Game file / ROGUE BY ROGUERisk of Rain Returns
Carefully designed, beautifully remastered, and loaded with new ways to play—Risk of Rain is back and better than ever! Dive into the iconic roguelike full of unique loot combinations, enhanced with new Survivors, overhauled multiplayer, fan favorite content from Risk of Rain 2, and more!
Why this score?
Distinct characters and stacking items preserve a strong sense of growth, with plenty of additional challenges. Late-run combat clarity and multiplayer reliability warrant caution.
Machine-translated summary. The original review and its sources are preserved below.
Original text · Simplified Chinese
角色差异与物品叠加保留了鲜明成长体验，附加挑战丰富；后期战斗可读性和多人可靠性需要保守看待。
Core gameplay
Weight 25%8.0 / 10Original text · Simplified Chinese
不断拾取物品与角色技能让成长节奏明确，清图规则的选项改善收尾；二维瞄准和反复拉开怪群也让战斗趋同。
Builds & strategy
Weight 25%7.5 / 10Original text · Simplified Chinese
角色技能与物品叠加可形成不同输出和生存路线，神器还能改变规则；不少拾取偏被动数值，局中主动调整深度有限。
Replayability
Weight 20%8.0 / 10Original text · Simplified Chinese
幸存者、替代技能、神器条件与秘密改变挑战方向；普通战斗反复拉怪和熟悉地图削弱局面差异。
Randomness & fairness
Weight 20%6.0 / 10Original text · Simplified Chinese
了解角色和物品组合能改善生存，但敌群重叠、预警不足及飞行敌人的应对限制会让部分伤害难以判断。
Polish & usability
Weight 10%6.5 / 10Original text · Simplified Chinese
画面和可调体验选项比旧作更完整；快照仍有控制器菜单问题、多人镜头与断线以及满屏时冻结的报告。
- Reviewer
Original text · Simplified Chinese
Rogue by Rogue · AI 资料评测- Version reviewed
Original text · Simplified Chinese
具体构建未知；以所引资料描述的版本为准
Scope and limitations
Original text · Simplified Chinese
未进行试玩；分数是依据已收录评述与社区具体反馈作出的主观资料评测。旧反馈跨版本、部分原始材料为不可重开的本地快照；本次 Steam 核查仅确认玩法与功能，未复测平衡、性能或报告的故障是否仍存在。
Review sources 02
- 01Archived materialView archived external material ↓
Original text · Simplified Chinese
收录评论与社区资料（2026-10-01 快照）
使用 作者观点摘要 的 Tier list Part 2 (2024) 的具体优缺点，以及 玩家好评、玩家批评 与 资料核查说明；不使用旧等级、外部分数或销量反推。
- 02Web sourceView original ↗
Original text · Simplified Chinese
Risk of Rain Returns · Steam 官方商店
2026-10-08 访问。核对不同幸存者、物品联动、改变规则的神器及本地和在线四人合作。未据商店介绍推定性能或故障已修复。
Video reviews
Reviews and deep dives from YouTube and Bilibili, in every language. Open the original video to watch.
Other voices, for reference.
Archived third-party reviews and community material may refer to different versions. External opinions and ratings are presented separately; consult the original videos for their full context.
Community discussion
A ground-up 2D remake of the 2013 co-op action roguelike Risk of Rain: pick a survivor, loot stacking items across timed stages while difficulty climbs with the clock, and fight your way to the final boss, rebuilt with new survivors, items, artifacts, and overhauled multiplayer.
Critics and players largely see it as a model remake: Metacritic sits at 84 from 13 critics and Steam at about 90% positive across roughly 28.7k reviews (Very Positive). Reviewers highlight the extra survivors and items, polished pixel art, music, and much better multiplayer, while noting it stays conservative and still feels dated next to modern roguelites and to Risk of Rain 2. It is not early access and is a finished game with no DLC beyond the soundtrack. Steam reviewers wish for more post-launch updates, and a vocal minority find the core loop, hit feedback and Providence Trial unlock gating frustrating.
What players praise
- Faithful but much more polished remake: sharper pixel art that keeps the original's look, plus quality-of-life options that can mostly be toggled individually.
- Soundtrack and atmosphere repeatedly called out by critics and Metacritic users as a highlight.
- Large new content layer: new survivors (for example the Drifter, a scrap-gathering brawler), extra items and Risk of Rain 2 fan-favorite content alongside the classic roster (about 15 survivors on the store page).
- Item-stacking power fantasy: players like growing from weak to screen-clearing god and learning which items and survivors combine best.
- Overhauled multiplayer with up to four players online and local split-screen, which critics (GameSkinny, for one) single out as the best way to play.
- Short-ish, replayable runs and no-DLC completeness, which Steam reviewers appreciate compared with the sequel.
- Accessible to some newcomers and a clear upgrade for returning fans: several reviewers call it the right way to do a remake, while others say the original felt too hard or dated to them.
- Feels distinct from RoR2 in a positive way: a 2D, more arcade-like cousin that some players prefer for its aesthetics and pacing.
- Co-op is the emotional hook in the most-upvoted reviews: couples and parents play it with partners and kids, and the chaotic item-grabbing and frequent deaths are treated as part of the fun.
What players criticize
- Combat readability: late-game hordes overlap, enemy attacks have little telegraphing, and players say it is hard to tell when they have been hit.
- Flying enemies and magma worms are widely described as oppressive, since 2D aiming and movement limit how you answer them.
