Lost Castle 2 Is an Exceptional Roguelike With Plenty of Punch (Review)

Lost Castle 2 is an excellent follow-up to a hidden gem of a roguelike with amazing mechanics, build-changing items, and some really cool enemy designs. If you’ve been getting the co-op roguelike itch and don’t know where to turn, then Lost Castle 2 is the game you’ve been waiting for.

Lost Castle 2 Borrows Borrows From Iconic Titles

I’d say that words can’t explain how good Lost Castle 2 is, but then I’d be a very shoddy writer, and I think we can all agree I’m a mediocre one, so this should be fine. Lost Castle 2 is an action roguelike that feels a bit like Castle Crashers if you infuse it with Monster Hunter-style weapons and plenty of classic roguelike upgrades.

Your aim is to fight through the five worlds there are at launch, many of which can have one of a few different bosses guarding them. After you beat a room, you’ll get a few items or some currency, and then you get to choose which level you go to next. And as you go, you get different weapon options, armor to choose from, and items, which are often linked to the colors red, blue, or green.

Picking a color to go all-in on will allow you to min-max your build by granting extra stats, special passive attacks, and more. However, you can also try to go into a little of each for a more well-rounded character. You can also trade items in co-op, which means that you can always chat with your friends and pick one the different colors to become mighty as a team.

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Lost Castle 2’s Combat Makes It Something Special

Let’s go back to weapons for a second, though. There are six main weapon types in the game at the moment: sword and shield, greatswords, dual blades, turbo lance, bows, and the magical staff. Each of these weapons has its own mechanics to learn, and those mechanics can change based on what special ability it has, but also what passive buffs you end up with. For example, one of my favorites so far was a greatsword that allowed you to chain the two types of charged attacks together without needing a second charge, and the special skill pulled everything in. We love to see it.

Once you’ve finished a run, or more likely died, you’ll end up back in camp with gold to spend on upgrades. These are permanent and allow you to unlock new features for some of the passive items, buff your stats, or even gain the ability to resurrect once per run. Figuring out which one you want next is always a test because they’re all pretty enticing.

Lost Castle 2 is just a delight to play in every respect. Bosses are hard-as-nails but fair; the weapons all feel amazing to use, and the build variety is truly absurd. When you throw in the randomness of the boss selection, the different rooms you can visit, and the three difficulty options, you’ve got a game that will easily last you dozens of hours. What’s even better, though, is that all of this is just the Early Access version of the game. Lost Castle 2 already feels like a complete title, so the fact that we’ll be getting so much more in the coming months is very exciting. Do not miss out on this awesome game.

Verdict: Recommended

Lost Castle 2 will be available on PC on July 25, 2024.