Risk of Rain Returns is a model of the remake and the roguelike genres at their finest.
Fans of Risk of Rain 2 have been waiting a good while for two things Those things being first, the DLC content coming to console versions of the game, and what is next for the series, whether it is more DLC for Risk of Rain 2 or something like Risk of Rain 3. However, a remake of the first game was not something that many fans expected.
Despite the confusion surrounding where the series was headed, it is clear now. With the recent drop of Risk of Rain Returns, the DLC for Risk of Rain 2 dropping on consoles, a new wave of Risk of Rain 2 DLC in the works, and a mobile game in the works, there is a huge amount of content incoming for the franchise. For now, the focus should bring all eyes to the Risk of Rain Returns and what has been brought to the table.
There has been a slight bit of confusion on whether Risk of Rain Returns is a remake or a remaster of the original title. Despite a lot of press articles stating that it is a remaster, make no mistake, as this is absolutely a remake. The amount of content added to the game and the nearly complete visual overhaul is night and day.
But there is a lot to this game aside from being a remake, as Risk of Rain 2 has made it quite obvious that the people behind the series have a lot of talent. So it is now up to the remake to bring to light what had gone overshadowed by Risk of Rain 2 in the original title, just with a couple of new things added and a fresh coat of paint to show things off.
Many who aren’t familiar with Risk of Rain as a franchise may still be aware of its soundtrack. The music in Risk of Rain Returns, as well as the rest of the series, was done by Chris Christodoulou, and it is no stretch to say his work is absolutely phenomenal. In fact, it wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to say that the OST for Risk of Rain returns is amongst the absolute best video game soundtracks of all time.
It has a unique feel to it that manages to feel alien and familiar at the same time, which is perfectly fitting for a remake of a game that takes place on an alien planet. There are also strong uses of motifs that make things blend ever so slightly together, making it feel like one whole package again.
Enough cannot be said about the soundtrack found in Risk of Rain Returns, but to go alongside that mysteriously wondrous music is the sound design of the game. For the most part, the sound effects found in Risk of Rain Returns are pretty generic but in the best way possible. Explosions sound like explosions, gunshots sound like gunshots, and so on.
There is an obvious element of futuristic stuff going on with the aliens and such, but it is pretty much what someone would expect from something like this. Nothing sounds bad or lower in quality; everything simply fits what it was made for and blends in with the visuals and soundtrack perfectly.
The visuals of Risk of Rain Returns are where a lot of fans will notice that this is indeed a remake. Many of the elements in the game are completely redone, and in many cases, the visuals go above and beyond expectations. The level of detail in the stages is quite insane and makes the pixel art style look amazing.
To top things off, the animations of the survivors and enemies fill the large spaces with life, and when things are quiet, a sense of tension fills the air. The visuals tell a story of survivors traversing a dangerous planet as well as the telling the history of what has gone on here in the various settings.
While on the topic of Risk of Rain Returns settings, the stages that the game takes place on can often be the most unforgiving part of the game. There are several areas that can get a little confusing to navigate or even commit to memory, and a large portion of that is due to how vertical the stages can be for a 2D game. While it is fitting for most of them to have layers to the stages for further exploration, it often leads to large falls and no easy way to get back up to previous areas.
There are a handful of areas that benefit from this, with large numbers of climbable stage elements or air ducts that will shoot the player high up into the sky, but there are also areas where looping around a large portion of a stage is the only way to return to where the player had fallen. This can be made worse with the item system, which is normally a pretty good system in and of itself.
The way a player will get stronger in Risk of Rain Returns is by gathering items to build up abilities, and since this is a roguelike, if the player dies, it’s back to the very beginning of the game. Items can be found in a variety of chests or from boss enemies. The different chests can lead to a number of ways to change things up with things like chest types that only drop certain items.
