Alongside the collaboration, Risk of Rain 2‘s next major update, titled the Devotion Update, has also been detailed. Check out the trailer below.

The Devotion update will be bringing with it a new map to Risk of Rain 2, dubbed Verdant Falls. The update will be free for all Risk of Rain 2 players, and the new map will also be affected by the upcoming Seekers of the Storm expansion.

Risk of Rain 2‘s second expansion, Seekers of the Storm, was originally unveiled back in November 2023. The DLC will bring with it new stages, enemies, items, and Survivors. This time around, the expansion will focus on a new antagonist named The False Son.

Risk of Rain 2 is available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

Some backgrounds faced rendering issues in the Environment Log, while softlocks could occur in “certain circumstances” in the final Providence Trial, Judgment. Those have also been fixed, along with issues suffered by HAN-D’s VENT Drone. The Commando also shouldn’t turn around while sliding or “store” that state if he grabs a rope mid-slide. Red Whip also got a nice buff, activating its speed boost while the player climbs.

Check out the full patch notes below for more details. Risk of Rain Returns is available for Nintendo Switch and PC, serving as a remaster to the 2013 side-scrolling rogue-lite. You can read our review, where we awarded it a 9 out of 10 for its gameplay, quality of life improvements, proper online co-op tools and excellent soundtrack.

Patch Notes 1.0.5

• Fixed a crash relating to text rendering in certain languages. Thank you for your patience with this one, it was surprisingly difficult to identify what was causing this issue! A big thanks to GameMaker developers YoYo Games for helping us track this one down!
• Fixed a crash with Huntress’s alternate Secondary that could occur online.
• Fixed a rendering issue with certain backgrounds in the Environment Log as of the previous patch.
• Fixed softlocks which could occur in certain circumstances in Judgement.
• Fixed a crash when Acrid’s bubble touched the head of a friendly Bramble.
• Fixed Acrid’s alternate Utility skill becoming unavailable for the rest of the stage if the projectile was launched into a pit.
• Fixed HAN-D’s VENT Drone not interacting properly with aiming.
• Fixed HAN-D’s VENT Drone sometimes failing to fire.
• Fixed Commando turning around while sliding.
• Fixed Commando “storing” the slide state if grabbing a rope while sliding.
• Fixed poor interaction of both of Pilot’s primary skills with aiming.
• Pilot’s Secondary skill now interacts with Brilliant Behemoth in a more expected way.
• Pilot no longer incurs slowdown from backing up while shooting while his parachute is active.
• Drifter’s default Special skill no longer gets stuck when attack speed is really high.
• Drifter’s alternate Utility skill now pushes cubes spawned by the alternate Secondary.
• Drifter’s Primary skill no longer pulls the player forward if standing on a cube.
• Drifter’s cubes now interact with geysers.
• Loader and Drifter can now turn while executing their Primary skill combos.
• Enforcer’s alternate Primary skill now consistently knocks enemies back in the direction it was fired.
• Bandit’s Ancient Scepter boosted alternate Special skill now fires for 2×500% damage like its default counterpart.
• Fixed skills affected by Ancient Scepter not resetting their cooldowns between stages.
• Fixed Substandard Duplicator incorrectly displaying an icon when collecting Food items, even though it didn’t actually clone them.
• Fixed the interact input being able to activate multiple things in a single press.
• Fixed Pilot’s Parachute physics change applying at the start of the next stage if the player died while it was active.
• Fixed the Toxin effect applying while the player was dead.
• Fixed certain item particle effects applying while the player is dead.
• Fixed Ceremonial Dagger projectiles not dealing damage if the actor that spawned them was destroyed before they dealt damage, most noticeable with the Engineer’s laser turret.
• Red Whip’s effect may now kick in while the player is climbing.

The developer has heard feedback and confirmed independent horizontal aim options for a future patch. It’s not “full 360” aiming, so you won’t have free reign. For those using a mouse, it will see the cursor position as the horizontal aim direction, while those on controllers and keyboards can set the direction independent of movement.

Both features are optional, so you can opt-out and keep playing the current game if you’d like. The goal is to provide “a much smoother experience to players who prefer mouse input, without giving that option an advantage over keyboard/controller players.” Since it’s a new feature and other patches are being developed side-by-side, there’s no estimate on its release, so stay tuned for updates.

Risk of Rain Returns is available on Nintendo Switch and PC. Check out our review here.

Crashes that occur when “unusual” gamepad-type devices are connected or at points when closing the game are also fixed. A save backup system separate from Steam Cloud is also available, while skill descriptions should now display correctly regardless of aspect ratio. Check out the full patch notes below.

