Risk of Rain 2 is a roguelike third-person shooter developed by Hopoo Games and published by Gearbox Publishing in March of 2019. Though the game is over 3 years old, and it was only made by three people (four if you count the amazing composer, but we’ll get to that later), that doesn’t mean it’s a game to scoff at; as a matter of fact, this game has better reviews overall then some of the triple A game studios who have hundreds of developers working for it. However, you may be asking yourself: “What makes the game so special?” “What are the device specifications for it?” “What are some tips that can help me out?” Don’t worry, this article is here to clear up those questions and more regarding the popular roguelike.
Gameplay
Before we talk about the gameplay, we must first establish what exactly a “run” in the context of this game is, as we’ll be using it a lot in this article. A “run” is defined as starting up the game and playing until you win or die; in either case, the game will reset, allowing you to start a new run. Typically, each run is around 30-40 minutes, but it can vary depending on how fast you go. Now, the gameplay itself usually consists of killing a monster, getting gold from the monster, using it to open chests, grabbing a random item from that chest, activating a teleporter which spawns a boss, kill the boss, and move on to the next map (or “stage,” as it is called in this game) until you reach the final boss.
This may sound easy, but let me assure you, it is NOT. As the game progresses, the difficulty will increase, which means you must act quickly to obtain items and move on; however, if you go too quickly, you won’t have enough items to tackle the next stage, leaving you weak. On top of that, the game also has a separate set of difficulties which determine how quickly the run’s difficulty go up. These difficulties range from “drizzle,” which makes the game’s difficulty go up slowly, all the way to “monsoon,” which makes the game’s difficulty go up very quickly. Personally, I would recommend the difficulty “rainstorm” to a beginner, as it is the “normal” difficulty of this game; it’s not easy like drizzle, and not overwhelming like monsoon.
Review
Some believe that due to the high difficulty, Risk of Rain 2 can’t be fun. However, if you thought that, you couldn’t be farther from the truth. The difficulty of this game actually makes the game more fun; not only are you always on your toes and trying to determine if you should risk it or play it safe, but overcoming the huge challenges presented in this game (like finally getting past a specific stage) gives you an overwhelming sense of satisfaction, and it always keeps you coming back.
It isn’t just the difficulty, though, that makes this game so good. There are plenty of other things going for this game. If I were to go over every single detail that makes this game what it is, though, it’d probably be over 10 pages. Therefore, here is a list (that’s still quite lengthy) full of major details that make this game so fantastic:
- The multitude of characters presented means that there’s always going to be a character that fits someone’s playstyle perfectly; not only that, but the unlock-able abilities almost all the characters have means that you can play your favorite character in a completely new way.
- Most games attempt to make the player just as powerful as the enemy in order to prevent the player from getting too bored from how easy it is, or in order to prevent the player from feeling like they are getting steamrolled by the immense difficulty. Risk of Rain 2 does not do that at all; you can be as weak as you want, yes, but if you get enough good items/get a set of items that work extremely well together, you can be as powerful as you want. In some cases, you can stand perfectly still, and everything around you instantly dies. This game allows you to play how you want to play, and that alone offers infinite replayability and it gives the player a chance to be as creative as they want.
- The soundtracks (which are made by the composer, Chris Christodoulou) are extremely well made. In fact, I find myself looking them up on YouTube (and Chris does upload them to YouTube, by the way) just to listen to them, due to how fantastic they are.
- Loot and enemy spawns aren’t just randomly done; instead, it’s up to a set of “Directors,” which not only decide what loot spawns where (and how many chests are on one stage), but the enemy spawns are completely random, and you will not see the same enemies spawn in the same spots (and even in the same order) over and over again on each run. This ensures every run is completely different, and that the replayability of Risk of Rain 2 is practically infinite.
- If you find that you are doing extremely well on one run, you can decide to “loop” your run. This means, on stage 5, you change the teleporter’s destination, and when you activate it, it will teleport you back to stage 1. However, you will still keep your items, the difficulty will not reset, and some enemies will start spawning with different abilities (like being able to stop you from regenerating if you get near them).
