Rogue Legacy 2 has been out for a couple of weeks now and things couldn’t be going better for it. Unsurprisingly the game has been a hit across most gaming websites. It is currently aggregated in the high 80s and 90s. That is higher than the original which was also heralded at the time.
How did this sequel become better? It’s a tough thing to nail. Well, the site had an opportunity to talk to two of the developers behind Rogue Legacy 2 at Cellar Door Games: brothers Teddy and Kenny Lee. Teddy is the Creative Director while Kenny is the Lead Programmer. They discuss all matters of the project along with what the future holds for Rogue Legacy and Cellar Door Games. These are only a few of the revelations.
Why Was It Time For Rogue Legacy 2?
Cellar Door Games went from a new game to a new game up to this point in their development cycle. Their last game, Full Metal Furies, was a co-op brawler RPG. When asked why they decided to make a sequel instead of a new IP, Kenny Lee jumped in with this to say.
“We didn’t want to jump straight to a sequel after the first game, and figured we could squeeze in a different title in-between.” This means that they always intended to make a sequel to Rogue Legacy. They just needed time to refresh their creative juices. Also, when asked if Full Metal Furies would get a sequel, the simple answer was no. It didn’t pan out financially.
Plans For Rogue Legacy 3
Both Kenny and Teddy Lee were cagey about what was to come next. Would they make a direct sequel right away? Would they try their hand at a new genre like a turn-based RPG? They both emphasized that right now Rogue Legacy 2 is the focus with future patches and all.
However, whenever Rogue Legacy 3 does happen, it appears that Teddy Lee would very much like to take the series into 3D. “It was always planned to keep Rogue Legacy 2 as a side-scroller, but if we made Rogue Legacy 3 that is definitely the direction I’d want to take it.” This was in response to why Rogue Legacy 2 was kept as a 2D game over 3D, with 3D plans being penned for the future.
Cut Content
There didn’t seem to be a lot of cut content that didn’t make it into Rogue Legacy 2. When asked about co-op, they said the idea was briefly brought up but was never actually planned to make it into the game. One of the biggest pieces of the cut content that Teddy Lee did mention, though, was a class. Someone on the development team thought it would be a good idea to base a class after an Eldritch Horror monster.
“I eventually paper-designed this Stygian Mage that would summon swiping tentacles from the Nether as their basic attack.” While that class was cut, he mentioned the tentacle swipe was reused for the Ronin class’ katana attack.
Kenny Lee also offered up some feedback on cut content in general. “We’re always internally discussing potential content updates, and you never know when an idea that was originally on the cutting room floor can be picked up again.” Who knows then what future patches may bring into Rogue Legacy 2.
Class Inspirations
One of the sequel's biggest improvements over the original game was the tweaking the team did to the class system. When asked if any classes were inspired by other games, there were a few enlightening pieces of trivia. The Valkyrie class, for example, has their spear based on the Nail weapon in Hollow Knight. The Duelist’s saber was based on Castlevania.
There wasn’t one in particular mentioned, but that series has seen a lot of sabers over the years. The Gunslinger was based on Father Gascoigne from Bloodborne which might have been the biggest surprise. Also, when asked if any game inspired another part of development, Teddy Lee talked about their UI concerning Hades. “Then I saw Hades’ skull UI (which just laid things out in a list format) and it made way more sense.” That’s why the menus are the way they are or at least one of the reasons.
Changes During The Pandemic
The pandemic that started in 2020 changed game development across indie studios like Cellar Door Games as well as AAA companies. However, the change was a bit ironic in the case of Rogue Legacy 2. Every game up to this point in their career was developed remotely.
The team then decided to work out of an office part of the week for Rogue Legacy 2. Then the pandemic happened and things went back to normal quickly. Teddy Lee had this to say. “I LOVE this team, but I’d rather stay home and wear sweatpants all day.”
Also of note, six full-time employees were working on Rogue Legacy 2 while ten independent contractors assisted as well, bringing the team up to sixteen.
Making Rogue Legacy 2 More Accessible
Roguelikes are a tricky genre to recommend to people as they tend to be more challenging. However, in recent years, more developers have started implementing some sort of assist feature to help the less hardcore out there. When asked why they added assist functionality to Rogue Legacy 2, which is called House Rules, they mentioned Full Metal Furies again.
Originally the developers wanted to add a bounty of assist features to that game as well. Time constraints had the team quickly change their big idea to something smaller with Story Mode. They were able to take their scrapped ideas from that game and work them into Rogue Legacy 2 instead
Rogue Legacy 2 was released on April 28, 2022 and is available on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.