Sights & Sounds
- Visual design is, of course, the same as the first game. Lots of appealing pixel art throughout
- I don't know if it's just that I was paying better attention to the music, but it feels much improved this time. There's no real theme or genre to it, but it's all pretty good. The best tracks usually drop when the tension ramps up
Story & Vibes
- Like the first game, the story unfolds as a series of sorta-connected vignettes. Unlike the first game, there's a consistent thread running throughout the narrative that nicely ties everything together. It mostly pertains to what happens in the aftermath of the first game, so be sure you've played the prequel before trying this one out
- This is a marked improvement from the first title. My biggest complaint was the lack of a metanarrative to hold the story together, and that's nicely addressed in this game
- The humor is still pretty good. This title is maybe a little funnier than the first game, but it's a close contest
- As before, the writing/dialogue is superb. I love how well fleshed-out everyone's personality is. You can tell the writers put a lot of effort into this game
Playability & Replayability
- It's a point and click adventure game without may innovations on the basic formula. You'll wander around, investigate clues, pick up items, combine those items in humorous and unexpected ways, and inch the story along as you figure out each puzzle
- I understand that it's an entrenched genre trope at this point, but I still feel like some of the solutions are really unintuitive sometimes. I wouldn't have naturally figured out to combine decorative bunting and a garden gnome to make a grappling hook. Frustration-induced item combining is more-or-less a prerequisite for plot advancement
- Probably not going to return to the game, but only because I 100%ed the achievements. The chapter select menu made this much easier
Overall Impressions & Performance
- Except for the graphics (which are basically identical to the the prequel) and the writing (which is still very good), just about every change made in this title is an improvement. It's really nice to see a developer build upon and evolve a series with a simple concept, carefully ironing out the wrinkles and refining their formula
- The game ran perfectly on the Steam Deck
Final Verdict
7.5/10. Basically just like the first one, but with several improvements. More of a good thing is always a good thing, so buy with confidence if you liked the first title
- Visual design is, of course, the same as the first game. Lots of appealing pixel art throughout
- I don't know if it's just that I was paying better attention to the music, but it feels much improved this time. There's no real theme or genre to it, but it's all pretty good. The best tracks usually drop when the tension ramps up
Story & Vibes
- Like the first game, the story unfolds as a series of sorta-connected vignettes. Unlike the first game, there's a consistent thread running throughout the narrative that nicely ties everything together. It mostly pertains to what happens in the aftermath of the first game, so be sure you've played the prequel before trying this one out
- This is a marked improvement from the first title. My biggest complaint was the lack of a metanarrative to hold the story together, and that's nicely addressed in this game
- The humor is still pretty good. This title is maybe a little funnier than the first game, but it's a close contest
- As before, the writing/dialogue is superb. I love how well fleshed-out everyone's personality is. You can tell the writers put a lot of effort into this game
Playability & Replayability
- It's a point and click adventure game without may innovations on the basic formula. You'll wander around, investigate clues, pick up items, combine those items in humorous and unexpected ways, and inch the story along as you figure out each puzzle
- I understand that it's an entrenched genre trope at this point, but I still feel like some of the solutions are really unintuitive sometimes. I wouldn't have naturally figured out to combine decorative bunting and a garden gnome to make a grappling hook. Frustration-induced item combining is more-or-less a prerequisite for plot advancement
- Probably not going to return to the game, but only because I 100%ed the achievements. The chapter select menu made this much easier
Overall Impressions & Performance
- Except for the graphics (which are basically identical to the the prequel) and the writing (which is still very good), just about every change made in this title is an improvement. It's really nice to see a developer build upon and evolve a series with a simple concept, carefully ironing out the wrinkles and refining their formula
- The game ran perfectly on the Steam Deck
Final Verdict
7.5/10. Basically just like the first one, but with several improvements. More of a good thing is always a good thing, so buy with confidence if you liked the first title