- The final boss fight is very well made, but he is extremely powerful if you don’t know how to avoid his moves; however, finally killing him and leaving the planet is probably the most rewarding experience this game has to offer, and the experience alone is definitely worth the price of 25 bucks this game has.
- If you get bored of the main content, there’s a DLC available for this game, which offers new variations for stages, more enemies, more items, two new characters, a new item rarity and a second final boss. While it’s a bit more unfair then the base game, it’s still a DLC that is worth the purchase.
I can’t think of a single bad thing to say about this game; even the bugs, which plague most new games today, are either nonexistent here or so small that they are unmemorable. All in all, this is an excellent game worth the purchase, and it’s an easy 9.5/10.
PC Requirements
This game can run pretty smoothly on a PS4, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch. However, if you have a PC, you should know the system requirements this game needs before getting started. Here are the requirements (which are pulled from “Steam,” the site where you can easily purchase this game on PC):
Minimum:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 7 or newer, 64-bit
- Processor: Intel Core i3-6100 / AMD FX-8350
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: GTX 580 / AMD HD 7870
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 4 GB available space
Recommended:
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 7 or newer, 64-bit
- Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: GTX 680 / AMD HD 7970
- DirectX: Version 11
- Network: Broadband Internet connection
- Storage: 4 GB available space
You don’t need to know what this all means; all you need to do is compare your current system to the system requirements that are recommended. To figure out if your system meets the system requirements, you must first go to your settings, go to “system,” then to “about,” and some of the details should be listed. What is missing, however, is the storage and “graphics.” The storage is easy to find; just click on the folder application and click on “This PC,” and it should pop up. To find the “graphics,” type “Device Manager” into your device’s search bar, click on the application that pops up, click on the arrow next to “Display adapters,” and what pops up is going to be your graphics. Simply cross-check what you have to what is required, and then you’ll figure out if your PC can run this game.
I wouldn’t suggest buying this game on PC if your system requirements don’t meet the recommended requirements. Even if they are better then the minimum requirements, you may experience frequent frame rate drops and crashes. Therefore, I would suggest either not getting the game, upgrading your PC, or playing it on console (which is what I would recommend, if you have one).
Important Tips
I’ve made a list of some important tips that every player should know before (or maybe even after) they hop into this game.
- There is a “5 minutes per stage rule” that is followed by many players, and it was created by the popular Risk of Rain 2 YouTuber “Woolie” (his YouTube is linked here, and the specific video I reference is linked here). However, this “5 minutes rule,” as it is called, is a bit controversial; many people have their own opinions on how much time one should spend. Therefore, I would recommend starting with 5 minutes per stage, and as you go, you can find the perfect time per stage that suits you. If you’re new, don’t worry about taking a little longer then usual; use this as time to practice.
- If you find the game too difficult (or possibly too easy), there’s a mechanic in the game that makes the game easier (or harder): Artifacts. By going to stage 5, and jumping into a hole in the map, you’ll find a platform with a portal, a computer, and nine small barrels in the ground. You can activate these barrels to produce different shapes; if you get the right combination of shapes, the portal will open. Once this happens, you will have to do a trial, and once you complete it, the artifact will be given to you and your run will loop. There are multiple other resources online with the exact codes you need to activate these artifacts; now, the artifacts themselves can range anywhere from allowing you to choose your own items (making the game easier), all the way to creating an evil copy of yourself, items included, to relentlessly hunt you down (and this makes the game harder, of course).
- If you get enough items, and activate the teleporter fast enough, the boss that spawns in probably won’t be very difficult. Therefore, it’s good to work carefully, yet quickly, in order to complete a stage.
- You should try and complete the challenges presented in the logbook; these will unlock items which will be available in future runs in chests. These items can help your chances of success skyrocket.
- Experiment with your character and find what items work best with them. There are many guides on the internet, but guides don’t typically take into consideration your playstyle, so experimenting is the best route to go down.
This game is definitely a must for anyone who likes a challenge (that has a decent PC or a console).
Resources: The image used in this article was found at Wikipedia, and the image used in the article preview was found at Fandom, No copyright infringement is intended, and I own none of these images.