SteamWorld Dig 2 (2017)

Improves on the original in every conceivable way, adding in complex new systems that never overwhelm the simple mechanical thrill of burrowing into the earth. Shockingly, the narrative manages to hit with some real emotional weight, and the cadre of bots and stragglers you come to know are nicely varied and flavourful.

There's even a neat horror section that managed to squeeze a proper reaction from me, very unexpected and very welcome.

I had a shit day of hospital visits, no eating for 36 hours and very sick toddler today. So it's nice to come home to a fun little addictive game like Steamworld Dig 2, where I can just bury my head deep underground and forget what a shit show today was.

Anyway, I've not played the first game so I'm thankful that wasn't necessary to enjoy this. The developers really nailed the gameplay reward, with it always pushing you to dig a little further for the next reward, treasure, story beat or powerup. It's not as challenging as it first appears. When the game sticks a destination somewhere deep, deep underground and tou think "oh that looks far away", it feels good to get there, even though there was little to trouble me along the way, other than time before running out of light. Atmosphere and visuals are great, the story is basic but the characters are full of charm. I guess I would describe Steamworld Dig 2 as "satisfying" and "more laid back than it first appears", which is nice, when life is being anything but.

Did you like steamworld dig but thought it needed some story and an annoying companion character? well I have good news.

This is essentially the same game as steamworld dig 1 with some refinement. same satisfying gameplay loop. same minamlist concept. This time there's more story line and it tries to continue the "Story" of the first game. The gameplay itself has some new refinements and ideas to complicate the whole thing. it's only for the better.

The entire game makes swd1 look like a demo for this game. so if you haven't played 1 yet, skip it. if you have and you liked it, play this. it goes on sale all the time.

Well this did not disappoint. It is an improvement on the predecessor in every single way. It plays like a true Metroidvania, with some great upgrades, exploration, and tricky platforming. The mining mechanic feels much better in this one as well- there’s both strategy and exploration involved that compliments the Metroidvania format.

Art style is good and music is relaxing. As in the first, I felt the story and characters are pretty 1-dimensional, but the gameplay shines through here. I also would’ve liked a couple more map upgrades, as getting 100% is very tricky with some extremely hidden spots.

I’ve never played anything quite like it, and I think it’s absolutely worth playing. Definitely skip the first one though, in my opinion.

Wow, was @anarchistica not kidding about the final boss. Good bosses are supposed to represent a challenges that put everything you've learn throughout before to the test. SO who the hell decided that a good place to end a game all about digging tunnels was a full-on bullet-hell in which you don't dig AT ALL. It's ridiculous. Is not just that the fight is kind of boring, too hard and cheap. Even if the fight was top notch design, it still would've been an awful decision because it's got nothing to do with any part of the game.

That said, almost all that came before was fine. It's a decent mindless time-waster, even more than its predecessor. With wall-jumps, grappling hooks, jetpacks and exploding ammunition, you don't need to think about anything at all. You can just dig and dig with complete disregard of structural stability or escape routes, because you can basically fly back to base.

Intro

SWD2 is a metroidvania game - it's a (2D) platformer in which you explore one big map, fight enemies, gather things and backtrack. A lot.

The Good

• Quicktravel isn't perfect but better than most games in the genre.
• General gameplay is enjoyable.
• Some decent puzzles.
• Respeccing is free and convenient.
• Making stuff explode is fun.
• Finding secrets is generally interesting.

The Bad

• You're poor for most of the game then you suddenly get tons of money at the end.
• Some really annoying platforming... until you get the jetpack.
• Most of the upgrades are things that should come standard.
• Few interesting upgrades. Oh wow, another "extra storage space upgrade", how fun.
• Upgrades are overly expensive and hidden behind level requirements.
• Final battle is insanely unbalanced, far harder than the rest of the game.
• Dying costs resources in a game with limited resources.

The Ugly

Tons and tons and tons of utterly and completely useless backtracking. Seriously, you have to go back to heal, regain water, reset the revive ability and sell stuff constantly. You also get abilities that make things easier to find very far into the game, which means you have to go through the entire map again to find stuff. Ugh.

Conclusion

Despite nearly giving up several times i did like SWD2. It just could've been a whole lot better with a few simple changes. The game is too "inconvenient" for the first 60-70% of it. Also, wow, that final boss. I beat it on my second try (after respeccing) but it feels completely out of place, like they took a boss from a game focused on fighting and dumped it in here.

