SteamWorld Heist II snuck out final 12 months in early August and didn’t create as many ripples as a number of the different style spin-offs in its quirky robotic universe. That’s a disgrace as a result of the bones of this tactical RPG are a number of the strongest round, even when the encompassing fluff can get in the best way generally.
A sequel to Picture & Kind’s 2015 3DS recreation, SteamWorld Heist II trades its predecessor’s sci-fi setting for a Pirates of the Caribbean-infused tackle the excessive seas, however in any other case the majority of it nonetheless revolves round turn-based encounters in side-scrolling 2D maps the place gunshots ricochet and grenades blow up cowl to create memorably chaotic fights.
You’re nonetheless looting procedurally generated ranges and attempting to flee as bullets and lasers go whizzing previous your crew’s mechanical heads, however there’s a serious distinction in SteamWorld Heist II. In contrast to the primary recreation, by which characters had been every ingrained with particular class archetypes, the sequel permits you to give any crew member any weapon after which begin constructing their package round that. Equip a sniper rifle and also you develop into a sharpshooter that makes a speciality of dealing essential injury from afar. Wield a hammer and also you develop into a brawler who will get further turns and different bonuses from smashing foes up shut.
This presents numerous flexibility and freedom, however SteamWorld Heist II goes a step additional and lets characters combine and match expertise from completely different lessons as soon as they’ve unlocked them, rewarding experimentation and incentivizing a hunt for synergies that may break the sport and show you how to take no prisoners when breaking into excessive safety bases searching for highly effective treasure. It’s principally the inverse of the Ultimate Fantasy Techniques job system the place talent timber had been linked to lessons somewhat than weapons. The result’s a refreshing change-up that’s extra streamlined with out ditching an excessive amount of depth.
I completed the sport final summer time on Change (it’s additionally on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC) and beloved each minute by which I discovered myself analyzing bullet trajectories, blast radiuses, and the percentages of success if I sacrificed one character to cowl the remainder of the crew’s tactical retreat. Even via procedurally generated maps the place any lollygagging will rapidly discover you overrun by enemy forces, SteamWorld Heist II’s substances kind a wonderful recipe for tense moments, analytical showdowns, and seat-of-your-pants escapes. It cleverly iterates on the very best components of the primary recreation and makes them much more sturdy and enjoyable.
The one draw back to SteamWorld Heist II is that it lacks the primary recreation’s concise 12-hour runtime. It’s nearly twice as lengthy, with the additional hours going towards some late-game grinding and a brand new overworld exploration system by which you discover as a submarine gunning down enemy ships in real-time in alternate for small rewards that rapidly cease being well worth the bother. Like the remainder of SteamWorld Heist II, the shoot-‘em-up sections are well designed and management properly however finally really feel like pointless time wasters and irritating distractions from the wonderful 2D tactical fight on the recreation’s core.
In the end, SteamWorld Heist II is sort of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with an additional piece of bread within the center. Nonetheless scrumptious however ultimately far more than you need to eat. I nonetheless ended up ending the sport as a result of the 2D XCOM-like shootouts are adequate to make wading via all of the filler price it. SteamWorld Heist II is a superb techniques RPG that style acolytes will likely be doing themselves a disservice to miss.
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