![]() ![]() When you have a handful of low-level players all spelunking through the same cave, you’re in for a good time. Here up to eight players can work together fighting through seven different (albeit linear) maps. There’s a PvP mode, a village building simulator, a Crystal Capture game, and best of all a team-oriented dungeon crawl called Adventure Mode. While not the only game of this niche to attempt multiplayer, this one does a surprisingly good job of it. So for all of these complaints, what are this game’s uniquely good qualities? Why play solo when you can be a fellowship? But maybe that isn’t fair to complain about, judging by popularity of rescue-the-princess titles like Legend of Zelda or Mario … On top of all that, the story is based around you saving your sister, Kyra, even though the entirety of the first game revolved around the same thing. It’s almost like the lead writer finished the first act and then wiped his hands of it and handed it off to someone with a vastly different idea. Īfter the prologue is complete, there’s hardly any reason to speak with these characters again, which is sad since they were well-written and well voice-acted. The prologue alone introduces a rogue, a mage, a ranger, a blacksmith, a fighter, and a prophet – all of whom feel like they’d be tied pretty tightly to the story. The abundance of dialogue in the prologue is deceptive, misleading us into believing we are in for a game with rich recurring characters or perhaps even NPC followers. The player character is rescued with little explanation by a team of orcs. The plot of Two Worlds II starts off strong, with a good old-fashioned prison break. The map doesn’t make that very intuitive, either, crammed with markers and quests that are difficult to navigate or distinguish between. Not to say that the game is a corridor – far from it – but there are definitely distinct areas that you won’t be able to reach until certain plot points are fulfilled. Needless to say, these fans who did move to Two Worlds II were sorely disappointed to find that the wanderlust element was far reduced. The result was that going from point A to point B really wasn’t an option, and it all created a very special sense of long trekking and exploring every bend and gully. Players relied on the sparse and expensive teleport platforms to travel distances quickly, or maybe stumble upon the rare horse if they were lucky. ![]() While there was a (loosely) story-driven narrative, the distance spanning from plot point to plot point was immense and rife with powerful enemies. The few people who did like the original Two Worlds are quick to point out the game’s outstanding sense of wanderlust. For all the immersion that comes with a game that looks this good, poor rendering will pull the player right back out again. On top of all that, the rendering of it all is slow, especially with a character’s hair and armor. Sprinting is difficult to control and looks awkward, melee swings are jittery and unwieldy, and archery seems to lack any real punch on impact. To call the animations ‘clunky’ would be charitable. It all looks great until you start trying to make your way through it. Environment art and lighting are gorgeous, ranging from the wilds of the Savannah to islands, to bustling cities, to the nightmarish Swallows of act two. Character models are surprisingly polished for a game that came out in 2011 (the same year as Bethesda’s similarly-themed Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim), and in some ways perhaps are even better looking. The most obvious example of this is the game’s overall aesthetic. Graphics įor every success, there’s a failure immediately following. This is such an unfortunate outcome because, while there are certainly flaws to this game, there’s also kernels of something really special if you sift through it with a wide enough net. While its prequel is the butt of many a joke (namely for its game-breaking bugs, lackluster plot, shoddy voicework, and uninspired quests), Two Worlds II, while leaps and bounds more sophisticated a title, sadly did not fare much better under the public’s scrutiny. Two Worlds II is one such game, and it’s a real shame. When a game suffers fumble after fumble, it’s easy to overlook any good qualities that may have graced it. ![]()
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