I have not written any reviews for any games ever before this one. However, the sheer quality and details that Risk of Rain 2 oozes pushed me to write this. This has been one of my go-to games since it's release in 2019 and it's been a journey. Buckle up. This is gonna be a long one.

I'm a little biased towards unconventional art styles. In a world filled saturated with realistic looking games with varying shades of gray, my favorite games always tend to be the ones that capture the artist's passion within their work. Risk of Rain 2 accomplishes this without a doubt. Each of the stages and environments are filled to the brim with each color of the rainbow. Whether it’s the lush jungles or depths of hell, the game's visuals do a phenomenal job with making you feel like you're struggling for your life on an alien planet. The items each possess unique and memorable models so it's always easy to remember each effect. While the characters never speak themselves, each of the player models convey vastly different vibes that differentiate the characters from each other. The monster designs are each recognizable and unique, separating themselves from many other creatures from other games. However, the art style isn't the only visual that Risk of Rain 2 knocks out of the park. While you start each run as a small, rather feeble looking character in comparison to the rest of the environment, each of your items appears on your model. So after collecting tons of stuff, your character looks like some sort of powered-up creature of raw power. Seeing this once small character absolutely obliterate everything around it is the beauty of this game and it's one of the main reasons I fell in love with Risk of Rain 2.

This is a Roguelike Shooter game where you collect stuff and kill monsters. Plain and simple. But this easy to learn/hard to master style is what I love about it. You learn very quickly the fundamentals required to win but actually understanding the depth in each aspect takes time. For example, you can just pick up as many items as you want and go about your business. But then, you start learning which items synergize with each other, which items can help with certain bosses, which items you should get rid of and you see these items in a completely different light. While learning these complex intricacies may prove pretty difficult, the game does a good job making this aspect enjoyable and fun. It encourages experimentation and discovery. It focuses on your progress. As you unlock more characters, find new items, reach more stages, you reflect on what YOU did and what YOU accomplished. That sense of pride in your work feels amazing and I did not expect to find that in a video game of all things. This feeling of progress pushes you to do another run, despite the fact you’ve already played for hours. You tell yourself “Well know I know this thing so maybe I’ll get even farther!”. Additionally, each of the characters are all fun and unique to play. I love characters like Mercenary, REX, and Loader, each of which are very different in playstyle. But each of the developers did such an amazing job on each of the characters. No one character feels similar to any other and it really adds to the replayability of this game. While you only start off as one, getting each character doesn’t feel like a chore to do and, if you do well, you can easily get all of them within the first few hours of the game. Aspects like these are what truly motivate myself to keep playing and make this game a joy to play.

The music composed by Chris Christodoulou is some of the best music I’ve ever heard. Period. The various feelings conveyed through each stage’s track fit perfectly with the setting and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of listening to them. While I won’t spoil anything just yet, my favorite track by far is the song that plays on the final stage. Hearing the initial somber sample of Coalescence from the first game as you walk outside the starting area always gets me every time I hear it. Then, as soon as you leave, the guitar starts, the music drops, and you can see the gorgeous surroundings of the final stage. The guitar solo and the tempo change hits you like BAM. It pushes you, it moves you, it urges you to kick some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ass and it is definitely worthy of the title of the final stage song.

While there isn’t much of a story that’s being verbally told to you throughout Risk of Rain 2. It’s the settings, cutscenes, and logs that convey the deep lore of this game. Each of the environments are devoid of any survivors or life other than yourself and all of the monsters. It shows how alone you are on this forsaken planet and if you don’t get out soon, you might never be able to do so. The logs for each of the monsters and items don’t share much info but I found myself engrossed in learning everything I could about this game’s world. I pieced together my own interpretation of the story but so far, I don’t think anyone’s found out everything about Risk of Rain 2’s lore. But that sort of mystery is what pulls me into this game’s world and it’s part of the magic this game has to offer.

This game is definitely better with friends. Try getting a group of four people into a single game, each as a different character and believe me, you’ll have a great time. I mean, it got nominated for the Better With Friends Award for crying out loud. The game also does a good job scaling the difficulty for more players by making chests more expensive but more frequent and making their be more bosses but also more items when you defeat them. Make sure to definitely get some friends to play this one with you.

This is a bit of a smaller section but I felt it was necessary to include. The mod community for this game is incredible. Mods are easy to install and the community most certainly knows what the game needs. I love the character and quality of life mods the community developed and they certainly add more replayability to this game. If you’re looking for some good ones, I recommend the Enforcer, Sniper, Miner, Paladin, and Bandit character mods, Skills Plus Plus, BiggerBazaar, and Better UI mods.

Not many people are a fan of this genre and that’s understandable. Dying to something stupid and losing all of the items you collected can be frustrating and I agree. Some of the monsters aren’t the most fun to fight against either when you aren’t prepared to do so as well. Also, runs can last a little over and hour sometimes (way more if you want to do a few loops) and in multiplayer, there’s no way to take a break unless you go to a Lunar Shop. However, don’t let that push you away. They are a little minor and I believe that these cons are heavily outweighed by the pros. Most computers can handle this game quite well and the current price tag is well worth the content of this game. Even so, Hopoo Games is going to continuously update this game and it’s even going to get paid expansions with lots of content in them sometime in the future. If you’re interested in any of the stuff I wrote, I highly recommend you try this game.

