Wizard of Legend 2 is the co-op game of the year — even if it’s broken

Wizard of Legend 2 is about pretty much as good as roguelikes get. It’s a disgrace then that I’ve spent extra time making an attempt to play Wizard of Legend 2 than I’ve spent really taking part in Wizard of Legend 2.

The unique Wizard of Legend, developed by Contingent99, rapidly amassed a cult following, as a consequence of charmingly minimalist vibes and a deep, inventive fight system. For the sequel (that’s additionally a remake), Contingent99 stepped again from the collection, passing the buck to Youngsters of Morta developer Useless Mage. Wizard of Legend 2 has been in early entry on Home windows PC since October 2024, however simply final week was launched in full, alongside variations for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Collection X.

The bones of the sport are practically equivalent: That is nonetheless an isometric motion roguelike during which you select a collection of assaults (within the type of magical spells) to struggle your means via a collection of dungeons, getting stronger as you go. Even most of the similar spells have moved virtually one-to-one from Wizard of Legend to Wizard of Legend 2.

However the sequel has obtained a beauty overhaul. Gone are the pixelized graphics, changed with a visible fashion paying homage to a graphic novel. There’s one thing resembling a story now, replete with voice appearing and character designs and quippy dialogue. Trawl the collection’ subreddit and also you’ll see no scarcity of followers weighing in, on either side, about these adjustments. A standard chorus? Many seek advice from it as “Hades lite” (derogatory). One other widespread chorus? Many seek advice from it as “Hades lite” (complimentary).

The comparisons are truthful, if a little bit apparent. However Wizard of Legend 2 has one factor Hades lacks: co-op. In truth, co-op is arguably all the level of Wizard of Legend — the distinguishing function it prospers to face aside in a quickly crowding style.

So it’s too unhealthy the co-op is busted.

As of this writing, Steam and Xbox evaluations cite damaged multiplayer performance because the rationale behind decrease scores. And whereas an early patch focused a few of these points, like lag and improper animations, it has not addressed all of them. Whereas taking part in or making an attempt to play native co-op on Xbox, I’ve run into many of those points myself. In some cases, one participant can navigate menus, capable of customise builds and select new power-ups, whereas the opposite can not. In different cases, if one participant is transferring their character, the opposite participant can not. Over the previous week, I’ve been capable of get the sport to operate correctly a grand whole of [checks notes] 3 times. (I’ve misplaced depend of what number of tries it took.)

However when Wizard of Legend 2 works, it works.

In the beginning of every run, you and your co-op accomplice choose a handful of spells. Possibly one individual opts for fireballs, whereas one other chooses a set of big stone boxing gloves that go thunk thunk thunk if you spam the melee assault. From there, you’ll step right into a portal, which takes you to a dungeon. Your objective is to make use of the spells you’ve chosen to get rid of waves of enemies who’re making an attempt to cease you from reaching a portal on the opposite aspect of the dungeon. Each few ranges, you’ll face a boss. And if you happen to defeat the ultimate boss, you and your teammate change into wizards of some form of iconic, famend, dare I say, legendary standing. Fairly easy stuff (that’s the secret!!!), however the pace at which runs go by compels “let’s simply attempt another time.”

With every run, you’ll earn a foreign money that permits you to completely unlock extra spells, opening up much more customization for builds. OK, so fireballs and that enormous stone fist don’t mesh nicely collectively. However what if one individual chooses an ice storm that may freeze enemies in place whereas one other picks up the electrical hammer that shocks enemies? There’s a delight to mixing and matching spells together with your teammate, adopted by a thrill in seeing how your plans play out — or don’t.

Your characters are fragile in Wizard of Legend 2; a number of hits and also you’re down for the depend. Well being can also be vanishingly uncommon, showing simply as soon as per stage (and barely at an quantity that’ll absolutely heal you). Whenever you run out of well being, you change into a ghost, but when your teammate can defeat sufficient enemies, you’ll come again to life. The message is obvious, a minimum of in multiplayer: You’ll be able to’t get via this alone.

Most roguelikes forged you as a singular savior, a near-godlike entity tasked with saving the world/underworld/universe/you identify it. These video games provide you with superpowers or tremendous weapons. However they overlook the one factor that’s colloquially unbeatable in excessive fantasy: friendship. Wizard of Legend 2 doesn’t. And it proposes that if these bonds of friendship are robust sufficient, you’ll be able to finally overcome any adversity — even a multiplayer mode that solely works 0.0017% of the time.