SteamWorld Dig 2

One of the best metroidvania's around.

A HUGE adventure! Just when you think you're halfway thru there's always a surprise and a lot more to discover! Endless fun! Brillant graphix!

It's an excellent mix of metroidvania and platformer. Even despite it being quite short (around 12 hours to beat the game with 100% competition) I'm giving it 5 stars, but only because I got the game on sale. There are some minor bugs and imperfections which do not spoil the game at all but are not making the game worth its full price, especially with its short length, sadly. There are many references to some retro games and pop-culture, which is a very nice and welcomed touch and what makes me look into other games of this developer (already beat SteamWorld Dig 1 and will be getting SteamWorld Quest: The Hand of Gilgamech for sure). You can also find a good amount of good humour in here. Overall the game is fun and nice to play, quite casual I would say, with some optional places, that will put your logical thinking and skills to a test, especially the trials at the end of the game which I really enjoyed! Also, reminded me of first Rayman when it comes to its colourfulness. Worth it, but get it on sale. You won't regret it :)

Steamworld Dig 2 was like getting not just an extra slice of pie, but having to eat the entire thing and regretting it halfway through. I liked the first one for what it was; a short little exploration game with a tight game play loop of dig-get money-buy items-dig some more. Steamworld Dig 2 follows the same formula except this time it just felt tiresome. Over the course of some 6 hours it was Dig until my inventory was full, come back up, make linear upgrades that makes digging easier, then head back down and dig some more. Over and over again. The enemies are rarely a threat, and I only died once the entire game due to a falling brick I wasn't paying attention to. The biggest problem I had was running out of lamp oil, and I eschewed most every combat upgrade in favor of more inventory capacity and more lamp oil. Some of this tedium is buttressed by the beautiful hand drawn arts and sprites, but even that can be so nice to look at for so long. The only break up in this dreariness are the small challenge rooms. Thankfully these are numerous but only a handful were at all difficult to complete. There is some hidden loot in some of these levels but these were less of an interesting puzzle to solve and more of a 'find-the-invisible-wall' game that plays like a bad game of hide and seek. There is some customization with modules that give small perks to different Dot's abilities, but they aren't major game changers. Beyond that there are only ~ 3-4 boss battles that are, again, fairly easy. The story is forgettable and I can't recall any of the side character's names. It's not a bad game, in the sense it's broken, glitchy, or frustrating. The controls work well and the platforming is seamless. The game is just kind of... is.

If you liked SWD, then SWD2 won't disappoint you. It's a metroidvania mixed with dig dug elements. You explore and gather resources, then return to town to upgrade your equipment, and repeat. I really enjoyed playing both games.