spelunky 2 review

1. Spelunky 2 Review
2. A Spelunky 2 Review in 2022
3. Spelunky 2 Review – The Final Verdict
4. How Spelunky 2 Fixes Difficulty Levels
5. Spelunky 2 Review
6. Hardest Modern Game (That I’ve Played) – Spelunky 2 Critique
7. Good Game Design – Spelunky 2: Reinventing Perfection

Spelunky 2 Review

[Music],let me set the stage for this review by,saying that spelunky,is one of my favorite video games of all,time its the game that i point to as,one of the best examples of emerging,gameplay,risk first reward design and a model for,the roguelike genre as a whole,all of that is still true with spelunky,too but make no mistake,this is a true sequel that doesnt rest,on its laurels,one that embraces all the things that,made the original so wonderful,while also finding new and completely,unexpected ways to improve upon the,sense of exploration and discovery,thats so central to the experience yes,its brutally and often hilariously,difficult,but if you can learn enough of its,secrets to push through that,youll be hard-pressed to find a game as,consistently rewarding and,endlessly engaging as spelunky tube this,my friends,is the motherlode,not much of an emphasis is placed on the,story but the gist of it,is that you play as a splunky guys,daughter searching for her lost parents,like its predecessor spelunky 2 is a,seemingly simple and disarmingly,cartoony 2d platformer that challenges,you to get your stout little indiana,jones-like character from point a to,point b,in procedurally generated levels while,collecting as much treasure,and as many items as you can and when,you die,and you will die in true roguelike,fashion the world completely rearranges,itself,for the next attempt part of the genius,of spelunkys design is that its,randomization demands that you carefully,examine each area,before rushing in so stuff like this,doesnt happen,at the same time the clock is always,ticking if you take more than 3 minutes,on a level,deny unstoppable ghost spawns and will,relentlessly hunt you down,to survive for long you have to read the,room accurately and do it fast,dying is punishing yes as it causes you,to restart all the way back at the,beginning,and lose whatever items you might have,obtained in your previous life,but what ends up happening is that the,more you play the more,a visual language starts to take form,and understanding it allows you to,instantly recognize,potential life stealing hazards and know,how to deal with them,there are no persistent upgrades outside,of shortcuts that let you skip early,levels,so any time you make it further than,youve ever been its all because of,your own skills and knowledge,thats a very powerful feeling it helps,too that the controls are a dream you,get just the right amount of mid-air,control to make pinpoint accurate jumps,with great speed,and just the right amount of leeway on,timing to easily make jumps in tight,spaces that would be extremely,frustrating in a lot of platformers,the developer moss mouth does a few,small things to make the early goings of,spelunky 2 at least a tiny bit easier,than the original,the most substantial leg up is that if,youre okay with being a soulless,monster,you can bomb turkeys for life restoring,cooked meat also theres more light and,dark levels and,shopkeepers dont get mad at you unless,youre specifically the cause,of the random act of god that rector,shot which is much appreciated,[Music],the biggest difference in how a,run-through of spelunky 2 plays out,is that its no longer a linear,progression of levels that has you going,from mines to jungles to caves to temple,and for the truly hardcore to hell,instead you start at the dwelling which,is splunky 2s version of the minds,and from there youre able to choose,where you go next take the path on the,left and youll travel to the jungle,take the path on the right and instead,youll have to contend with volcanic,this fiery new area takes full advantage,of splunky 2s new fluid dynamic system,and will make you think twice about,bombing the base of a lava pool,runs continue to diverge even further,from there in ways that i dont want to,spoil,but rest assured each area is jam-packed,with its own set of mysteries,npcs and hidden exits that all,dramatically impact how each run plays,out,reaching every new area is uniquely,terrifying because you have to discover,a whole new set of rules,involving all new enemies and traps,while saddled with the pressure of maybe,just maybe making it further than you,ever have before,its truly amazing that even after 40,hours of playtime,20 of which i spent getting my very,first win i still havent uncovered even,half of whats hidden,behind splunky 2s many locked doors and,cryptic messages,its incredible how much more is still,out there,so what else is new and splunky 2 well,first off there are now writeable animal,mounts,but as with almost everything in,spelunky 2 they each come with their own,risks and rewards,in order to tame an animal you must,first jump on it and try to survive for,a few seconds as it runs around wildly,if you survive that ordeal a mountain is,a huge help,you gain a double jump and whatever,their special ability is,crucially they also take hits for you,while youre riding them so even if you,do trip an arrow trap or fall into,spikes,your animal will be the one to,selflessly take the damage another big,new idea is that almost,every level essentially has another,level hidden behind the wall,that you can enter and exit by way of,special doors this could have been a,superficial feature,but its used brilliantly in splunky 2,both as a way to hide some of its,deepest secrets,and create some fun diversions theres,also a handful of new items that can,change the way you approach a run,though youll still likely rely on,stalwarts like the bomb box,paste and of course the holy grail the,jet pack,[Music],the important thing to note about,spelunky 2s difficulty is that its not,due to a reliance on twitch reflexes,ridiculously tough enemies complex boss,battles or anything along those lines,every enemy trap and hazard has a very,simple cause and effect,or behavior to it that you just have to,learn to understand,like arrow traps spiders,tiki traps shopkeepers,and so on so splunky 2s difficulty is,derived from the improvisation,needed to be able to handle these,predictable hazards even as theyre,thrown at you in unpredictable ways,its a very unique brand of difficulty,thats exceptionally satisfying to,overcome,and always feels fair,well almost always the best part is,everything conforms to a set of rules,and as a result youll often come across,extremely memorable moments bored from,interesting interactions that you,wouldnt expect,like the time i tried to buy a shield,from the shop,or the time i forgot that a shotgun has,recoil,or the time i got excited about finding,spike shoes,its in these moments of both tragic,death and the ones where youre working,to avoid the same fate,where spelunky 2 truly comes to life,perhaps the biggest surprise about,spelunky 2 is how robust and fun the,multiplayer options are,this time around the arena mode feels,clearly informed by excellent,multiplayer indie games,like duck game and towerfall and the,results are literal blast maps are much,bigger with better planned out hazards,that give each level a distinct theme,there are a ton of options to customize,the type of game you want to play,including a smash bros item,customization menu,and if you grow tired of the craziness,of straight up death match,theres a much more cerebral mode that,challenges you to hold on to a golden,idol,for a total of 20 seconds which is a,nice twist on the formula,cooperative play works pretty much the,same as before which is to say that its,a bundle of absolute chaos,sure its definitely helpful to be able,to have a couple of extra pairs of hands,to carry more items,but its balanced by the addition of,splunky 2s most dangerous enemy,friendly fire did i just tell you,there is a ton of coordination required,to make it through spelunky 2 and co-op,especially because the camera is always,centered on one player but if you dont,take things too seriously,it can be a riotous good time,spelunky 2 also features online,multiplayer though the servers werent,available at the time of this review so,unfortunately i wasnt ab

