I wonder what went wrong when they made this sequel. The first game was a smooth, fun space game with a good looking and intuitive UI, smooth controls, nice graphics and designs and it just all came together really nicely. I even enjoyed the whole "broadside" concept with "2D" flying because it worked and one often fly kinda "2D" in space games anyway. I also love the colorful characters that have quite good voice acting. The sequel, despite being released 5 years later feels much older. The UI is ugly and clunky, the controls are sluggish and imprecise, the graphics are surprisingly mediocre and it all feels cramped. The first game I love, completed it several times, I got sick of this sequel after just a few minutes. I'm glad I bought it on sale, definitely not worth the full price. I really hope the game studio can make a strong comeback with a third game, since they got so many things right in the first game.
This game starts out like a city buiilder/survival game and does a good job at it, you have to managa resources carefully and plan ahead for your people to survive the harsh cold. I love the steampunk style and gritty atmosphere of the game, you can clearly tell it's an 11 bit game. The other way you can tell it's an 11 bit game is through the focus on ethics and morality. If you really go for it your city can be transformed into either a big religious cult or a police state, with you on top wondering if maybe you want a bit too far. At least your disciples, err, citizens aren't hungry or cold yet, right?
I regret buying this game, it's not unplayable but it's definitely not fun. Maybe I'm just used to more fast paced and dynamic games, but this game feels very clunky and sluggish. There's a significant delay between the controls and the character actions that makes it very difficult to get any flow and dexterity in the combat. I can certainly see how this is inspired by Dark Souls, but the difference between this and the Dark Souls games is that the Dark Souls games feel significantly more responsive so you can achieve some flow and dexterity in the combat.
