A fantastic Metroidvania that emphasizes exploration over combat, sometimes to its detriment.
Most Metroidvanias have a pretty set path for how you have to go about exploring, and while the map in SteamWorld Dig 2 is set, how you explore and get where you need to go is partially up to you as you dig your own routes around the world. The problem with that, is if you get a little overzealous with your digging, you might accidentally dig yourself into a difficult spot to jump out of.
The loop of digging deeper, mining ore, returning to town to sell your ore, and upgrading your character is a fun loop. My only complaint is that the loop is painfully short at the beginning of the game. Rather than have to return to the surface because your bag is full, 80% of the time my limiting factor was my lantern going dark so I'd have to climb all the way back to town to refill it. Jumping, climbing walls, and running back and forth from town to the bottom of the mine is pretty dang tedious early in the game. Thankfully, as you progress and upgrade your character, you unlock a lot of fantastic mobility options and player upgrades that make your trips far less frequent and much quicker when they do happen. Your main resources for upgrading your character are gems to purchase better versions of your tools, and cogs to unlock specific skills or abilities for said tools. It's an extremely rewarding system that does a good job of making every upgrade feel worthwhile.
Combat isn't really a thing in the game. There are a handful of enemies scattered around the world, but those mainly exist as obstacles for your mining. The problem with that, is because combat has been so deemphasized, that the combat itself is pretty weak. You've got your pickaxe with extremely limited range or a small amount of bombs; and neither of those options feel particularly good or fun.
Overall, after playing a lot of Metroidvanias that are so combat-focused, I really enjoyed just exploring, digging, and solving puzzles, as I worked toward upgrading my character to becoming a mining power-house.
+ Fantastic exploration-focused gameplay loop
+ Rewarding upgrade system
+ Great mid-to-late game traversal options
+ Excellent puzzles and platforming challenges
- Early game exploration limitations can be annoying
- Combat is not fun
Most Metroidvanias have a pretty set path for how you have to go about exploring, and while the map in SteamWorld Dig 2 is set, how you explore and get where you need to go is partially up to you as you dig your own routes around the world. The problem with that, is if you get a little overzealous with your digging, you might accidentally dig yourself into a difficult spot to jump out of.
The loop of digging deeper, mining ore, returning to town to sell your ore, and upgrading your character is a fun loop. My only complaint is that the loop is painfully short at the beginning of the game. Rather than have to return to the surface because your bag is full, 80% of the time my limiting factor was my lantern going dark so I'd have to climb all the way back to town to refill it. Jumping, climbing walls, and running back and forth from town to the bottom of the mine is pretty dang tedious early in the game. Thankfully, as you progress and upgrade your character, you unlock a lot of fantastic mobility options and player upgrades that make your trips far less frequent and much quicker when they do happen. Your main resources for upgrading your character are gems to purchase better versions of your tools, and cogs to unlock specific skills or abilities for said tools. It's an extremely rewarding system that does a good job of making every upgrade feel worthwhile.
Combat isn't really a thing in the game. There are a handful of enemies scattered around the world, but those mainly exist as obstacles for your mining. The problem with that, is because combat has been so deemphasized, that the combat itself is pretty weak. You've got your pickaxe with extremely limited range or a small amount of bombs; and neither of those options feel particularly good or fun.
Overall, after playing a lot of Metroidvanias that are so combat-focused, I really enjoyed just exploring, digging, and solving puzzles, as I worked toward upgrading my character to becoming a mining power-house.
+ Fantastic exploration-focused gameplay loop
+ Rewarding upgrade system
+ Great mid-to-late game traversal options
+ Excellent puzzles and platforming challenges
- Early game exploration limitations can be annoying
- Combat is not fun