Relic Hunter Legends, from developer Rogue Snail, is a top-down, action-packed looter shooter with a side of RPG progression. Currently in Early Access on Steam, this Indie shooter is packed with an impressive amount of systems and features to make even the most progression-hungry gamer satisfied.
Set in the Relic Hunter Universe, Legends will see players take on the role of one of five Hunters on a mission to save their world and neighbouring planets from the Dastardly Duke Duncan and his minions. With the first two acts currently available in Early Access, players will be introduced to a wacky set of characters and setting along with a fun and impressively engaging story to journey through.
World design in Relic Hunter Legends is creative, colourful and full of unique and interesting design layouts. Players will have access to a host of level biomes and maps to choose from, each offering a host of unique designs. The art style for both the setting and characters is unique and zany. It fits well with the aforementioned story, culminating in a fun, light-hearted gaming experience.
“Relic Hunter Legends is full of creative, colourful, and unique world designs that help create a fun, light-hearted gaming experience.”
As for gameplay, players are in for a fast-paced, engaging experience. The formula is simple; with seven mission types and five hunters to choose from, players will venture forth with their hunter and up to three friends and work together to achieve the mission goal. While most of the mission types are fairly standard, Rogue Snail’s delivery of said mission types keeps things feeling fresh and fun.
Combat feels smooth and fast. Each encounter requires quick thinking and strategic use of your Hunter’s abilities. With both mouse/keyboard and controller support, players will have no problem finding a control scheme that works for them. Navigating the maps and world, likewise, is a simple and straightforward affair, making the whole experience of loading up a mission and getting started easy and fun.
Simple and fun seem to be at the core of the Relic Hunter Legends experience. Every element of the experience so far has been easy to pick up and engage with. This is not to detract from the complexity of the title, however. In fact, Relic Hunter Legends has an impressively deep and rich progression experience for players to explore and master. Rogue Snail has simply done an excellent job at making that experience welcoming to beginners while keeping veterans of the genre engaged. It’s an impressive feat and one that Rouge Snail has delivered on.
“While still in Early Access, Relic Hunter Legends provides a synergistic and exceptionally fun co-op experience between Hunters.”
Speaking of progression systems, Relic Hunter Legends is chalked full of ways to level up and progress your Hunters. With five unique hunters currently in the game (more promised as Early Access continues), players can invest in all of them, each with its own unique talent tree, skills, abilities and gear and hot swap Hunters between missions. This, coupled with the player’s overall Relic score, means you’ll spend many an evening grinding through levels, collecting materials to upgrade your gear.
Thankfully, due to the aforementioned gameplay loop, it never feels dull or repetitive. Instead, each adventure out into the Relic Hunter galaxy is unique and rewarding. This is further enhanced by the included coop experience mentioned earlier. While I’ve only been able to test the feature a few times, coop offers an exceptionally fun experience with well-designed synergies between hunters.
At its core Relic Hunter Legends is a light-hearted, top-down, looter shooter that really is fun for the whole family. Yet under its polished veneer is a rich, deep progression experience for gamers who want to invest in character development. While Relic Hunter Legends has just been released in Early Access, it already shows more polish and promise than many other titles in the genre. This is a title worth checking out.
