River City Saga: Journey to the West is a fast, silly, and surprisingly satisfying roguelike beat 'em up that runs beautifully on ROG Xbox Ally X
Look, I am probably the worst person to review River City Saga: Journey to the West from a lore perspective. The only River City game I properly remember playing is Goal 3, around 25 years ago, and I loved that game back then. Football where you could punch dudes and turn the ball into a banana when you shoot it? Come on.
But that is basically where my River City knowledge ends. I do not know the wider lore, I do not know what every recurring character means to the series, and I also do not have a deep understanding of Journey to the West mythology. I did not even play the recent Wukong game, so yes, I walked into this as someone who understood almost none of the references it was built around. And still, here we are.
The setup is pretty simple and honestly kind of funny. Characters from River City Saga are playing characters from Journey to the West, so you have Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and Tang Sanzang filtered through that Kunio-style personality. I cannot pretend I caught every inside joke or every bit of character banter, but the dialogue I did pay attention to had a witty, funky charm to it. If it is actually retelling the mythology in a quirky River City way, then I fully stand behind that idea.
That also means longtime fans will probably get more out of the story than I did. There is a layer of familiarity here that I could feel, even if I could not fully decode it. When characters show up, talk trash, or get slotted into mythological roles, the game clearly expects some recognition from the player. I felt bad missing some of that, but in a weird way it made me curious.
Structurally, this is an action roguelike. You start a run, clear a string of levels, fight a boss, then return to the hub area where you spend rewards on upgrades before going back in. It is a familiar loop at this point, because every other indie game seems to be a roguelike now, but River City Saga keeps the action immediate and readable.
Each level drops you into a fairly small arena, then fills it with dudes who need to be bashed into the floor. If you are playing as Sun Wukong, you swing a magical staff and move quickly. He is the first character you unlock, and he is clearly the speed-focused option. Later, Zhu Bajie brings heavier, slower hits, while Sha Wujing gives you a ranged style. The differences are easy to understand, but meaningful enough that switching characters changes how you approach a crowded screen.
Combat is chaotic in the right way. At first it feels pretty easy, almost like the game is just letting you enjoy the slapstick violence, but the difficulty climbs as a run goes on. Enemies get more aggressive, arenas get busier, and suddenly you are dashing, repositioning, and trying not to get boxed into a corner.
The important thing is that hitting enemies feels good. Smacking someone with Wukong's staff and watching them fly away has that simple arcade satisfaction that a beat 'em up needs. Dashing and dodging feel responsive too, which matters a lot once the screen starts filling with bodies and effects. It does not reinvent action combat, but the basics are tight enough that I kept enjoying myself.
The roguelike rewards add the extra flavor. At the end of stages, you pick from rewards that can include currency for meta progression, health pickups, buffs, special attacks, and upgrades tied to your main attack, heavy attack, magic skill, or ultimate. There are a lot of these skills to find and test.
My personal favorite was charging up a super fart and unleashing a death fog in front of a group of enemies. It is dumb, obviously, but it never stopped being funny. When five dudes get caught in that cloud while the rest of the arena continues exploding around you, the game understands exactly what ridiculous tone it wants.
Boss fights are also a highlight. They are tied to the mythology, and after you beat them senseless, you can equip their special skills back at the hub. That means you can add moves like a big area-of-effect ground pound or tornado-style attacks to your own kit. Boss victories are not just progress gates. They become new toys.
The ultimate attacks are pure screen-filling nonsense in the best way. Once the meter is charged, you unleash a flashy special that floods the screen with particles and delivers a very direct, very satisfying beating to anything caught inside it. It is not subtle, but subtle is not what I want from this game.
Visually, Journey to the West looks great. The pixel art has that familiar River City personality, the animations are expressive, and the effects give combat a nice pop without making it unreadable. It has a bright, playful look that suits the tone.
On the ROG Xbox Ally X, it ran very smoothly. This kind of game is a perfect fit for the device: quick levels, controller-friendly combat, readable visuals, and enough progression to make short sessions feel worthwhile. I did not have to fight the hardware or tweak things endlessly. I just booted it up and started smacking enemies around.
The only real question is whether you still have room in your life for another roguelike. If the genre already bores you, Journey to the West probably will not change your mind. The structure is familiar: run, upgrade, die or win, return to the hub, repeat.
For me, the combat, character variety, silly skills, and River City personality were enough to carry it. I did not understand every reference, but I still had fun with the chaos. Fans of the series will probably have an even better time.
River City Saga: Journey to the West is fast, funny, and mechanically satisfying. It is not a genre revolution, but it is a very entertaining roguelike beat 'em up with strong handheld performance and enough personality to stand apart. If you like River City, Journey to the West, or just the idea of launching dudes across the screen with a magical stick before finishing them off with a catastrophic fart cloud, this is worth a look. Thanks for reading!