If you want to know how much i sucked at it:

7/10

I had a lot of fun with this game. What makes the mining mechanics unique is how much thought has to go into every dig, because there are limits to where you can mine. You have a lot to consider, such as where enemies might be, how they might change the terrain, and if that will affect your escape route or paths to different ores you need for upgrades. It's not immensely different but it's quite different to anything I've played before and it makes for some incredibly tense and entertaining boss fights, some of the better ones that I've played in a while. The final boss fight was somewhat disappointing, in that it wasn't much different from the prior bosses and it was honestly too easy, but it was still a fun time and a satisfying enough conclusion. The ending is interesting; one which left me feeling conflicted on how exactly I was supposed to feel (in a good way, mind). I have a feeling it was designed to set up the next game which means it felt a little underwhelming, but I'd easily be up for a SteamWorld Dig 3 any day of the week. Great game, check it out if you haven't.

Steamworld Dig 2 is a part platformer, part resource gathering, and part Metroidvania all wrapped in a post-apocalyptic steampunk western. That may seem like a lot to take in, but the game itself plays pretty simply. You play as a robot searching for her friend. Digging through the earth you gather resources which you can turn in at the town for upgrades. These upgrades let you dig longer or deal with the subterranean monsters more effectively. Along the way, you will find caves that give you a more straightforward platforming puzzle. These puzzles are pretty easy but have optional challenges for extra loot. Completing a cave usually will give you a cog resource which can be used to upgrade your robot further.

Why have two currencies? Well, the money upgrades give things like health or damage and the cogs change the way you play the game. These upgrades do things like let you teleport to town from anywhere. The problem with Steamworld 2's upgrades is that many of the interesting upgrades don't come until level 14 - I beat the game at level 15. This left me with a lot of cogs tied into boring upgrades that didn't do much for me. By the time I could get the upgrades I wanted I didn't have any time to enjoy them.

As mentioned earlier the gameplay is divided into a few different things. You have the cave platforming puzzles which as simple but an enjoyable diversion. There is digging which is fun but repetitive and 3 boss battles: one at the start of the game, one at the end and one somewhere in between. This is my main beef with Steamworld Dig 2. Each component is polished and enjoyable but also only skin deep. The cave puzzles are easy. The traps and enemies in the overworld don't pose a real threat and there are only 3 bosses to keep things interesting.

Overall, Steamworld Dig 2 is a nice little diversion that you can get for free from Amazon Prime. The story is light and silly. The characters, theme, and art all wrapped up a nice little package. Don't expect to be challenged or to be distracted for long though. Most people will beat the game in around 10 hours and not be compelled to go back for more. There are collectibles but they end up feeling short of rewarding to find.

Possibly the best Metroidvania on the Switch, Steamworld Dig 2 (SWD2) will have you going full steam ahead to beat it!

The Story

You play as Dorothy, a steam bot searching for her friend Rusty. Rusty’s mysterious disappearance followed after his battle in Vectron, deep under the Steamworld. On her journey to find Rusty, Dorothy experiences some strange rumblings under the Earth. The rumbles cause an earthquake and open up an entrance to an ancient temple that Dorothy decides to explore; in the hopes of finding her friend. However, inside the temple there is no sign of Rusty. Instead she finds a mysterious cult, messing with technology they don’t understand. The cult awakens an ancient machine which Dorothy must defeat. An epic battle ensues resulting in Dorothy freeing a sadistic, and quite amusing, machine spirit from the old, evil machine. The spirit is called Fen and he accompanies you on your quest to find Rusty and unravel the mystery behind the unusual earthquakes.

The Game

Steamworld Dig 2 has a number of different mechanics that perfectly fit together and complement each other. My favourite is the upgrade mechanic. There are two different ways to upgrade Dorothy in the game. The first is to dig as deep as you can into the Steamworld and mine precious ores, minerals and resources. These can be traded in at Barnacle Jones’s shop in El Machino (the main hub in the game) for money. The money is used to upgrade Dorothy’s equipment. Abilities like her water gun, armour, pick and lantern can all be upgraded, giving you more health or making your mining more efficient.

The second upgrade mechanic is perks to help Dorothy on her search for Rusty. Perks are like passive upgrades to Dorothy. I think they are great because they allow each player to create their own, individual build for Dorothy. Maybe you want to get the most cash for ores, or make Dorothy a tank by increasing her armour bonuses, with the perks you can build your own unique Dorothy. To obtain these perks, the player must find cogs in the Steamworld. Cogs are mostly hidden in the game’s various dungeons and caves.

