Again in 2014, a group of latest builders calling themselves GalaxyTrail launched Freedom Planet—a retro model platformer that captured the hearts of many classic-era Sonic the Hedgehog followers. Freedom Planet, actually, began life as a Sonic fan sport, although it established a novel identification for itself as improvement wore on, and gross sales have been luckily excessive sufficient that the group 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 the whole lot 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 authentic 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 risk they unknowingly launched has one thing to do with it, kicking off a prolonged journey to disclose this new villain’s motives and in the end foil their plans.
It’s a compelling sufficient story, helped in no small half by a lot better cutscene pacing this time round. Freedom Planet was infamous for its prolonged cutscenes, however right here they convey simply sufficient data to maintain the plot transferring and construct the characters with out getting in the best way of the high-speed gameplay. Voice appearing performances total really feel a lot stronger as effectively, with returning solid members similar to Daybreak Bennett and Aimee Smith showcasing their matured expertise, and this goes a good distance in enhancing the standard of the numerous 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 permits 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 full of a number of routes as quick as doable. 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 struggle. Though the mechanics listed below are largely the identical, there have been some welcome additions, similar 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 definitely no slouch on this division, however the stage design on this sequel simply flows so a lot better. Each degree is packed to bursting with new stage gimmicks and mechanics, thrilling set-piece moments, and a near-perfect steadiness of velocity and exploration, making every stage really feel like a beautiful theme park trip in all the most effective methods.
Not solely do the a number of potential routes via a degree supply up a variety of replay potential as you attempt to beat your finest instances, however there at the moment are 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 varied assaults and magic spells she will solid together with her spear. Each character’s equipment feels full and brings new concepts to the desk, which might usually 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 now and again, these hub ranges felt like an pointless distraction and a bit misplaced. Nonetheless, you’re not required to interact in these hubs for too lengthy, and Traditional Mode strips them out totally.
Visually, Freedom Planet 2 looks like a big step up from the unique, providing an extremely detailed and clean artwork model that makes nearly 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 effectively. It’s the little particulars that basically take issues from good to nice, like how the parallax scrolling within the background in the course of the Battlesphere stage has a slight curve to it to provide the sense that you simply’re operating round inside a closed area.
These visuals are matched by a equally glorious soundtrack that mixes pop, jazz, and EDM beats for music that may each elevate and funky the depth as wanted. Typically the monitor taking part in for a stage doesn’t fairly match the pulse-pounding velocity your character is operating at as they blitz via obstacles, but it by no means as soon as looks like a tune is misplaced. There’s an nearly dreamlike high quality to the tracks on deck right here, and we deeply appreciated the range.
Conclusion
Freedom Planet 2 is a superb achievement by GalaxyTrail, setting a excessive bar for high quality that can be powerful 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 lovely 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 manner conceivable.
