to play in a more agile manner and try not to stick around in one place too much. Although it’s usually a bad idea for players to go against this, the title is open-minded regarding experimentation. Half the game’s fun comes from trying out things that weren’t initially intended.

Arguably, the most significant factor is its experimental and non-linear gameplay. It does an amazing job when it comes to juggling dozens of little things and balancing new mechanics so that they can synergize with others effortlessly.

After gathering some items that grant multiple buffs and debuffs, the game starts to catch up with its enemies and their spawn amount. In the first 10 minutes the pace of the game is pretty slow, but after a few stages and more importantly, as more time passes, the game will get progressively harder, forcing players to stay on the move.

In Risk of Rain 2, running around in a level usually isn’t the hardest part; it’s the boss fight at the end of every stage that forces you to say enemy and charge the teleporter to proceed to the next stage.

This mechanic singlehandedly drives the core of the game’s mechanics. Players can camp in one level trying to get a specific item or get to a specific area, with the drawback of harder enemies further on, or run through the level under-equipped and hope that luck may shine upon them in the next stage.

The next and possibly most important aspect of gameplay is the different playable characters we play as. Unlike other AAA games where you get to choose classes and can have any weapons or abilities you’d want, in Risk of Rain, you can only choose from a select roster of unique characters all excelling in their own playstyle.

This may feel limiting to some, but this allows players to either gain affinity and familiarity with whoever they play with or move on to someone new altogether. The game is built upon the cast of items you find during your runs, not entirely on your character pick.

Of course, some characters suffer in areas where others dominate, but in an actual run, everyone feels like they belong to some extent, this part is tested in the boss fights which occur in every stage.

In Risk of Rain 2, running around in a level usually isn’t the hardest part; it’s the boss fight at the end of every stage that forces you to say enemy and charge the teleporter to proceed to the next stage. Some characters are good for this while others are better at running around and picking off enemies.

Overall, the RNG aspect coupled with how every item you find on your runs alters your unique character and how it affects your kit is fun for experimenting and seeing what works, and what you should avoid for every character.

Visuals And Performance

Regarding overall performance, Risk of Rain 2 holds up surprisingly well, even when about 200 hundred entities do their own specific attacks or moves on one stage. Although the framerate does start to dip whenever this goes overboard, unless you use specific game-altering artifacts, you won’t see this much.

For those who can’t afford to play with higher visuals, Risk of Rain can be optimized enough so that even players with older hardware can easily enjoy the game. Although on lower difficulties entities just pop out from nowhere, it still holds performance-wise.

When it comes to the game’s art style, Risk of Rain 2 is beautiful.

Regarding the game’s art style, Risk of Rain 2 is beautiful. The game uses intense scenery and level design and synergizes it perfectly with its already awe-gazing art style. The greatest factor here is the usage of a wide variety of colors that depict every stage as something new entirely.

With every main course, a good side dish can make it all the more memorable, and here we see that in the form of detailed character models and items that add just that little touch that pushes Risk of Rain 2 above others of its genre.

Another thing to notice is the amazing music incorporated into the levels. One of the best soundtracks that I have heard originates from here, and they represent the different intensities of every stage, truly adding to its overall feel.

Verdict

Incorporating balanced RNG with game-breaking items makes every run an absolute blast to go through. With unique characters for every type of player, the game gives you enough options to experiment, learn, and destroy some titans.

With newer DLC like The Survivors Of The Void breaking expectations and pushing the game to newer heights in terms of game-breaking items and new mechanics and bosses, players can easily play this game for months without it ever feeling like the experience is going stale, rather each new run gives you more insights on the world and how you should counter it.

With an amazing story, many playable characters, and an incredible amount of varying items and gadgets to delve into, Risk of Rain 2 is a roguelike survival game that will go down in history as one of the best in its genre.

This has been my Risk of Rain 2 Review. While you’re here, consider checking out some of our other articles. 

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