This was solid, there's a lot of characters who all have very distinct identities and different playstyles, and the core rogue-like gameplay of just getting stronger and blowing through waves of enemies is very satisfying once you get going, but for me there's a lot more bogging it down than most roguelikes like Slay the Spire/Spelunky 2 etc.
For one thing, finding the portal to the next level is just kind of a hassle. Once you've played enough, you can start to learn where they spawn, which streamlines things quite a bit but when you're first starting out you can spend minutes of boring, slow, listless wandering around the level looking for it. Supposedly they're supposed to be made easier to find by little black and red particles in the sky above them, but this is made almost completely redundant by the game's art direction. Many weapons and the game's effects and particularly a specific enemy type called The Imp also give off black and red particles, so.
Not to mention, the portal was bugged for me on more than one occasion. Appearing half inside and half outside a shipping container in Level 3 and generally appearing in ways and places they weren't supposed to. A character I was supposed to be able to unlock by buying also quite literally just did not physically appear where I was supposed to able to buy them either. I don't think the art direction or soundtrack is "bad", in fact it's very clear what they were going for. The prog rock soundtrack works well for a big sci-fi "fight the horde" game like this but it kinda just wore on me over time, just not my kinda thing - personal preference, and the neon art style is just kinda not for me too.
Risk of Rain 2 also doesn't give you as many interesting decisions or choices to make as most roguelikes. In Slay the Spire you choose cards and rewards and mulligan your opening hand, in Risk of Rain there's only one kind of drop that lets you "choose" which buff you want, but even they're just represented by pictures with no information attached, again meaning a new player unfamiliar with which icon represents which buff isn't gonna be able to make an educated decision or really feel like the limited choice they had mattered. Otherwise the buffs are random, I suppose there's some inherent enjoyment to be had in just having to work with what you've got, but I'd prefer more agency. It's still fun! Very satisfying and a great game to just switch your brain off to, but I've played better.
For one thing, finding the portal to the next level is just kind of a hassle. Once you've played enough, you can start to learn where they spawn, which streamlines things quite a bit but when you're first starting out you can spend minutes of boring, slow, listless wandering around the level looking for it. Supposedly they're supposed to be made easier to find by little black and red particles in the sky above them, but this is made almost completely redundant by the game's art direction. Many weapons and the game's effects and particularly a specific enemy type called The Imp also give off black and red particles, so.
Not to mention, the portal was bugged for me on more than one occasion. Appearing half inside and half outside a shipping container in Level 3 and generally appearing in ways and places they weren't supposed to. A character I was supposed to be able to unlock by buying also quite literally just did not physically appear where I was supposed to able to buy them either. I don't think the art direction or soundtrack is "bad", in fact it's very clear what they were going for. The prog rock soundtrack works well for a big sci-fi "fight the horde" game like this but it kinda just wore on me over time, just not my kinda thing - personal preference, and the neon art style is just kinda not for me too.
Risk of Rain 2 also doesn't give you as many interesting decisions or choices to make as most roguelikes. In Slay the Spire you choose cards and rewards and mulligan your opening hand, in Risk of Rain there's only one kind of drop that lets you "choose" which buff you want, but even they're just represented by pictures with no information attached, again meaning a new player unfamiliar with which icon represents which buff isn't gonna be able to make an educated decision or really feel like the limited choice they had mattered. Otherwise the buffs are random, I suppose there's some inherent enjoyment to be had in just having to work with what you've got, but I'd prefer more agency. It's still fun! Very satisfying and a great game to just switch your brain off to, but I've played better.