Hallowed Concepts: A Beautiful DLC
Risk of Rain 2’s DLC history is…varied to say the least. Survivors of the Void was a hit, introducing new void items, some really fun new survivors, and a final boss I generally choose to forget exists. Seekers of the Storm fell a little flat, with really cool new stages but underwhelming new items, a rough new final boss, and while it was ultimately salvaged to a degree, it certainly was not a shining moment for Gearbox Games. Luckily, Alloyed Collective put us back on track with really cool new final bosses, more excellent stages, cool new items, and it even made drones worth using. And now, we have Hallowed Concepts.
I’ll say it outright: I really enjoy what I’ve played of Hallowed Concepts so far. We’ve brought back enforcer, a classic survivor from the original Risk of Rain, now updated to fit in a three dimensional environment. We introduced the Acolyte, a new survivor who fits incredibly well into my “every game is a hack n slash if you try hard enough” philosophy. We’ve got new items with funky interactions, the ability to hex yourself into oblivion for great rewards, some very cool new bosses, and even some new skill challenges to throw into your run. I honestly don’t know what public consensus is on it right now, but I know that I’m a huge fan. So what is it about these changes that makes it work so well?
For one, the survivors. Enforcer hits the right degree of nostalgia with enough updated mechanics to make it feel like it fits within the three dimensions of Risk of Rain 2. The ease with which one can switch from shielding to non-shielding, the ability to parry attacks back on enemies, and some added mobility with a shield dash all combine to both remind me of the game I loved years ago, while not feeling like a dated remnant feasting solely on nostalgia.
Meanwhile, Acolyte is one of the most me-coded additions to a game I’ve ever seen. I will always love a mad dashing, enemy juggling, health agnostic, monster shifting beast of a character. Importantly, Acolyte both feels fresh and new without replacing any of the previous survivors. While the similarities to Mercenary are present, both being high mobility, chain combo focused melee survivors, they operate on different incentives. Mercenary is all about staying in motion, dancing through the air, inflicting the exposed debuff on enemies, and constantly staying as a blur of offense. Acolyte meanwhile is all about chaining kills together as their health slowly disappears to eventually transform into their monstrous Anima Harvester form and re-up in a constant cycle of near death and rebirth. The Acolyte refuses typical healing, either playing by a type of Bloodborne rules in which any healing given is put into a pool only accessible by hitting enemies, or forgoing it entirely and having all healing turn into attack speed buffs. They can only truly heal by transforming, and they can only transform by killing. There is no other survivor that does what Acolyte does, nor should there be. What’s the point of DLC that just replaces an old thing you liked with a new thing for no reason? Far better to introduce something new and unique.
Similarly, the items, hexes, and N’kuhuna challenges introduce new concepts to the game that mesh well with what already exists. The items give new build opportunities, focusing on lifesteal, damage based healing, and inflicting friendly fire on enemies. The hexes act in a similar manner to chaos boons from Hades, giving a debuff that can eventually be turned into a great boon, such as the new hallowed items. They can change how you play the game, while also not forcing interaction on the player that is unwanted. At any point, you can choose to engage with the hexes, or you can simply ignore them (As long as you don’t care that much about unlocking skins.) Meanwhile, the trials ask you to test your skills in new ways, whether it’s an obstacle course race (the new one utilizing the energy lines with hazards on them is my favorite) or making you play sumo with your enemies. It asks you to look at the games mechanics in new ways, change how you approach different situations, and re-evaluate your play style if you hope to engage with the new content. Or, you can always just choose to ignore it and play Risk of Rain 2 as you’ve known it all these years.
Ultimately, that combination is why I believe Hallowed Concepts is an excellent DLC. It builds off of old mechanics in the game’s history, introduces new ways to interact with them, gives excellent bosses to fight against that match the games playstyle, but doesn’t force you to engage if you don’t want to. So often we see DLC change the way a game plays and force a player to engage with these new systems if they want to succeed at all. Hallowed Concepts doesn’t do this. Sure, if you want to succeed at the DLC specific things you’ll need to engage, but you can still have a satisfactory run while ignoring all of it! Gearbox is simply giving you the opportunity to explore new frontiers in a game that we love, and I for one am all for it.
