That's a great game. Better than the first one in every way.
Could be less heavy on the amount of bits non gameplay part. I dont care about the story, just let me play.
But its small annoyance.
The level desing of the game is really great, modern sonic could learn one thing or two.
Could be less heavy on the amount of bits non gameplay part. I dont care about the story, just let me play.
But its small annoyance.
The level desing of the game is really great, modern sonic could learn one thing or two.
Freedom Planet 2 was one of my most anticipated games of all time. I had a lot of problems with the first game, but I also had a lot of appreciation for it. This sequel did not disappoint, being an improvement in every way. It's a fun fast-paced platformer that I enjoyed thoroughly.
Gameplay:
This game takes a LOT of inspiration from classic Sonic games, 3 & Knuckles especially. I also got a lot of Adventure 2 vibes too, with the level design sometimes feeling like a 2D version of that game's ideas. You'll be going fast and running into all kinds of interesting level mechanics to keep things fresh and interesting. Some are better than others, but I overall found the levels to be quite consistent! They're certainly a huge improvement from the first game's overly long ones, that's for sure.
Though the level design feels familiar to Sonic games, the core mechanics are quite different. Firstly, building speed is not something the game focuses on. While you do go fast, your movement speed is a bit more fixed, making it more about traditional platforming than using physics to throw yourself around. This combined with the level mechanics gives the game a really distinct feel. Secondly, there's four playable characters with different abilities that greatly change how you play. I did my first playthrough with Lilac, and she has a spindash-like move and slight double jump that slows her fall. I did my second playthrough with Carol, who has a much bigger array of movement and offense options that make her easier to handle, but she's not quite as fast as Lilac. Thirdly, there's a sizable emphasis on combat. It's a simple system made fun through interesting boss attack patterns. You have a single attack button, but you can utilize your character's abilities to do damage too. There's a guard button to completely negate damage from an attack as well, if you time it right. Though the combat is an improvement over the first game's, I did still feel like it typically overstayed its welcome. Luckily, there are some accessibility features that help lessen the pain a bit.
Story:
Freedom Planet 2 takes place sometime after the first game with Lilac, Carol, Milla, and a new playable character, Neera, at the forefront. The plot centers around the return of Merga, a water dragon seeking revenge for her species's near extinction who hires many quirky characters to achieve her goals. Each character plays through slightly different events, but Lilac, the main main character, has her story focus on the history of water dragons and her internal conflict about being one herself. I didn't find the story to be too crazy, but it was still fairly interesting and good for what the game needed, especially since cutscenes were frequent.
Sound and visuals:
The music was really good! There’s some great tracks. The sound design was competent too, though there was some occasional mixing issues. The voice acting overall took me by surprise with how good it was.
The visuals are great! There is lots of effort put into the art and animation with tons of small touches that really enhance things! This especially shows in the cutscenes that make the most of the engine they're confined to. The environments are absolutely gorgeous too. What really knocked my socks off was the amount of meaningless NPCs that each have unique designs. Like... WHAT? That was so much effort to put in for something that has no bearing on anything, and yet, it's there and it's great? Seriously, major props to something like that ending up in an indie game. It's super impressive.
Conclusion:
Freedom Planet 2 is such a solid experience! With fun gameplay and great presentation, it's certainly worth checking out, especially if you're a Sonic fan. It's also a huge improvement over a previous game that showed lots of promise but was plagued by issues. It was worth the long wait, and I loved it.
Gameplay:
This game takes a LOT of inspiration from classic Sonic games, 3 & Knuckles especially. I also got a lot of Adventure 2 vibes too, with the level design sometimes feeling like a 2D version of that game's ideas. You'll be going fast and running into all kinds of interesting level mechanics to keep things fresh and interesting. Some are better than others, but I overall found the levels to be quite consistent! They're certainly a huge improvement from the first game's overly long ones, that's for sure.
Though the level design feels familiar to Sonic games, the core mechanics are quite different. Firstly, building speed is not something the game focuses on. While you do go fast, your movement speed is a bit more fixed, making it more about traditional platforming than using physics to throw yourself around. This combined with the level mechanics gives the game a really distinct feel. Secondly, there's four playable characters with different abilities that greatly change how you play. I did my first playthrough with Lilac, and she has a spindash-like move and slight double jump that slows her fall. I did my second playthrough with Carol, who has a much bigger array of movement and offense options that make her easier to handle, but she's not quite as fast as Lilac. Thirdly, there's a sizable emphasis on combat. It's a simple system made fun through interesting boss attack patterns. You have a single attack button, but you can utilize your character's abilities to do damage too. There's a guard button to completely negate damage from an attack as well, if you time it right. Though the combat is an improvement over the first game's, I did still feel like it typically overstayed its welcome. Luckily, there are some accessibility features that help lessen the pain a bit.
Story:
Freedom Planet 2 takes place sometime after the first game with Lilac, Carol, Milla, and a new playable character, Neera, at the forefront. The plot centers around the return of Merga, a water dragon seeking revenge for her species's near extinction who hires many quirky characters to achieve her goals. Each character plays through slightly different events, but Lilac, the main main character, has her story focus on the history of water dragons and her internal conflict about being one herself. I didn't find the story to be too crazy, but it was still fairly interesting and good for what the game needed, especially since cutscenes were frequent.
Sound and visuals:
The music was really good! There’s some great tracks. The sound design was competent too, though there was some occasional mixing issues. The voice acting overall took me by surprise with how good it was.
The visuals are great! There is lots of effort put into the art and animation with tons of small touches that really enhance things! This especially shows in the cutscenes that make the most of the engine they're confined to. The environments are absolutely gorgeous too. What really knocked my socks off was the amount of meaningless NPCs that each have unique designs. Like... WHAT? That was so much effort to put in for something that has no bearing on anything, and yet, it's there and it's great? Seriously, major props to something like that ending up in an indie game. It's super impressive.
Conclusion:
Freedom Planet 2 is such a solid experience! With fun gameplay and great presentation, it's certainly worth checking out, especially if you're a Sonic fan. It's also a huge improvement over a previous game that showed lots of promise but was plagued by issues. It was worth the long wait, and I loved it.
I didn't think they could improve upon the first game so well! Everything from the story, visuals, gameplay, level design, bonus content, this game is a major step up from the first game! The only thing that kinda feels lacking is the music, the first game definitely has more memorable tracks compared to this OST. There are some I can hum in my head but a lot of them are a bit forgettable. Other than the music, very fun high speed platforming that I would highly recommend for Sonic fans or platforming lovers! If they do a 3rd game, I'm very excited to see where it goes from here!
This review contains spoilers
The OST is fantastic, the mechanic got better, still We didn't see any of Torque reference, some easter eggs are good, the bosses are a lot easier than before but less memorable, I should say, It's a pretty decent sequel.