*=Video
^=Music
All Caps=Recommended
Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.
February 2015
The music in the tower.
The music in the dungeon.
Boss music for Ponce de Leon and Freon.
Rogue Legacy
There is a category of games known as "Rogue-likes" because they share certain gameplay mechanics in common with the 1980 game "Rogue." Common elements of Roguelikes include character progression, randomized levels, and permanent death (your game restarts when you die no matter how much progress you've made). Rogue Legacy might be considered a "Rougelike-like" game due to a unique twist on the typical approach.
You begin Rogue Legacy with a character who is doomed to die. Next thing you know, you are being asked to choose your descendant. The available characters each have their own class and quirks, such as nearsightedness (everything far away is blurry), vertigo (everything is upside down), or OCD (they regain magic points when they tidy up). The character you select then begins their journey into a castle to avenge the death of their ancestor.
The gameplay itself is pretty intense and requires a fair amount of skill to survive for any length of time. Along the way you'll slay monsters who drop gold coins behind. There are four boss characters throughout the castle and the death of each one unlocks a seal at the entrance of the castle.
When you die (and you will die!) your lineage retains the gold you acquired and you pick another descendant to control. You can spend your inherited money to buy new armor or weapons, or you can upgrade your castle (which has the effect of upgrading your stats, like maximum hit points). When you decide to venture back into the castle, Charon (Death) confiscates your remaining money. This means that you need to spend everything you inherited or else you need to give it up anyway - so no saving!
In the castle you can find blueprints to progressively better equipment, and you can find runes which give your character a variety of characteristics - such as being able to double-jump.
So while Rogue Legacy isn't a true Roguelike it definitely mixes up the formula. Another perspective is that this game is a nerfed Roguelike made to appeal to modern audiences who can't handle to difficult nature of true Roguelikes. Either way, the game is friggin' awesome and I'd be happy to play many more like it!
(Oh, and a few screenshots are from the PS4 version, which is why some of them have four times the resolution.)
The game gets more difficult the more you beat the final boss. The game gets crazy by the time you've beaten it six times! Also, note the use of the "Traitor" class, which is only available after beating all the bonus bosses like Ponce de Freon.
I didn't try to play very well so you can see what happens when you die. This way you can also see a variety of player characteristics and classes.
An odd glitch occurred while fighting Ponce de Freon so I tried again for the millionth time. Man, this boss is tough!
Probably my 100th attempt at this boss who is immune to your RPG progress. Only pure skill can save me!
The main music in the castle.
The music in the villiage.
The music from the forest.
 |  Your first play through has a "nostalgia" filter. |  |
|---|---|---|
 Each time you die you see a list of each monster you killed. |  Needs Visine. . . |  If your character has vertigo you might barf before you get too far. |
 |  A character who is farsighted. |  |
 Some rooms with have a chest in them, but you have to do something hard to get it to open. In this room you have to open the chest without getting hit - which can be hard with all of these spike traps! |  |  Some enemies start shooting quite large projectiles. |
 That big white and purple monster was a boss. |  |  Your castle. If you upgrade something (like hit points or damage) then your decedents will benefit. |
 Death screen for a character with vertigo. |  |  This one's nearsighted. |
 Ponce de Leon, searcher of the Fountain of Youth. |  Gigantism! |  That is one big blob. |
 Oh man, the dragon class sucks. You can fly - which is awesome - but you can't swing your sword! Instead, you shoot pretty weak fireballs that use up your MP, which recharges if you're a dragon. I don't think I ever killed more than 5 enemies with this class. |  |  At the end you can see how many of each enemy you've defeated. |
 |  |  So my first run-through took almost 12 hours and 121 deaths. |
 A mini-boss. |  |  A pretty good run! I killed two bosses! |
 So this turd in white says he'll take a third of your money and let you pick one of three chests. If you pick the right one you will triple your investment, but if not then you lose your money. This time I won the wager and got like 150,000 gold, which is a huge amount. |  |  |
 I got three bosses with this guy. Nice! |  A fully upgraded castle. |  I must have been broadcasting my gameplay and making a face for the screenshot. |
 Still broadcasting. |  If you meet a difficult set of circumstances then you unlock the "traitor" class. He has some pretty awesome spells, such as chucking a bunch of axes at once. |