Freedom Planet 2 Evaluate (Swap eShop)

Again in 2014, a crew of latest builders calling themselves GalaxyTrail launched Freedom Planet—a retro fashion platformer that captured the hearts of many classic-era Sonic the Hedgehog followers. Freedom Planet, in actual fact, began life as a Sonic fan sport, although it established a singular id for itself as growth wore on, and gross sales had been luckily excessive sufficient that the crew was capable of greenlight the event of a sequel. Now, ten years on, Freedom Planet 2 has lastly arrived for consoles, and we’re happy to report that it’s every thing you’d hope for from a sequel. The extent designs are tighter, the gameplay is extra thrilling, the graphics have gotten a pleasant increase; that is throughout a way more assured and enthralling launch.

The story picks up concurrently the ending of the primary sport, with the climactic occasions of that finale inflicting an historical Water Dragon named Merga to be launched from a magical jail. The plot then jumps ahead three years, following unique protagonists Lilac, Carol, and Milla as they work to wash up the few robotic stragglers left over from the occasions of the primary sport. The trio is then recruited by Neera, the brand new playable protagonist, for a gathering with the Magister, who asks them for assist in attending to the underside of who has been inflicting the current robotic assaults. Naturally, the traditional menace they unknowingly launched has one thing to do with it, kicking off a prolonged journey to disclose this new villain’s motives and finally foil their plans.

It’s a compelling sufficient story, helped in no small half by significantly better cutscene pacing this time round. Freedom Planet was infamous for its prolonged cutscenes, however right here they convey simply sufficient info to maintain the plot shifting and construct the characters with out getting in the best way of the high-speed gameplay. Voice performing performances total really feel a lot stronger as properly, with returning solid members akin to Daybreak Bennett and Aimee Smith showcasing their matured abilities, and this goes a good distance in enhancing the standard of the various cutscenes. For these of you who nonetheless aren’t too jazzed by the deal with story, cutscenes are nonetheless simply skippable, whereas finishing the sport in Journey Mode unlocks a Traditional Mode that allows you to play via the platforming levels again to again.

Gameplay follows the unique’s construction, tasking you with guiding your chosen character via levels filled with a number of routes as quick as potential. This time round, the two-act construction has been dropped in favor of one-shot levels with barely shorter runtimes in comparison with their predecessors, every of which is capped off by a boss battle. Though the mechanics listed below are largely the identical, there have been some welcome additions, akin to a guard transfer for every character that grants them a couple of i-frames to dodge via enemies or a revive choice to proceed taking part in proper from the place you died for a small penalty.

Freedom Planet 2 might really feel similar to its predecessor, then, however the high quality of the gameplay and degree designs right here have seen a considerable enhance in polish. Freedom Planet was actually no slouch on this division, however the stage design on this sequel simply flows so significantly better. Each degree is packed to bursting with new stage gimmicks and mechanics, thrilling set-piece moments, and a near-perfect steadiness of pace and exploration, making every stage really feel like an exquisite theme park trip in all the most effective methods.

Not solely do the a number of potential routes via a degree provide up numerous replay potential as you attempt to beat your finest occasions, however there are actually 4 playable characters that every really feel meaningfully distinct. Lilac, for instance, performs because the ‘Sonic’ of this launch, targeted on high-speed antics with a couple of useful choices for gaining altitude, whereas newcomer Neera is a extra technical and combat-focused character centered round numerous assaults and magic spells she will be able to solid together with her spear. Each character’s equipment feels full and brings new concepts to the desk, which may typically completely change your strategy to a degree. Although it’s a bit disappointing that the characters weren’t given their very own levels constructed for his or her distinctive specs, we nonetheless appreciated the range they provide, particularly given that every one has their very own distinctive perspective on story occasions as they unfold.

When taking part in in Journey Mode, there’s additionally a brand new assortment of hub ranges interspersed between the motion levels, providing you with an opportunity to decelerate, speak to some characters, and purchase some powerups on the native retailers. Although a change of tempo was good every so often, these hub ranges felt like an pointless distraction and a little bit misplaced. Nonetheless, you’re not required to interact in these hubs for too lengthy, and Traditional Mode strips them out completely.

Visually, Freedom Planet 2 seems like an enormous step up from the unique, providing an extremely detailed and easy artwork fashion that makes just about each body a deal with. Whether or not you’re grinding on the rollercoaster rails via the theme park-esque Zao Land or rolling in a snowball down a hill within the junk-strewn Robotic Graveyard, every stage overwhelms you in a flurry of sights and sounds with distinctive color palettes, detailed spritework, and superior animation all coming collectively extremely properly. It’s the little particulars that actually take issues from good to nice, like how the parallax scrolling within the background through the Battlesphere stage has a slight curve to it to provide the sense that you simply’re working round inside a closed enviornment.

These visuals are matched by a equally wonderful soundtrack that mixes pop, jazz, and EDM beats for music that may each elevate and funky the depth as wanted. Usually the observe taking part in for a stage doesn’t fairly match the pulse-pounding pace your character is working at as they blitz via obstacles, but it by no means as soon as seems like a tune is misplaced. There’s an virtually dreamlike high quality to the tracks on deck right here, and we deeply appreciated the range.

Conclusion

Freedom Planet 2 is a wonderful achievement by GalaxyTrail, setting a excessive bar for high quality that might be robust to beat if we’re ever fortunate sufficient to get a ‘Freedom Planet 3’. A compelling story, well-designed ranges, tons of gameplay selection, and beautiful visuals all come collectively to make this an absolute must-play for followers of high-speed platformers and a sure blue hedgehog. Freedom Planet 2 exudes high quality and fervour in nearly each approach conceivable.