- Core loop feels repetitive to some: walk away from the crowd and spam skills, little positioning depth or macro play compared with RoR2.
- Providence Trials are required for some unlocks, and reviewers call the challenge design punishing rather than teaching.
- Technical rough edges in reviews: crashes, freezes when the screen fills up, sticky controller input, and controller deadzone or menu issues.
- Multiplayer connection problems reported (disconnected from host errors) and local co-op camera or scale issues on TVs.
- No mid-run save, which The Games Machine flagged, and some players lose a run after force closing.
Distinctive features
- Difficulty scales with elapsed time rather than stage count, forcing a tradeoff between looting thoroughly and moving on.
- Huge roster of stackable items whose interactions are unpredictable, producing build variety that players call esoteric and satisfying.
- Survivors with very distinct kits plus alternate skill unlocks, and Artifacts that mutate a run.
- Providence Trials, a set of skill challenges that double as unlock content.
- A 2D side-scrolling co-op format with online and local play, unusual next to the 3D Risk of Rain 2.
- Reviewers frame it as remake-plus-superset: it keeps the original's feel while folding in RoR2 content.
Divided opinions
- Returns vs Risk of Rain 2: many prefer the remake's look and feel, while others say it lacks RoR2's movement and skill expression and is overshadowed by it.
- Difficulty: fans see earned power growth, critics call it unfair, sponge-like enemies and scaling.
- Art update: most love the added detail, some prefer the simpler original pixel art.
- Conservative remake: some say it changes too little, others call it the right way to do a remaster.
Repetition and friction
- Very short, sparse item availability per map makes scavenging feel slow while enemies outscale you, per a critical review.
- Randomness of drops (especially the active item) means many runs feel alike to some players, and progression for new survivors can feel slow.
- Providence Trial unlocks and some achievement hunts are described as gatekeeping and sadistic.
- Runs can drag at around an hour, and long late-game hordes get repetitive for some.
- Heavy difficulty for newcomers: several reviewers bounced off even after hours.
Hoped-for improvements
- More post-launch updates and content; 'lack of updates' is a repeated complaint even among positive reviews.
- Better feedback and telegraphing of enemy attacks and hits, and clearer screen readability in late-game chaos.
- Mid-run saving and more robust stability and performance when many objects are on screen.
- Fix multiplayer connection reliability and improve split-screen camera behavior for local co-op.
- Rework unlock gating so that Providence Trials are not needed for core item and ability unlocks, and improve controller handling and remapping.
Launched Nov 8, 2023 on PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch, developed by Hopoo Games and published by Gearbox/2K at $14.99. Critic reception was strongly positive (Metacritic 84 from 13 reviews; 80-90 range for most outlets). Steam has held Very Positive with about 90% of roughly 28.7k reviews. OpenCritic could not be retrieved (web search budget was exhausted and guessed OpenCritic URLs resolved to unrelated games), so the score is null. Steam forum threads and negative reviews show continued bug reports around controller input, achievements and multiplayer connections, plus mild disappointment threads; positive reviewers wish for further updates. Steam lists a Windows-only build; the only add-on is the soundtrack.
Community sources
- Top helpful positive and negative English Steam reviews (primary source for player praise and complaints) ↗
- Local Steam metadata: appid, release date, price, 90% positive of 28,738, owners estimate ↗
- Estimated gross and net revenue (Boxleiter method) ↗
- Metascore 84 (13 critics), user score 7.9 (79 ratings), critic summary ↗
- Per-outlet critic scores and verdicts (Attack of the Fanboy, GamingBolt, TheSixthAxis, The Games Machine, etc.) ↗
- Themes in Metacritic user reviews (music praise, controls and difficulty complaints) ↗
- Steam store page: features, survivors, artifacts, co-op modes, soundtrack-only DLC ↗
- Steam discussion thread topics: controller bugs, achievements, multiplayer, Providence Trials difficulty ↗
Archived creator commentary 1
Third-party summaries based on automatic captions may contain transcription or interpretation errors.
Tier list Part 2 (2024)
Risk of Rain Returns is the 2023 remake of the original 2D action roguelike Risk of Rain. PepperHead played 80+ hours of the original and sees this as simply the better version: same core game and art style, cleaner, with more content, characters and items. He places it in a very high A tier, saying it is only below S because he personally prefers two other games, and that it could be an easy S for many people.
What the creator praises
- Faithful remake that keeps the core of the original while improving nearly everything
- Same art style, just cleaner
- More content: characters, items, and unique challenges
- Great diversity between characters, with fun core gameplay mechanics as the focus
- Constant item pickups keep runs rewarding and pacing fast
- Removed the need to clear the whole map after the boss (toggleable in options for fans of the old way)
- New challenges offer an easier alternative way to unlock alternate skill sets
Issues raised by the creator
- Items and abilities do not change how you play a run, usually a weak sign, though it works here
- Some may find the unlock challenges make alternate skills too easy to get, though he disagrees
- Placed below S mainly due to personal preference for other games rather than flaws
Design observations
- Original was among the first action-based roguelikes, so a modern remake benefits from years of genre learning
- Options let players choose original or faster post-boss pacing, so both old and new fans are served
- Low-impact items still work because the core gameplay is the fun and loot flow is constant
Updated opinion
Remake of Risk of Rain 1, which he reviewed on his original tier list; this game was not out then. He notes the slow post-boss pacing issue he raised there is now fixed.
