REVIEW : Rogue Lords (PC)
It’s impossible to forget that Halloween is just around the corner! Between the recent release of the Diablo II remaster, the arrival of the next Back 4 Blood, or the new episode of the Dark Chronicles and especially the release of the early access of Darkest Dungeon 2, the world of darkness is well established for this period of late September / October. But today, Cyanide and Leikir Studio offer us to go to the other camp and sign a pact with the Devil, with Rogue Lords.
Rogue Lords is a title offering you to control different reference characters from the gothic horror universe to restore the Devil to its former strength. But the title is a demanding turn-based Roguelike (as the title suggests). If you are not allergic to repeated deaths and a universe between Tim Burton and Tales from the Crypt, Rogue Lords will bewitch you for long hours of the massacre and terror.
As you wish, my lord.
Welcome to 17th century New England, a time well known for its witch hunts and white plague, in short, an idyllic atmosphere to awaken the Devil thanks to his faithful followers.
Rogue Lords offers you to control three of the Evil One’s 9 Disciples to bring down darkness over the mortal world and bring enough souls to the Devil (you, sort of frankly) and give him the strength to return. If you start the Game with Dracula, Bloody Mary, and the Headless Horseman, increasing your experience will unlock other characters such as the White Lady, Frankenstein, Baron Samedi, Hecate or Lilith. The characters available already offer a more than satisfactory variety. Still, it is easy to imagine the arrival of other chapters via DLC or updates also bringing many new characters. No such announcement has yet been made.
Once your small team is formed, you can search for the different “stories” that make up your adventure. Each “level” is profiled like a story in which the chapters are unlocked as you progress on the map. This has several paths that will group on a flag symbol representing your progress in the scenario. In the end, you fight an Advanced Boss, but first, you will need to be prepared. As you progress on the map, the different paths offer you other activities and rewards.
In parallel with the clashes, you will find places launching an event where you must choose one of your three characters (preferably having good statistics in the attributes announced upstream). The event offers you to involve your disciple by asking him to bribe a young villager, save a witch on the verge of death, capture a doctor, etc. A success percentage gauge will give you the probability that your disciple will succeed in the action according to the number of stat points in a given attribute.
Finally, you will repeatedly harvest souls that serve as your bargaining chip for new skills or the improvement of skills already acquired when (and if) you cross paths with the Ferryman on your way.
One of the major features of this title is the principle of cheating. Indeed, you have a diabolical Essence gauge that will allow you to request the intervention of the Dark Lord in several moments of your progress. You can beg him to give you back VP or EP, to transfer one of your penalties to an enemy or, on the contrary, to recover a bonus from one of your enemies on one of your characters. If in your progress, you want to teleport to another area than the one you need to go to, a single press on the “Devil mode” button and a portal will open. Likewise, during events, you can influence the success percentage of your disciple’s action.
Be careful. However, this gauge is not infinite. You have several diabolical essence points that you will have to use intelligently and remember to recover them via the fountains of the Styx present on the map. Because if this gauge allows you to manipulate the Game, it also serves you to revive your fallen disciples. If the meter is empty by the time one of the disciples passes away, the game is over. And as much to say to you, if your first fights seem very easy to you, you will quickly find yourself regretting your decisions earlier.
Every mistake can be fatal.
Rogue Lords’ fights take place in turn-based RPG mechanics. Your characters have three skills at the start of the Game, each with a specific cost. You have five basic possible action costs (which can be upgraded). It’s up to you to manage these actions well and think about the best between physical or spiritual attacks. Because each character has two-point gauges (life and spirit). If one of these drops to zero, the feeling disappears. Some disciples and enemies are specialized in physical attacks, and others, spiritual.
The outcome of the battles allows you, as you wish, to obtain souls to spend, new skills for your disciples or launch a terror on future spaces of the map, which will give you bonuses. Note that improving your Terror Tier gauge will provide you with artifacts that grant bonuses (and sometimes penalties) to your party or a particular follower.
Prepare to reread the known chapters several times because, despite the supernatural strength of the disciples, Rogue Lord is a demanding title and one that will make your blood boil. The more you advance in the level, the more formidable the enemies will be and will not leave you the right to any strategy errors. If the title is more accessible than a Darkest Dungeon in my eyes and can be a nice gateway to the genre, it still has enough challenge to appeal to regulars of the genre.
You could blame Rogue Lords for a “chance” aspect due to the random construction of the chapters, which can sometimes give the impression that your run is lost in advance. However, as you progress and your successes or failures, you will understand and assimilate certain aspects of the title that will improve your next Game. And that’s not all, since Rogue Lords has a mechanic that rewards you regardless of the outcome of your mission.
REVIEW : Xuan Yuan Sword 7 (PS5)
