#rogue lords

[lesserknownwaifus]

white lady from rogue lords

[calchexxis]

Rogue Lords game rec

Ever wanted to play the Devil himself directing a cadre of infamous evils against an oppressive church, all for the sake of bringing yourself back from Hell?

That’s admittedly a very specific desire, but it’s the premise of the game that has my attention, which is Rogue Lords. It’s a really excellent roguelike that has done what all roguelike’s aspire (and fail) to do, which is that it’s mastered its gameplay loop. Other games that I would consider to have achieved this notable milestone are games like Darkest Dungeon, Hades, Iratus, and FTL.

So you know this game is, at least in my opinion, sitting amongst storied company.

I’d actually compare this game most favorably to a Deck Builder like Monster Train, because with the bevy of skills also come a map location called Sacrificial Altars, which not only remove and replace a skill from one of your villains’ loadouts for that run, it also prevents that skill from appearing during that run when you acquire new skills. This allows you to weed out damage or skill types that aren’t favorable to your current run, and permits the player a lot more control over their builds.

The basic loop is this: Select three lords out of the available colorful villains you’ve unlocked (you begin with Dracula, Bloody Mary, and the Headless Horseman), and start a book. Each villain has something like twenty (give or take) different skills that can create a variety of interesting builds, and you acquire skills at random along the way, which is where a lot of the skill comes in.

There’s a lot of Hades in this particular game mixed with a robust turn-based combat system. Every villain’s abilities cost AP to use, you start with a default of 5 AP, with abilities and permanent-for-that-run powerups called Relics that are able to add to that number. 

There are a lot of mechanics to manage in each book that allow for different bonuses: Things like your Terror level, which can provide free relics, bonuses on upcoming event locations, and also increases the rarity of skills that you’re offered when you acquire them through battle or otherwise. Managing map progress and planning your route is incredibly important, as taking risky battles usually provides high rewards.

But the big mechanic is the thing I’ve been saving for last.

You’re playing the Devil, and the Devil cheats.

When you start a book, you begin with a certain amount of Essence based on the difficulty you’re playing on. You, as the player, may stop time at any point either during battles or in the overworld to spend essence in order to cheat the system. During battles you can do things like adjust health and move status conditions between enemies and allies, on the overworld you can open demonic portals to skip your party past unfavorable locations and even replace certain locations with a random one that might be better suited or more useful.

I love this. I love being able to just actively cheat. You have to carefully manage your essence, though, since the game accounts for this in its difficulty. During the course of each book there are necessary Elite fights you need to complete to progress, and oftentimes if you don’t have enough essence, you’ll simply lose because you couldn’t manage the battle efficiently enough. 

Overall this game is a strong 9/10: It’s incredibly creative, colorful, and devilishly charming, with the only small annoyance being that the enemies do get repetitive after awhile. It’s always the same types of enemies no matter which book you’re progressing through, and although there are enough to make the first couple interesting, they eventually become (in some cases annoyingly) familiar faces (I’m looking at you, Polaris Sisters).

[pastellocaneo]

above is various, uncompiled works I have done from oldest to newest 

[el-desenladrillador]

"Maybe if I ignore him, he will go away."

I tried to copy game's actual art style, but half-way something went wrong. XD

[alpha-beta-gamer]

Rogue Lords is a dark fantasy rogue like adventure where you become the Devil and command a band of evil geniuses.

Read More & Sign Up For The Beta (Steam)

[capitainecorbeau]

Me and the girls on our way to inflict psychic damage on the not-catholic church

[nintendocafe]

Rogue Lords is coming to Nintendo Switch

[voidevoyager]

The Beauty and the Beast of mine~

[this game really got me]