Spelunky 2
" Addictive roguelike platformer with deep exploration and multiplayer but steep difficulty and frustration "
Spelunky 2 Review
Spelunky 2 is a challenging and deeply rewarding roguelike platformer that builds significantly on its predecessor's foundation. Players praise its intricate procedural level design, rich variety of environments, and the depth of exploration and secrets. The pixel-art style is charming and detailed, complemented by fitting music and sound design. Gameplay demands precision, strategic thinking, and adaptability, with tight controls and a steep difficulty curve. The multiplayer mode adds cooperative and competitive layers, enhancing replayability and social fun.
However, some players find the difficulty punishing and occasionally unfair, citing issues like stun-locks, input delays, and frustrating RNG elements. The game recycles much content from the original, which some feel makes it less fresh. The progression and certain design choices, such as mandatory key-chest sequences, can feel repetitive and restrictive. Overall, it is a game that rewards perseverance and mastery but may not appeal to everyone due to its brutal challenge and design quirks.
Highlights
Players highly praise the game's addictive and intricate gameplay mechanics, especially the procedural level generation that ensures varied runs. The detailed pixel-art graphics and atmospheric sound design create a captivating world. The depth of exploration, secrets, and character variety add to its longevity. Multiplayer mode is celebrated for its chaotic fun and cooperative strategy, enhancing social play. The game’s fairness in difficulty and rewarding mastery is a recurring positive point.
Criticisms
Common criticisms include the game's steep and sometimes unfair difficulty, with complaints about stun-locks, input lag, and one-shot deaths. Some players find the recycled content from the first game excessive, making the experience feel less fresh. The progression can feel monotonous due to repetitive set-piece rooms and restrictive mechanics like the fixed key-chest relationship. Additionally, some find fall damage and RNG elements frustrating, reducing the sense of player agency.
Pros
- • Highly addictive and rewarding roguelike platformer with deep mechanics and exploration.
- • Procedurally generated levels ensure fresh and unpredictable gameplay every run.
- • Detailed pixel-art graphics combined with fitting and atmospheric sound design.
- • Multiplayer mode adds cooperative and competitive fun, enhancing replayability.
- • Tight and responsive controls that demand precision and strategic thinking.
- • Wide variety of environments, enemies, secrets, and character options.
- • Fair difficulty curve rewarding player mastery and learning from failure.
Cons
- • Steep difficulty can feel punishing and occasionally unfair to some players.
- • Stun-locks and input delays cause frustration and reduce control responsiveness.
- • Excessive recycling of content from the original game reduces freshness.
- • Repetitive set-piece rooms create monotony in progression and gameplay.
- • Restrictive mechanics like fixed key-chest sequences limit player agency.
- • Fall damage combined with downward progression is seen as frustrating.
- • Random elements sometimes block critical paths or make progress impossible.
Rating Criteria
Spelunky 2 builds upon the unique, randomized challenges that made the original a roguelike classic, offering a huge adventure designed to satisfy players old and new. Meet the next generation of explorers as they find themselves on the Moon, searching for treasure and missing family.
