My Thoughts on Hallowed Concepts | Risk of Rain 2

Summary

The video is Race’s personal, unscripted review of a Risk of Rain 2 DLC and its accompanying update. Race emphasizes that these are subjective impressions, not an attempt to persuade others. They tested the DLC and provided feedback for several months, but delayed making a public review while it was still changing.

Characters and Update

• Enforcer was more enjoyable than Race expected. His shield, parry, and side-dash let him stay mobile, unlike the slower defensive style Race associated with his earlier versions. Race likes aiming with him, though they do not consider him one of the game’s best characters.
• Race dislikes that some frontal area attacks—and notably Overloading enemy attacks—can damage Enforcer through his shield. The video ends with another example: the shield does not block the damage debuffs during Mithrix’s fourth phase.
• Race also enjoys Acolyte for similar reasons, but finds the character’s animation and ability delays frustrating.
• Race appreciates the update’s new abilities and bug fixes, but says those positives are overshadowed by Karmic Mithrix. They like the concept and see potential in the fight, but feel it needed more testing and polish. In particular, the adds can make the fight feel cluttered, and phase four can effectively soft-lock certain characters or builds. Race considers this especially serious because Karmic Mithrix is required for Eclipse.
• Race says they gave feedback on the fight but did not ask the developers to create it.

DLC Features

Hexes and Hellfire Items

• Hexes are downsides that can later be exchanged for a beneficial item or choice. Race likes the general idea and finds a few effects interesting, but feels many are familiar, deliberately irritating, or easy to avoid by leaving them on the ground until just before the teleporter.
• Race’s main concern is that difficulty should not come at the cost of enjoyable game feel.
• Race generally likes Hellfire items, but feels the hex system required to obtain them makes the experience less appealing.

The Book and Spells

Race likes adding another active ability to the game, but finds the spell selection too small or underwhelming. Some effects seem short-lived or redundant with existing equipment; the warp gate and item-downgrading spell are among the more useful examples.

Trials and Encounters

• Trials: Race dislikes being pulled out of a run, losing access to their items, and playing a repetitive minigame. They feel the trials might have worked better as a separate mode, where the concept could be developed further.
• Friends of Compulsion: These encounters feel like chores or deliberately goofy challenges to Race. They observe that the series’ humor, once more of an undertone, feels more prominent in Gearbox’s approach—and that shift sometimes breaks immersion for them.
• Calamitous shrines: These add a second teleporter-style event. Race considers them acceptable, though not especially novel.
• The Wake: This alternate event asks players to defend three objectives by delivering flowers to them. Race likes the wave-defense concept but finds the back-and-forth dull. They also say sudden enemy attacks can sometimes destroy an objective before players can respond.
• Reaper fight: Race finds this boss trial generally fine, appreciating mechanics such as attacks players must jump over. They prefer its gameplay to some other boss encounters.
• Race says Alette is fine on Eclipse 8 and that this is not a concern for them.

Overall View

Race ends disappointed with both the DLC and the update, while acknowledging positives such as the new abilities, characters, maps, and bug fixes. Their central criticism is that many ideas seem promising but feel unfinished, frustrating, or insufficiently developed. They hope other players enjoy the content, even though it did not leave them excited to play.

People and Studios Mentioned

• Race — The featured player and reviewer.
• Hopoo Games — Referenced in comparison to the series’ earlier tone.
• Gearbox — Discussed as the developer behind the newer content.