A future patch will fix other issues, including a loud sound when restarting in specific scenarios or Providence Trials and challenges related to Bandit, Sniper and Han-D not unlocking if the client is in an online game. The team is also taking feedback regarding balance and will address issues in “future patches.”

Risk of Rain Returns is available for Nintendo Switch and PC. Check out our review here.

Patch Notes Version 1.0.2

• Fixed Cremator being allowed to spawn in certain locations which it was intended to be blacklisted from.
• Made HAN-D trial description correctly say 200 pts instead of 125 required.
• Changes the following stage variants to fix abnormalities: Ancientvalley 2, Desolate Forest 3 & 5, Hivecluster 1 & 3, Riskofrain 2, Temple of the Elders 1
• Fixed a crash when an unusual gamepad type device is connected.
• Fixed an obscure crash that can occur when viewing the command menu.
• Updated some files related to input extension which should better blacklist certain devices that behave poorly when detected as controllers.
• Fixed a crash that could occur at certain points if the game was closed.
• The game now appropriately responds to cutscene videos failing to load entirely. the intro will be skipped and ending will just be a black screen with text.
• Fixed a scenario in which the large healing chest could drop no item.
• Adjusted Highway Robbery trial to refer to Flashbang correctly.
• Fixed a frame-perfect crash when an Evolved Lemurian took flight and died at the same time.
• Introduced a save backup system independent of Steam Cloud.
• Fixed a possible crash with Miner’s alt primary.
• Fixed skill descriptions being displayed incorrectly depending on your aspect ratio.
• Fixed a crash that could occur when making a server.

Known Issues (to be fixed in a future patch)

• Bandit, a Sniper challenge, and a HAN-D challenge currently do not unlock if you’re a client in an online game.
• Permanent invincibility bug when losing a temporary Dios Friend.
• Certain users are experiencing a very loud sound when restarting the game in some scenarios / Providence Trials.
• If the game was set to fullscreen on a display that was disconnected, it may be unable to launch.
• Sniper’s secondary skill not interacting properly with Backup Magazine.
• Overloading enemies’ electricity has more range than intended.

Available for Nintendo Switch and PC, the remaster sports new Survivors like the Pilot and Drifter, rebalanced items, HD pixel art, and overhauled multiplayer. Trapped on Petrichor V, the story sees the player fighting through hordes of creatures to escape. Each of the 15 Survivors has unique abilities, but you also pick up different items for added damage, defense or hilarity.

While there’s plenty of new content available, those who want to experience the original’s gameplay mechanics with HD visuals can opt for Classic mode. You can also partake in the Providence Trials, which are challenges that unlock alternate skills and skins for Survivors. Check out our review for Risk of Rain Returns, where we award it a 9 out of 10 and stay tuned for updates.

Do you love Risk of Rain 2 but never really played the original? If you enjoyed the original, are you looking for a remaster with new content or just better visuals and some neat bells and whistles? It’s all a matter of perspective, even if it’s just $14.99.

"Kill enemies, collect Gold and use that to buy items which confer different advantages, whether it’s increased attack speed, a chance to evade attacks, reduced damage or something crazier, like creating ghosts from slain enemies."

Personally, Risk of Rain Returns more than adheres to the series’ addictive gameplay loop. Stuck on Petrichor V after your ship is destroyed, you play as one of 15 Survivors who must fight through hordes of enemies across multiple biomes to escape. Each Survivor has unique abilities, with several from the original and some new ones added to spice things up. I went with the Huntress, a capable option for hit-and-run tactics.

However, upon descending and exiting the escape pod, the differences between the first and second games were quickly apparent. The Huntress’s shots don’t automatically home in on enemies – in fact, almost every Survivor’s primary fire will fire only left or right. Hitting targets in the air by freely aiming isn’t a thing, and there is more of a platforming element involved when navigating stages, which makes fall damage just as precarious, if not more so (since you can’t see where you’re falling). It’s a big shift after spending dozens of hours in the 3D sequel, but it didn’t take long to acclimate.

For instance, while you’re subject to the placement of platforms and differing heights in the environment, so are your enemies. Some can’t clamber or climb up ropes and are thus prime targets for free damage or easier to escape from, which also applies to some bosses. However, there are flying enemies, teleporting enemies like Imps, and others that can burrow underground and appear directly below you. So, while exploiting your enemies’ traversal skills is important, constantly staying on the move, especially in biomes filled with hazardous lava or great heights, is also necessary.

