The Game play:
The formula is only slightly changed and can be easily reverted via the rules menu if wanted, The new flow from the old Risk of Rain is a welcome sight as having to clear the map before leaving was a major chore and time waster in the original version The enemies are back to themselves and some can even climb vines/ladders now making them no longer extraordinarily safe. There is as before no way to shoot upward, but that is no issue, the only minor issue is that if you select the Risk of Rain 2 controls characters don't aim to the side the mouse is pointing, which is inline to the original game as you had to turn to shoot, but it does feel clunky for the character to not auto do that when the left click is held.

The Graphics:
Amazing rendition of the old sprites, they went all out with remaking and modernizing everything. In the credits, you can see the side-by-side comparison of the old ones to the new and they are true to their original design and simply updated to be more detailed as well as distinct from before. Special enemies stand out well and are well-telegraphed to see their attacks.

The UI:
A large improvement on UI as a whole, the main menu is well laid out and explains itself well, a simple but effective base design, the HUD UI is good, but could use some adjustments such as easier to see teammates when off-screen, drone health displays aside from the drone itself looking damaged.

The Difficulty:
Enemies as a whole have changed from being extraordinarily tanky in Risk of Rain 1 to doing more damage, an overall better trade as you're not hitting damage sponges the whole time. However, the biggest change is personalized difficulty which allows players of all skill levels to play together, having one player on normal monsoon difficulty and another taking less damage or dealing more to help them out. These changes make the game significantly more friendly to those who can not play well at higher levels.

Unlocks:
The unlocks come at a decent pace and you aren't completely bombarded after the first game, as usual, unlocks are tied to progress and challenges. There are many ways to get unlocks from getting certain item combinations to the new providence trials to even level secrets. You can unlock a multitude of things for total progression as compared to run progression, there are items, logs, characters, and usable which are obtainable a multitude of ways and allows players to experiment

Characters:
There are 16 characters and each one is as lively and distinct from each other as before. There are some new abilities and each one starts with 4 recolor skins at the base, you can unlock more by doing challenges or providence trials. There are new ways to get abilities for survivors as well as the original way through the normal game, there are challenges that test your skill and unlock abilities more quickly than other ways, however, there are also unlocks that can only be done doing a normal game and rewards you for utilizing specialized kits well. The new secret survivor is an interesting take, and actually fits well into the roster.

Providence trials:
As mentioned before these are ways to get new items, abilities, skins, and even medals, in the game. when doing these trials there are two win states, the basic pass, and the gold medal. Getting gold medals rewards you with extra unlocks after hitting prerequisite amounts. However, most of the trials are not easy and will require not only skill but exceptional knowledge of game mechanics to ensure a gold medal and to even pass some. The difficulty of some of the trials are harder than others, but most are fair and reward proper problem-solving.

Stats and High scores:
The stats page has been remade and it's better than ever, showing the pie chart of characters played and total stats on the first tab, but now also includes run history in the second tab so you can check and show off your wins and losses to others after the run has long ended. Lastly there's a high scores tab that records your best game play and which difficulty it was achieved on a per-character basis.

The music:
The classic music is back, and its as fire as before.

Overall:
Risk of Rain Returns is definitely a love letter to Risk of Rain. They only improved on aspects of the original game and provided a huge sweeping quality update to it which allows players both old and new to experience the game like never before! They also added new characters items and game modes which provide even more to do in an already well-defined game. They've also set themselves up for the ability to continue to add more characters locations and items in the future if willing.

10/10 fantastic remake.