Risk of Rain 2

Pretending as usual that my 2.5 month absence is not noteworthy - here's a game I first played in a free weekend in Early Access, and only just now deemed ready to review - it's Risk of Rain 2. It is a 3D remake of Risk of Rain, which I also loved. I really didn't have faith that this formula would succeed in three dimensions, but boy am I glad to have been proven wrong.

For those that haven't played either, Risk of Rain is an incremental shooter. You start off with one of a few character classes which you can unlock through achievements, and proceed to kill enemies while collecting equipment to make yourself ever stronger. I would call the game incremental, since the power difference between starting and ending a run is absolutely insane, and the endgame chaos is insanely fun. A single run consists of a few (or as many as you can handle, if you want) stages, each culminating with a boss fight. There is a lot of variety depending on what kind of enemies you encounter and which maps you go through, but most importantly, what kind of items you get. There's just over 100 items of different rarities, with the highest rarity items being impactful enough to actually influence effective strategies, diversifying the runs.
Risk of Rain 2 also added a secondary currency, some item conversion mechanics, hidden maps, more characters, etc., and is, as of about the midpoint of last year, past the content amount of the original, not to mention having more polish and production value in the first place. Because of the success of the game, it doesn't seem like they're done either, and there's more to come.

Personally, what can I say? Risk of Rain is one of the games that instilled me with the belief that we need more incremental mechanics inserted into other game genres. The power levels have to be executed well to prevent either the player or the enemy growing out of control, and need to be more than just numbers going up equally. (Because who cares if you do 1 dmg to a 100 hp opponent, or 1k dmg to a 100k hp opponent.) It's insanely fun if done well, and really creates a sense of progression looking at how far you've come. Risk of Rain executes this incredibly well.
A problem with Risk of Rain 2 being 3D is that it's sometimes hard to see who's shooting at you. But that's not the game's fault, it's inherent in FPS games, and I'd say the added dimension, as well as the ability to see and shoot really far, more than makes up for it. I also feel like multiplayer could do with some improvement, maybe in terms of shared equipment of sorts. There is always some arguing over who gets what or how someone has too much equipment, making it really hard for the players who don't.

Regardless of any negatives, Risk of Rain 2 earns its spot as one of my favorite shooters. It is mostly a copy of the original, but greatly improves and continues to improve on it, and I would absolutely recommend giving it a try. Although maybe you'll have a better time playing alone than with friends, at least at first.