Otherwise, the main gameplay loop still applies. Kill enemies, collect Gold and use that to buy items which confer different advantages, whether it’s increased attack speed, a chance to evade attacks, reduced damage or something crazier, like creating ghosts from slain enemies. However, the longer you spend in a run, the more difficult it becomes. Enemies start spawning in larger numbers before Elites join the fray, and soon, you’re dealing with a Colossus or a Magma Worm while everything seemingly won’t die. The difficulty also increases when passing through a teleporter, so either way, you’re on the clock.

"All that would mean nothing if the enemies, environments and bosses weren’t worth much, and thankfully, that’s not the case."

You could explore a stage, farming Gold and purchasing whatever items are available to better your chances of survival. But you could also find very few viable items, and get lost trying to find the teleporter, causing the difficulty to shoot up while you’re woefully unequipped to deal with it all. It could be as simple as not having enough movement speed as an Enforcer or not enough survivability or speed as a Sniper to get some distance for that charged shot. Either way, death is common, and at times, inevitable. Even if you do survive, Gold converts into XP. Leveling up increases your HP, but higher levels require much more, so you must look for items to get stronger.

Of course, there will also be occasions when you get the run. The items fall into place, whether leeching health off enemies by dealing damage, increased movement speed, explosions on kills, or creating a shadow clone to double your DPS. Chasing that rush is one of the main reasons for replaying the game.

All that would mean nothing if the enemies, environments and bosses weren’t worth much, and thankfully, that’s not the case. Each biome, whether it’s the Magma Barracks and their pools of lava or the Hive Cluster and its surfaces that impede movement, feels unique. There’s also a healthy variety of foes, with some, like the Spitter, which spits acid at a distance, seeming unreasonable before you notice their tells and how to dodge them. The enemies are challenging but never feel unfair.

As time passes, things quickly descend into a cluster, and without firepower, maneuverability or defenses, you’ll fall regardless. The bosses are what you would expect from the original and its sequel – the Colossus still wanders around, trying to thunderclap you while summoning smaller Rock Golems, the Wandering Vagrant still floats around and fires homing projectiles, etc. They’re just as deadly as ever if you’re not careful.

"It highlights another appealing aspect of Risk of Rain’s gameplay loop – improvising, adapting and overcoming with the tools available."

It’s a testament to the gameplay loop and level design that many different kinds of Survivors are possible. The Commando is your bog-standard attacker who can dodge-roll with invincibility frames, fire at attackers on both sides with a Skill and pierce through multiple enemies with a heavy shot. However, the Loader is about punching enemies into smithereens, using temporary invincibility when things get too crazy, and grappling. Some characters thrive off certain items, like the Mechanic, whose turrets inherit his items and can thus heal themselves with Bustling Fungus.

There are several choices for how you want to build a Survivor, whether utilizing the classic Multishop Terminal or locating a Legendary Chest. You can discover stations for combining drones, obtain multiple temporary items for a period, activate terminals to unleash equipment without having to equip it, sacrifice health for potential items – the list goes on.

However, RNG is the ultimate deciding factor. If you want to build a Huntress specializing in increased critical strike chance every time you fail a shrine pull and can’t find the Snake Eyes item or the shrines (since it resets in every map), you’re out of luck. However, it highlights another appealing aspect of Risk of Rain’s gameplay loop – improvising, adapting and overcoming with the tools available. Of course, you can also choose alternate skills for Survivors, changing their playstyles in unique ways.

Along with opting for a lower difficulty, you could dial things down further in the Rules tab, reducing damage taken and increasing damage dealt. So if you want to explore stages more thoroughly – especially since several Survivors require doing so to unlock them – or mess around on Monsoon with Artifacts without worrying about instant death, it’s a great option. Conversely, increase the damage taken and reduce the damage dealt to make things even tougher.

"Even when not compared side by side with the original, Risk of Rain Returns’ HD sprites are great, with extensive animations and over-the-top effects."

The Rules also allow for switching between the Modern and Classic rulesets. If you want an experience that’s like the original, where teleporter events don’t complete until all enemies are dead or only items, enemies and stages from the first game appear, choose Classic. It’s also possible to mix and match rulesets if you, say, want the original teleporter event while also experiencing all the new content that the remaster has to offer.

There are also Providence Trials – mini-game-like challenges that unlock new Skills and Skins. There are over 40, and they can range from using the Huntress’s Blink Arrow to clear a stage to exploring an ancient castle as the Gunslinger with a whip and dynamite. They vary in challenge and can get frustrating (see the Enforcer’s Trial to unlock his Shield Charge). Nevertheless, they’re a worthwhile diversion from the main game and arguably a better way to unlock Skills and skins than when Risk of Rain 2 initially launched.