Tri-shops that have the player picking one item from a lineup of three, or timed chests that have a cycle of time s appearing before the player and forcing them to react to get an item. Where this can become an issue is that the placement of chests is completely random, which leads to exploration, which isn’t much of an issue at all. It is when the stages have that very vertical element that is hard to navigate that leads to a lot of chests behind, just out of sight to the player due to the layout of things.
The items themselves do all sorts of things, like increasing the rate of fire, giving different types of shields, or giving different forms of healing to a player. There are simply too many effects to list off that the items can grant, and in that sense, that is where a lot of the wonder can be generated even when a player has learned the ins and outs of a character or stage.
One run can have the player getting a random assortment of items that turns them into a glass cannon, but the next run could turn the player into a tank that tackles little damage but also gives out little damage. The combinations of items are infinite, leading to endless amounts of possibilities. But a lot of what makes a run what it is is the survivor character that is chosen at the beginning of a run.
Survivors are the playable characters in Risk of Rain Returns, and there are a good number to choose from, all with their own unique play styles. There are a total of 15 survivors in Risk of Rain Returns, with only two of them being unlocked from the start. The others will be unlocked by clearing their objective requirements, like finding them on a stage or killing specific bosses.
The play styles of the survivors are drastically different, to the point where optimal items may differ from survivor to survivor. Survivors like Commando favor many on-hit buffs or attack speed buffs due to his fast-firing attacks, whereas Artificer favors mobility due to her slower attacks. A lot of the item-gathering strategy doesn’t come in unless the game is multiplayer, and in single-player, it is more of a matter of getting every item on a stage and only factors in strategy when choice is an option.
A large component of wheat that makes Risk of Rain Returns so unique is its element of multiplayer. Where up to four players can all play in the same game. To some, that would naturally make the game easier, but Risk of Rain Returns actually does a very good job of balancing things out.
Bosses will have more health, but there will also be more items to be found throughout the stages to compensate for the additional players. So, by the end of a run, a player may be a bit weaker than they would be in a solo game, but the additional players make up for the lack of items. Mixing different survivors in a run with a friend can lead to a lot of fun encounters.
There are a handful of modifiers to be added to a game to spice things up. Of course, there are difficulties that affect things like the strength of enemies and how fast health will regenerate, but there are also unlockables that allow the player to completely change how the game runs with artifacts. Something like the artifact of command will change how items work. Items will instead drop as essence and allow the player to freely pick their item from the list of already unlocked items.
That also brings to light that not every item is unlocked from the start. This means playing through the game and exploring different interactions will lead to all sorts of new unlockables like the previously mentioned survivors or the just-mentioned new items. So not only will repeated playthroughs be nothing alike, thanks to the roguelike nature of the game, but the unlockables will also keep adding new things to the rotation.
Even if the game isn’t exactly what a player wants out of their time playing video games, they should at least check out the absolutely amazing soundtrack by Chris Christodoulou. If there is one track to check out from Risk of Rain Returns, it needs to be Coalescence. Regardless, Risk of Rain Returns is nothing short of amazing, and despite the popularity of Risk of Rain 2, it stands right next to its 3D counterpart as if it is a companion piece. While many will still gravitate to the 3D game because of the more modern gameplay style, these two games are basically two options of play styles and should be seen as such.
Risk of Rain Returns is an example of not only how to perfect a remake but also how to perfect a roguelike. All of the changes made to the game felt fitting and, on top of that, improved upon so many elements of the game that it just made it an insanely high-quality product. In terms of roguelike games, Risk of Rain Returns will sit up there as one of the best alongside games like The Binding of Isaac, Hades, and even Risk of Rain 2.
While the difficulty of even the easiest of modes may drive some players away, it is only the nature of roguelike games. Learning the game is half of the fun and is just as rewarding. Risk of Rain Returns is possibly one of the greatest titles released in 2023, and it was already a huge year for gaming. Here’s hoping Gearbox and Hopoo Games can ride this wave of success, as this title means great things for the future of the franchise.