Dungeons and caves are done perfectly in SWD2. Nearly all of them are optional, there are just a few that the game directs you to, as they have upgrades essential to gameplay or the story in them. The design of each one is fantastic. This is because they are designed for both experienced and new platform players. Each one can be beat on skill alone, but if (like me) you’re not that great at platformers, you can ignore a dungeon and come back to it when you have more upgrades. There’s also different levels of difficulty to each dungeon. Each one has one or two cogs in it and an artifact. The cogs are the reward for beating the puzzle in the dungeon. However, if you really want to test your skill, you can look for the artifacts that are cunningly hidden in the dungeons. It’s great that Image & Form Games added all of these options into the game. It means players have a choice, rewarding the players that put more time and effort into the game. I was always incentivised to do the dungeons because I wanted the cogs to upgrade Dorothy’s perks. When I could, I tried my hardest to find the artefacts as they unlock more perks to spend my cogs on!

The way Dorothy moves really stood out to me in this game, especially later in the game when you have unlocked most of her upgrades. With the jetpack and hook shot, moving around under the Steamworld is nothing but a joy. It reminded me of the Batman Arkham City, where you could fly around the whole city without touching the ground. SWD2 has that same speed and fluidity and if you’re better at the game than me, I’m sure you could fly around the Steamworld without touching the ground! With the new equipment emerges new puzzles. As the game gives you all the tools you need to find a cog or reach a platform. However, you as the player have to be creative with these tools to get Dorothy where you need her to go. The movement was one of the reason why this game becomes so addictive and makes you feel amazing, even if you’re just doing something simple!

Art, Music and Writing

As you might expect, SWD2 has a steam punk art style. However, where some steam punk styles can be drab with browns and greys, SWD2’s pops with colour. Above ground or under, the game’s biomes looking stunning, with beautiful lighting creating a whimsical atmosphere, especially in the underground jungle. Dorothy herself is animated beautifully, each pickaxe swing or jet pack boost looks fantastic, even on the Switch’s smaller screen. I think SWD2 is one of the few games that benefits from the Switch’s handheld screen, as the colours look so vibrant on it.

The music and sound design puts the cherry on the top of this exceedingly tasty Steamworld cake. The music is ambient, with each biome having its own track. My favourite was that of El Machino. It had a western feel but was somehow overlaid with something metallic sounding; perfectly fitting the scene of a robotic, western town. The sound design in SWD2 had me flinching with each death of Dorothy. The crash sound caused by a falling was so alarming, making me feel bad for Dorothy; it sounded that painful!

Finally, the writing, especially that of the various NPCs in the game, gave SWD2 its charm and quirkiness. Each character had their own dialogue, which made me look forward to going back to El Machino and other hubs in the game to talk to NPCs. In particular, Fen was my favourite character. At the start of the game he is quite resentful of Dorothy, wishing her harm in any way. However, by the end he is funny and charming, making me excited to press the – button and hear what he had to say.

Problems

Honestly, I can say I had no problems with SWD2. My only criticism was that the start of the game is a little slow. However, when you get a few of Dorothy’s new upgrades and equipment the pace picks up. When this happened I pretty much couldn’t put the game down. It was that good!

Summary

To conclude, SWD2 is an excellent game that tops the indie titles on the Nintendo Switch. Its mechanics are a perfect combination. Pair the mechanics with its well designed puzzles, beautiful art and vivid sound design, SWD2 is a perfect game for new and experienced platformer and metroidvania fans. It is a must play on the Nintendo Switch!

That’s why I give Steamworld Dig 2 by Image & Form Games my rating of

So what do you think? is Steamworld Dig 2 a 10? Let me know over on Twitter @switchindiefix or over on my Discord server https://discord.gg/GwzyjN4

Rating: 9/10

I've never played the original so I can't compare them. From what I've gathered, the original is less Metroidvania than this one, which is basically full blown Metroidvania with digging and RPG elements. Which is cool.

I'm keeping this short; you dig, you gain experience, you buy things using the money you get from the resources you find, you discover power-ups to reach previously unreachable areas, fight some bosses, do some challenges, and take in the beautiful Steampunk Western environments.

It's a very good game. Addictive, even. That satisfying digging feeling you get from other games with that mechanic is there, finding new areas and new challenges is a lot of fun. They've done a good job making the caves you spelunk interesting and diverse, with a good variety of enemy types and gimmicks to keep them fresh.

It's an incredibly polished game, looks sleek on the Switch, and is just generally a perfect game for the system, though at this point I'd argue all games are perfect for the Switch if the console can run them.

There's enough depth to level/item progression to be interesting. You buy different things, sometimes locked out by what level you are, but then you can upgrade them using cogs. In a subtle but effective choice, you can take the cogs out whenever you want and put them anywhere, so you aren't stuck with your choices. I know this feeling of sticking to your choices and adapting is appealing in some games, but I wish more would do this, honestly. Sometimes you just make a poor choice and then you're stuck with it... not here.

Fans will already want to play this, so if you're like me and haven't played the first one, don't hesitate, check this one out.