SteamWorld Dig 2

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I was initially unsure about the concept of this game. Having to constantly go back up to sell ores? I was convinced it was going to be a slog. Little did I know, I was about to play one of the finest, most well-crafted metroidvanias of all time. The game is very generous with travel points. Each area has like 5-6 of them, which means getting back up and back down is never an issue. Exploring the caves was incredibly engaging - if anything, the level of encouragement to explore was higher than any of the open-world games I've played. Secrets are sprinkled everywhere, and I was always looking out for the next upgrade to unlock that one area I saw but didn't know how to get to. What this game does amazingly well is pacing. It is absolutely perfect. It never felt like it was padded to prolong the playtime. At a bit under 10 hours, it's a great weekend game. If you feel like you've had enough for one day, you can close it and not feel confused as to what to do next when you open it back up. There is quite a bit of hand-holding that ensures you never feel lost. I get why some people might not like that, but that gets me to my next point: The difficulty is perfect for a casual player. The difficulty curve is fairly approachable - as you get deeper in the caves, you're still ending up stronger thanks to upgrades. You do lose a few resources upon death (if you had some on you), but the game doesn't take away as much as you might think. It's not very punishing at all. There are also puzzles, and thankfully, they are all pretty intuitive. I came across one puzzle that genuinely stumped me for 15 minutes, but it felt sooo satisfying when I finally got it. TL;DR - if you want to play a metroidvania set in a cave, and you don't feel like throwing your controller at your monitor, don't even think twice. This is the one. You can often find this game for like 2 bucks, it's a no-brainer.

SteamWorld Dig 2 is a metroidvania that somehow manages to be even better than the first game. The graphics are more polished, and the mechanics feel incredibly smooth. Everything feels much less clunky compared to the first game, which makes exploring and digging around feel even better. There are a lot of upgrades, some of which you won't even get by the end of the game. It's nice to have so much freedom to build your character the way you want. Objectively, some upgrades are definitely better than others, but that doesn't stop you from having fun experimenting with the less impactful ones. The pacing of the game is also done really well. There is always something to do, and the game respects your time. It doesn't constantly try to prolong things just for the sake of making the game longer. There wasn't really a single point where I felt like something was being unnecessarily drawn out or that I was wasting my time. Everything moves along at a good pace without feeling rushed. The difficulty is pretty casual overall. Things can get a bit tricky if you're not upgrading the right things to help you out, but for the most part, the game isn't overly difficult. It strikes a nice balance where you can mostly relax and explore while still having moments where you need to think about what you're doing. The puzzles are also very well made. Later on, they will actually make you think, and you may find yourself getting stuck on some of them. But once you figure them out, it feels incredibly satisfying. Some of them really make you stop and think about how to approach them. The secrets... what can I say? They're littered everywhere, tucked into practically every crevice. This makes hunting for them genuinely interesting, and you actually feel rewarded when you find one. I know for a fact some of you are going to be hitting every single block of wall trying to find them. During the early to mid game, the secrets aren't too difficult to find because they usually have visual indications. But late game? They become near impossible. Seriously, they're disguised extremely well, and you'll probably end up spending a lot of time hunting for them, or just looking them up if you get tired of searching. The characters also feel much more alive in the game world. They have more dialogue and much more personality compared to the first SteamWorld Dig. The dialogue itself doesn't take things too seriously either. It's pretty wacky at times, which gives the game a lot of its charm. And the ending... I honestly didn't expect it. It was great. Overall, I rate this game a 10/10. It's original, incredibly fun to play, and there's honestly nothing quite like it.