ONPLAY’s newest mobile craze might almost have enough to be part of your squad goals, almost.

Rogue Life: Squad Goals is the title for ONPLAY’s newest mobile role playing shooter game that features similarities from retro vertical shooting games such as the Strikers series and Twin Bee. Developed by ONPLAY, Rogue Life entered the mobile market last June 25, 2016 and is their 3rd mobile title on the Android platform, while the very first for iOS. Rogue Life: Squad Goals has received generally positive reviews due to its unique approach to the shooting game genre for mobile, as well as the title’s addictive value.

A combination of features from pre-existing games and genres

Employing horizontal scroller shooting as its main combat feature, Rogue Life shares a couple of similarities from popular arcade retro titles, particularly the Strikers series (i.e. Strikers 1945) although with a more over-the-shoulder third person perspective common in most action games.. The game’s controls are pretty simple as you swipe left and right while your characters shoot projectiles both in order to hit targets and dodge enemy ammunition.

An in-game mob fight featuring enemy projectiles and character formation.

Aside from the scrolling-shooter centerpiece, Rogue Life also features resource management as certain player features that provide materials for item upgrades are unlocked each level, and has a separate energy system aside from the general fatigue system to help regulate the flow of materials that each player may harvest at a certain timeframe in the game, and adds up to the regular material gathering through the form of daily quests.

Farming is no joke

The separate energy system for acquiring materials may feel too limited though as you progress through levels, but even so, equipment upgrades when finishing story quests are more of complements to character level progression which dictates the general improvement and output of your chosen squad. In addition to material farming doodads, the game also adds material refinement through the form of base cosmetics that are used to level up character specific equipment.

Unlockables, Daily Quests and Missions

In contrast to other popular games under the RPG classification, Rogue Life lacks an in-depth storyline as there are no actual character backstories, and the whole lore is summed up into 3 sentences. ONPLAY makes it up for this however by adding more daily tasks, and per level unlockables which invites players to play more in order to unlock or get more rewards. It’s also worth noting that these said unlockables come in the form of household items giving the game a sim-like feel.

Look mom, I got enough levels to have me a table!

Microtransactions and PVP Elements

Being billed as Free-to-Play, Rogue Life: Squad Goals is not a game without in-game microtransactions that offer equipment of varying rarity, item sets, materials, and gems which can be used for purchasing in-game currency.

New characters, while unlocked at certain levels, can also be purchased early on using gems bought from the in-game store. Each character comes with its own unique attack abilities and classifications, depending on attributes such as Defensive, Magical and Offensive capabilities.

While it is aimed to add more variety to your squad, unlocking new characters also widens opportunities for the player’s PVP capabilities in the game’ Duel mode. The PVP feature employs general MMO mobile game elements such as random opponent search and ranking systems, although a big question might be just how big of an impact the game’s microtransactions might add to the game’s PVP modes.

Not to mention Koreans.

Overall Verdict

Rogue Life: Squad Goals’ crossover scheme that employs numerous elements from pre-existing elements would give both a new yet very familiar feel for players who wish to try something new on the realm of Mobile Games, perhaps the downside however, is that since it is an RPG that lacks storyline, the possibility of the early wane of its addictive factor that presently relies on unlockables is out of the question, however, being a new game in the market, it is yet to see as to how far the game will take us when it comes to content.

Rogue Life: Squad Goals is available for Download on Android via Google PlayStore and iOS on the iTunes AppStore