I really enjoyed Magicka 1, even though I probably played just a third of the whole campaign. Casting spells and trying all the different combinations truly felt magical, especially when playing with someone else that can heal / revive you as you mess up your spells countless times. However, playing with the controller wasn't very intuitive. It had quite a learning curve and even when you learned the controls, it felt a bit clunky. This is where Magicka 2 shines over its predecessor. Playing with the controller felt much more natural and the implementation of spell "shortcuts" made casting a bit easier. But fun and well executed mechanics of spell casting unfortunately don't justify shortcomings of this game.

The enemies don't have much variety and almost all of them fight the same way. Besides different weak / strong points for spell casting they are exactly the same. The combat usually consists of healing and casting the same spell that you have memorized the most. For me that was fire + electricity + death. Powerful and efficient.

The whole game underutilizes its powerful magic system. The game would be much more interesting if the world would be built more around the mechanic. Whether that would be with adding more magic related puzzles or enemies that force you to use specific combination of spells. A hint of such variation can be seen in some boss battles such is the last boss battle that was really great.

It also bothered me a bit that you are so damn powerful. Some kind of progression that would limit your arsenal of magic and make it upgrade able could be a nice addition as well. That way the game could force you to fight with the given skillset that can grow. The whole havoc of combining 8 different elements could therefore be saved for the late game.

Bottom line this game could very much benefit from some more ideas. I didn't play any of the countless DLCs. Having that many of them is distasteful to begin with. But the core game can be entertaining enough for the 7 hours of gameplay it provides. Especially if you are playing with a friend. However, playing single player is probably rather tedious activity.

6/10

Slično jedinici, samo što su neke stvari bolje, a druge lošije. Idemo od lošijeg - čitao sam po netu da je dvojka puno teža od jedinice kad se ne igra u co-opu, a meni ne da je bila lakša, nego mislim da u cijeloj igri nisam umro više od 5-6 puta, bez ikakvog gledanja guidova ili ičeg sličnog. E sad, to samo po sebi ne mora biti nužno lošije, ali ovdje je to što je igra lakša lošije zbog razloga radi kojeg je lakša - 95% neprijatelja su jednostavno "melee botovi" koji te se žele dočepat i lupit te šakom u oko. A ti im onda lijepo postaviš TRAPULICE sa slowom i, recimo, strujom, i onda oni u tim trapulicama izgube život, a bez da čovjek uopće mora truditi izbjegavati ih.

Vrhunac enemy designa je to da su eventualno otproni na neku magiju ili da se teleportaju okolo (rijetko). Jedinica je po ovom pitanju bila podosta bolja, nisi ju cijelu mogao prijeći koristeći samo jedan ability, morao si kombinirat. Ovdje u možda 3-4 navrata moraš koristit neki ability koji nije default "bread and butter". Šteta, jer ono, glavna poanta igre je da kombiniraš različite spellove. I u redu, mogu ja to radit, ne brani mi igra, ali me ni ne tjera da ih koristim, pa idem linijom manjeg otpora. Još nešto što me malko zasmetalo je kratkoća. Kažu da traje 6 do 8 sati, ja bi se zakleo da sam ju prešao u maksimalno pet. Tri noći laganog igranja po sat i pol, dva.

Kada su dobre stvari u pitanju, tu je i dalje taj njihov jezik koji je jednostavno toliko urnebesan za slušati, da bi dao solidne pare kada bi postojala neka serija ili barem film u kojem postoje takvi "dubovi". Vlad je genijalan kao i u jedinici, na više mjesta se čovjek može nasmijati na različite posprdne reference, tako da ti mali "breakovi" kada dođeš u selo pa pričaš s random NPC-evima ili cutscenovi nisu "smor" nego baš dobro dođu. Osim toga, igra je tehnički puno ispoliranija od jedinice, koja se nenormalno crashala i ako nisi instalirao 3 fixa bila gotovo neigriva. Ovdje nema bugova, crashanja, nekako se likovi fluidnije kreću i eto, tu nemam prevelikih zamjerki.

Ono što je whatever je pokušaj ubacivanja weapona/robeova/staffova koji ovaj put nisu samo kozmetičke namjere, nego eto, daju, recimo, plus na frost, minus na fire, imunost na vodu, ali sporiju regeneraciju focusa... Okej, s čim god da igraš ništa od toga se, realno, ne osjeti previše. Na kraju, u igri ima dosta multiplayer i challange sadržaja, ali nije mi se to dalo igrati, možda je zabavno, možda nije, ali meni je prolazak glavne kampanje bio sasvim dovoljan. Sve u svemu, ne treba slušati one koji kažu da je ovo puno lošije od jedinice, jer nije, tu su negdje, jedinica je malko bolja čisto zbog te raznolikosti neprijatelja.

The second Magicka entry is a top-down action-adventure game that builds on the chaotic charm of its predecessor. Its core appeal lies in the inventive spellcasting system, where players combine elemental runes in real time to unleash creative and often unpredictable magic. This system encourages experimentation and can lead to hilarious mishaps, especially in the heat of co-op battles. The tone is lighthearted and filled with quirky humor, leaning heavily on parody and pop culture references, and I genuinely found myself laughing out loud and very often, it is not cheap unfunny humor.

The campaign is relatively short and straightforward, serving more as a playground for magical mayhem than a deep narrative journey. While the single-player mode is serviceable, the game truly shines in cooperative play, where teamwork and accidental sabotage often go hand-in-hand. And although I never played this game in co-op, I highly advise doing so, it'll be way more fun than playing alone, at the same time, in my opinion, the main campaign is good enough to face it as a single-player title, similar to the first entry.

However, Magicka 2 has its flaws, some players found balance issues, occasional bugs, and a lack of substantial new content compared to the first game. Despite this, it remains a fun, chaotic, and uniquely silly experience for those looking to enjoy magic-slinging madness with friends, you can't go wrong with this one if you enjoyed the first game, and if not, than don't even try because this one won't win you over anytime soon.