SteamWorld Heist II snuck out final yr in early August and didn’t create as many ripples as among 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 among the strongest round, even when the encompassing fluff can get in the best way generally.
A sequel to Picture & Type’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 making an attempt to flee as bullets and lasers go whizzing previous your crew’s mechanical heads, however there’s a significant distinction in SteamWorld Heist II. In contrast to the primary recreation, by which characters have been every ingrained with particular class archetypes, the sequel allows you to give any crew member any weapon after which begin constructing their equipment round that. Equip a sniper rifle and also you turn out to be a sharpshooter that makes a speciality of dealing crucial injury from afar. Wield a hammer and also you turn out to be a brawler who will get additional turns and different bonuses from smashing foes up shut.
This presents plenty of flexibility and freedom, however SteamWorld Heist II goes a step additional and lets characters combine and match expertise from completely different courses as soon as they’ve unlocked them, rewarding experimentation and incentivizing a hunt for synergies that can break the sport and enable you take no prisoners when breaking into excessive safety bases looking for highly effective treasure. It’s mainly the inverse of the Remaining Fantasy Ways job system the place talent bushes have been linked to courses fairly 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 season on Swap (it’s additionally on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC) and cherished each minute by which I discovered myself analyzing bullet trajectories, blast radiuses, and the chances 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 shortly discover you overrun by enemy forces, SteamWorld Heist II’s substances type a superb recipe for tense moments, analytical showdowns, and seat-of-your-pants escapes. It cleverly iterates on the most effective parts of the primary recreation and makes them much more strong 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 trade for small rewards that shortly cease being definitely worth the hassle. Like the remainder of SteamWorld Heist II, the shoot-‘em-up sections are well designed and management nicely however in the end 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 finally far more than you need to eat. I nonetheless ended up ending the sport as a result of the 2D XCOM-like shootouts are ok to make wading via all of the filler value it. SteamWorld Heist II is a superb ways RPG that style acolytes can be doing themselves a disservice to miss.
.