Frostpunk 2

I think the cold sweat precision of FP1 was dialed down allowing for slightly more forgiving and flexible paths to get solutions. Definitely a whol new dimension with the trekking/exploration with additional settlements to manage. I find it very enjoyable.

Awesomely scripted, narrated strategy games. Great design, smooth performance

Fantastic game and sequel to the first Frostpunk which I enjoyed greatly. Atmosphere is absolute 5 star as before, including music, UI design, and general art style. Really impressive how much emotion you can get across with just some slideshows and moving pictures. Gameplay is engaging and there are multiple ways that your campaign might turn out. After finishing my first playthrough I immediately began my second, which is as good of a compliment on a game as it gets. The negatives and reason why it doesn't get 5 stars is due to very poor late game performance. The sound crackling is terrible once you get a large number of districts, framerate slows down to a crawl, and you better be prepared to save every 5 minutes to not lose too much progress when the game inevitably freezes. Be prepared for a VERY slow and very frustrating last 1-2 hours of the game. A minor nitpick is that the campaign is significantly easier then the first one. On the hardest difficulty in Frostpunk 1 you had to have a rock solid build order to not lose the game, while this one is far more forgiving.

It's a good game on its own merit, but I'd hardly call it much of a sequel to Frostpunk 2 even though it tries to be in story. The gameplay is much more macro than micro. While it carries the same tension as the first with always leaving you wondering if everything is going to collapse at any minute and everything you've done is all wrong, it focuses more on a political landscape trying to balance out factions. Protests were the bane of my existence. Overall, it was a good as a stand-alone game. It was beautiful, tense, and well crafted. As a sequel to Frostpunk, I think it left something to be desired as it lost a little bit of the personal touch that the first had and introduced mechanics that I doubt anyone really wanted.

If you like some challenge and some difficult moral choices in your strategy games, Frostpunk 2 is going to be your next addiction! ( Just like Frostpunk 1 likely was already ;) ). Few sequels renew their playstyles successfully, Frostpunk is one of these for me. I played the first frostpunk and its add-ons, I loved the micromanagement and the moral choices, but apart form craving for a new engaging story, I felt like the game mechanic of the first game was complete and perfected already. So when I started Frostpunk 2, I was cautious of the more macro mechanic. But it turns out, it is a fine way to manage the colonisation of the frostland beyond the gates of new London, the moral choices are still present, and the feeling of micromanaging each piece of land and each bit of heat to enlarge your city while tryign not to loose your soul in the process is still here, but with a refreshing mechanic that justify 100% this game being a Frostpunk 2 and not "just" a frostpunk 1 add-on (Although I would also love more add-ons stories for Frostpunk 1 ;) ). A great Sequel, now I only want more add-ons ( to both FP1 (I can always dream) and FP2) while waiting for a Frostpunk 3 that will allow us to expand around the entire world (with a snowpiercer, maybe?).