Risk of Rain 2 is a modern-day masterpiece that you should not miss out on. The music, gameplay, and visuals blew me away when I played it. I’m definitely going to play this game for many more hours and I hope you enjoy Risk of Rain 2 as much as I have.
Score: 9.5/10

I have not written any reviews for any games ever before this one. However, the sheer quality and details that Risk of Rain 2 oozes pushed me to write this. This has been one of my go-to games since it's release in 2019 and it's been a journey. Buckle up. This is gonna be a long one. [h1] Visuals [/h1] I'm a little biased towards unconventional art styles. In a world filled saturated with realistic looking games with varying shades of gray, my favorite games always tend to be the ones that capture the artist's passion within their work. Risk of Rain 2 accomplishes this without a doubt. Each of the stages and environments are filled to the brim with each color of the rainbow. Whether it’s the lush jungles or depths of hell, the game's visuals do a phenomenal job with making you feel like you're struggling for your life on an alien planet. The items each possess unique and memorable models so it's always easy to remember each effect. While the characters never speak themselves, each of the player models convey vastly different vibes that differentiate the characters from each other. The monster designs are each recognizable and unique, separating themselves from many other creatures from other games. However, the art style isn't the only visual that Risk of Rain 2 knocks out of the park. While you start each run as a small, rather feeble looking character in comparison to the rest of the environment, each of your items appears on your model. So after collecting tons of stuff, your character looks like some sort of powered-up creature of raw power. Seeing this once small character absolutely obliterate everything around it is the beauty of this game and it's one of the main reasons I fell in love with Risk of Rain 2. [h1] Gameplay [/h1] This is a Roguelike Shooter game where you collect stuff and kill monsters. Plain and simple. But this easy to learn/hard to master style is what I love about it. You learn very quickly the fundamentals required to win but actually understanding the depth in each aspect takes time. For example, you can just pick up as many items as you want and go about your business. But then, you start learning which items synergize with each other, which items can help with certain bosses, which items you should get rid of and you see these items in a completely different light. While learning these complex intricacies may prove pretty difficult, the game does a good job making this aspect enjoyable and fun. It encourages experimentation and discovery. It focuses on your progress. As you unlock more characters, find new items, reach more stages, you reflect on what YOU did and what YOU accomplished. That sense of pride in your work feels amazing and I did not expect to find that in a video game of all things. This feeling of progress pushes you to do another run, despite the fact you’ve already played for hours. You tell yourself “Well know I know this thing so maybe I’ll get even farther!”. Additionally, each of the characters are all fun and unique to play. I love characters like Mercenary, REX, and Loader, each of which are very different in playstyle. But each of the developers did such an amazing job on each of the characters. No one character feels similar to any other and it really adds to the replayability of this game. While you only start off as one, getting each character doesn’t feel like a chore to do and, if you do well, you can easily get all of them within the first few hours of the game. Aspects like these are what truly motivate myself to keep playing and make this game a joy to play. [h1] Music [/h1] The music composed by Chris Christodoulou is some of the best music I’ve ever heard. Period. The various feelings conveyed through each stage’s track fit perfectly with the setting and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of listening to them. While I won’t spoil anything just yet, my favorite track by far is the song that plays on the final stage. Hearing the initial somber sample of Coalescence from the first game as you walk outside the starting area always gets me every time I hear it. Then, as soon as you leave, the guitar starts, the music drops, and you can see the gorgeous surroundings of the final stage. The guitar solo and the tempo change hits you like BAM. It pushes you, it moves you, it urges you to kick some fucking ass and it is definitely worthy of the title of the final stage song. [h1] Worldbuilding [/h1] While there isn’t much of a story that’s being verbally told to you throughout Risk of Rain 2. It’s the settings, cutscenes, and logs that convey the deep lore of this game. Each of the environments are devoid of any survivors or life other than yourself and all of the monsters. It shows how alone you are on this forsaken planet and if you don’t get out soon, you might never be able to do so. The logs for each of the monsters and items don’t share much info but I found myself engrossed in learning everything I could about this game’s world. I pieced together my own interpretation of the story but so far, I don’t think anyone’s found out everything about Risk of Rain 2’s lore. But that sort of mystery is what pulls me into this game’s world and it’s part of the magic this game has to offer. [h1] Multiplayer [/h1] This game is definitely better with friends. Try getting a group of four people into a single game, each as a different character and believe me, you’ll have a great time. I mean, it got nominated for the Better With Friends Award for crying out loud. The game also does a good job scaling the difficulty for more players by making chests more expensive but more frequent and making their be more bosses but also more items when you defeat them. Make sure to definitely get some friends to play this one with you. [h1] Mods [/h1] This is a bit of a smaller section but I felt it was necessary to include. The mod community for this game is incredible. Mods are easy to install and the community most certainly knows what the game needs. I love the character and quality of life mods the community developed and they certainly add more replayability to this game. If you’re looking for some good ones, I recommend the Enforcer, Sniper, Miner, Paladin, and Bandit character mods, Skills Plus Plus, BiggerBazaar, and Better UI mods. [h1] Is this game for you? [/h1] Not many people are a fan of this genre and that’s understandable. Dying to something stupid and losing all of the items you collected can be frustrating and I agree. Some of the monsters aren’t the most fun to fight against either when you aren’t prepared to do so as well. Also, runs can last a little over and hour sometimes (way more if you want to do a few loops) and in multiplayer, there’s no way to take a break unless you go to a Lunar Shop. However, don’t let that push you away. They are a little minor and I believe that these cons are heavily outweighed by the pros. Most computers can handle this game quite well and the current price tag is well worth the content of this game. Even so, Hopoo Games is going to continuously update this game and it’s even going to get paid expansions with lots of content in them sometime in the future. If you’re interested in any of the stuff I wrote, I highly recommend you try this game. [h1] Final Verdict [/h1] Risk of Rain 2 is a modern-day masterpiece that you should not miss out on. The music, gameplay, and visuals blew me away when I played it. I’m definitely going to play this game for many more hours and I hope you enjoy Risk of Rain 2 as much as I have. Score: 9.5/10