Fun Fact: This game actually coined the term "Roguelite", to describe Roguelike elements while not actually fitting into the mold of the genre, which is actually a set of rules determined by Roguelike developers of yore in an event called the "Berlin Convention". This game is most-assuredly not an actual Roguelike, which is why "Rogue-LITE" is used in the marketing material, because it was a brand new term and style of game at the time.
Most games people call "Roguelikes" don't actually meet the real criteria, and this has been a source of annoyance for actual Roguelike fans like me for over a decade, since the Roguelite boom, which this game is partially responsible for along with Binding of Isaac. I like Roguelites a lot, this isn't a slight against the genre, but people SERIOUSLY need to distinguish them better.
If you want to know what a real Roguelike looks like, the Genesis game Fatal Labyrinth, the Game Gear version Dragon Crystal, Nethack, Caves of Qud, Angband, Path of Achra, Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead, Quasimorph, Tales of the Maj'Eyal, ADOM, why yes I did just skim Sseth's channel to remember half of these names.
What these games all have in common, are grid-based maps, being turn based, permadeath, zero progression between runs, ("metaprogression" being out of run progression), a strong focus on being non-modal. meaning every action you can do is always available, peaceful options rarely exist, procedurally generated levels make up most of the game, and "emergent gameplay" is prioritized, meaning you have a ton of out-of-the-box options that are all generally accounted for in normal gameplay.
I actually grew up with the 3DS VC version of Dragon Crystal and the PS3 Genesis disc that had Fatal Labyrinth on it. Although, gonna be honest, I played more Dragon Crystal, and when I was playing the PS3 Genesis disc, I was playing Shinobi 3 and Streets of Rage 2, a true classic. That reminds me though, the stellar Phantasy Star 1-4 was also on that disc, and also, the PS2 Shinobi reboot and it's sequel Nightshade are actually peak, despite getting sub-par reviews for the time. Time was very kind to those games despite their insane difficulty, and I don't think I'll have another opportunity to mention those games unless Sega puts them on Steam or something.
Less faithful to the original criteria, but still great examples are the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, the other Mystery Dungeon spinoffs, and also Shiren The Wanderer by the same team, which has 2 releases on Steam. Also another strange example of a Roguelike is FF X-2 Last Mission, a pack-in on the HD releases of FF X+X-2, in case getting the previously PAL/JP-only vastly superior re-release version of FF X with 14 extra bosses and a better, much more open, Sphere Grid wasn't enough of a bonus.
Rogue Legacy is a very good Roguelite, and it still holds up. As you can see by my playtime, this game was a staple for me in high school, and I still come back to this game and it's sequel. The "Neo" fights in this game are entirely unbalanced, but otherwise this game is very, very good. The Donation Box was a new feature to make the "Neo" fights less crushing, and it does help a lot, but the big problem is a lot of the Neo fights require playing against your play-style. The equivalents in the sequel are much better, since instead of having set strategies you're required to learn, it's a test of how well you can clear them as each class.
Class dichotomy is also not as good in this game as in it's sequel, and the disabilities provide no compensation like in the sequel. Rogue Legacy 2 is definitely a better game, but that doesn't mean this game is BAD. After all, the sequel came out 7 years later, and hindsight is 20/20. For a while, this was one of the best 2D Roguelites out there, before we got Dead Cells, which I played extremely late, and this game still has plenty of really good ideas, even if it has some design flaws.
A lot of those design flaws really don't become apparent until you've already beaten the game and are on NG+++, so in that regard, Cellar Door succeeded at making a sufficiently well-designed game. Also, as a bonus, Cellar Door included a copy of a fan-made overhaul mod, Lament of Zors, to the game, with permission, as an alternative launch option, and that fan-made mod is very interesting and adds a lot of new areas to the game, and rebalances a lot.
In short, the sequel is a better game, but this is still a great game to come back to, even with the sequel existing. I recommend this game wholeheartedly. I know half the text here ended up talking about other games, and the distinction between Roguelite and Roguelike, but there's not really too much to say about this game itself other than that it's a well-designed action platformer responsible for the Roguelite boom.
