I burnt-out on tactical RPGs years ago and couldn't get back into the genre for years. Then this game came along and set me entirely on fire — not just for the incredible Bravado system — but tactical RPGs as a whole. This game was so incredibly good, I still feel insane for how much I loved it. Like, really? Just me who thinks the chase / train levels are genius? Just me who thinks that the Bravado death-chains reinvent the whole genre?!? Oh well. Lock me in an asylum and throw away the key. This game made me absolutely gaga.

A very solid, polished and confident 7/10. The main mechanic is a great success — chaining kills with Deer never stopped being fun, and my brain loved the dopamine hit of seeing the death icon followed by the bravado glow and sound effect. Had to rely too often on the very generous auto saves to fix apparently harmless mistakes that ended with half of my party wiped out in the next turn (thanks to sometimes unclear enemy ricochet but also pure carelessness from my part). Could've switched to Normal instead of Hard but I honestly liked the stakes, and the missions seemed fair. The story is very thin but what it lacks in emotion and depth it has on spectacle and flair.

Lives up to its name, first and foremost when it comes to the difficulty level. A fun, challenging game which gets the mood across in an engaging way and kept my interest throughout the campaign, though the scenarios started playing out too samey after a while.

The Poker hands level up system was really interesting, and I'm happy to have experienced the game for this aspect alone. Sound effects were also consistently good, with the sound of gunshots and the Bravado trigger just as satisfying every single time. Graphics were crisp and clean, with some nice atmospheric lightning, especially in the night scenarios. Cool character and UI design.

After about 30 hours, the lead up to the final battle is a big and juicy cherry on top of what feels like an incredibly fun experience. The final pull of the trigger is a satisfying one, but I’m definitely not ready to ride off into the sunset. Hard West 2 hits the bullseye on creating a fun and infatuating strategic RPG experience and I look forward to saddling up on whatever the team from Ice Code games has for us next.

https://thethirstymage.com/2022/09/04/hard-west-2-stands-tall-on-steam-review/

Compared to the first game in the series, this one is vastly superior. It now has more than one voice actor!

Okay, jokes aside, Hard West 2 takes everything that worked with the first game and refined it, and takes everything that was unbearable and either makes it better or cuts it out. The different posse members now feel unique with their special abilities and modifiers, the narrative slides don't leave you in fear of getting an annoying drawback or anything, the story isn't bogged down with too much grimdark, and ricocheting bullets is available to pretty much everyone (even the bad guys) and makes playing the game feel different to other tactical strategy games.

If you didn't like the first game, you'll like this one!