While I couldn’t try online co-op, the options are a big step up from the original game, which requires you to manually enter a player’s name, IP and port number. You can create lobbies with rule voting, forced item sharing, custom tags and even per-player Intensity settings. Searching for lobbies is also easy, with a proper browser and options to sort based on free slots, ping and player count, and filters for difficulty, rule voting, etc. How the netcode pans out remains to be seen, but kudos to the developer for providing options to make and search for lobbies.

It’s also worth noting the visuals. Even when not compared side by side with the original, Risk of Rain Returns’ HD sprites are great, with extensive animations and over-the-top effects. It doesn’t drastically overhaul the original’s art style but adds more detail, enhancing its personality. The music is also as incredible as ever, keeping the desolate tone while still offering a powerful vibe.

"Risk of Rain Returns is more than a simple remaster of a classic roguelike. It retains everything that makes the original so good – the frustration, the excitement and the danger – while adding more content."

With so much added to the original game, the accessibility options could have been better. The lack of text scaling options is especially noteworthy since the text can get very small and hard to read.

Risk of Rain Returns is more than a simple remaster of a classic roguelike. It retains everything that makes the original so good – the frustration, the excitement and the danger – while adding more content. It also expands the experience in several ways, whether it’s the alternate abilities, the Providence Trials or proper online multiplayer.

While everyone’s enjoyment of this particular type of roguelike will vary, Risk of Rain Returns is an incredible game and a well-rounded package that will have you running it back to an unhealthy degree.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Even the store page’s description indicates very little, though there are five “packages” which are still untranslated. Perhaps these will become more discernible over time. It’s worth noting that Gearbox Software is the developer instead of Hopoo Games, which makes sense since it purchased the Risk of Rain IP and also co-developed the previous expansion, Survivors of the Void.

Stay tuned for more details in the meantime. Risk of Rain 2 is available for PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One and has sold over four million copies on Steam as of 2021. Check out our review here. As for Risk of Rain Returns, a remaster of the original developed by Hopoo, it’s coming to PC and Nintendo Switch.

The developer also revealed some new details for the title, like the Pilot joining the roster of playable Survivors. He utilizes Clusterfire, which fires a burst shot that can pierce through enemies on the third hit, and Rapid Deployment, a Utility skill that sees him launching into the air and raining down fire with his arsenal.

There’s also Target Acquired, a Secondary skill which auto-targets enemies diagonally below if you’re airborne and airborne enemies if you’re on the ground. His Special Ability, Airstrike, also damages enemies several times and launches them, priming them for Target Acquired. In addition to all this, the Pilot also has three unlockable alternate abilities.

Stay tuned for more on Risk of Rain Returns en route to release, and check out various details on Survivors, Artifacts and more here.

Drifter is a brawler whose main melee combo, Blunt Force, creates Scrap. You can also use Suffocate, a melee attack that stuns and deals 200 percent damage while immediately converting enemies below 20 percent into Scrap. With enough Scrap, Cleanup becomes available, allowing you to fire Scrap like a shotgun.

Finally, there’s Salvage. When the Scrap meter is three-fourths full, Drifter creates four temporary items for allies. It’s a great way to lend support but works solo since you can take them yourself. However, the key word is “temporary” – the items will expire, so keep making Scrap and Salvaging to make more.

Drifter has alternate abilities, with more details coming later. Risk of Rain Returns is releasing on Nintendo Switch and PC, but a date has yet to be announced.

In a recent Steam post, the developer explained that “Gearbox has been the trusted publisher of Risk of Rain 2 for many years now, they have a love for Risk of Rain that matches our own and is the best fit for taking the franchise into the future.” While Hopoo is working on Risk of Rain Returns, Gearbox will “both develop and publish potential future titles in the series.”

There may be some concern among hardcore fans about whether the latter can do justice to the franchise. However, Hopoo revealed that Gearbox co-developed the Survivors of the Void expansion. It created the Aphelian Sanctuary and Siphoned Forest, along with the Void Jailers, all received very well.

In conclusion, the developer said, “We are ready to move on to new challenges and welcome the exciting and fresh ideas Gearbox will bring to Risk of Rain. Completing the console versions of Survivors of the Void remains a top priority for Gearbox, and we can’t wait to see what the future brings for Risk of Rain with them at the helm! We know the IP is in excellent hands.”

As for Risk of Rain Returns, it releases in 2023 for Nintendo Switch and PC. Check out the first details and screenshots here.