A Spelunky 2 Review in 2022

spelunky 2 is a very highly rated game a,masterpiece event however its stupid,hard spelunky 2 is a roguelike you dont,gain xp or anything for your next run,when you die the only thing you get is,the memory of how you died and how to,avoid that next time every time you die,in spelunky its usually your fault,the empty season spelunky can interact,with each other and sometimes this can,get you killed the npcs in spelunky 2,can either be stupid easy or brutal,the snake is a simple foe that just,slithers from side to side you stomp on,its head its dead bats are like snakes,but they fly and home in on you like a,missile,or spiders that drop on you like an,anvil from minecraft,and then there is the demon spawn that,is the shopkeeper,now you dont actually have to worry,about the shopkeeper unless you steal,from him and then hell pummel you,even if you manage to escape his wrath,he follows you until hes cooled off,these guys break all the rules of npcs,they just move sporadically and fire,into the air and if you thought that one,was bad theres like eight of them in,the black market but thats in the,jungle once youve crawled out of the,dwelling theres more areas that are,twice as deadly the jungle is loaded,with traps now the npcs and the dwelling,are small fry compared to these cavemen,with boomerangs that have the range of,cross-continental missiles scary magic,men who can curse you leaving you on one,health and preventing you from healing,and thorn blocks now these arent really,an issue if you have gloves or shoes but,if you dont they chip away health away,from you if you touch them but those are,no huge problem,its the spear trap these little blocks,are vicious these traps have ruined many,of my runs and are the reason i go to,volcano volcano is the alternate route,you can take after the quail back boss,fight,its littered with lava and other things,that can instantly kill you however,these are like right in front of you and,not hiding in bushes like bear traps or,spear traps now i know what youre,thinking this area must be easy right,theres so much that could go wrong in,volcano,especially with the devils little,minions the hired hand these clowns will,end more runs than they can save and to,add salt to the wound that is the,difficulty of volcano your packs,literally explode if you get ignited in,any way,like every npc does fire damage here but,remember when i said about npcs,interacting you can actually cheese the,shopkeeper abusing npcs the magma man,can be used to absolutely troll the,shopkeeper sometimes it wont work but,most of the time it does,theres one item that makes volcanic,just superior to the black market and,its vlads cape flatscape lets you,double jump glide around and it doubles,the drops of enemies blood when you hit,them people compared to the jet pack but,its really just personal preference in,my opinion,so you beat the first two areas great,now its time for a challenge a giant,head made of cheese,which is fitting because you can cheese,the olmec hes not really a challenge,when you realize how telegraphed his,attacks are he just jumps up and slams,however he does have a couple,configurations after you make him fall,you can continue the battle or flee for,the next area if you choose to stay and,fight and finally beat this,configuration theres one more,it looks very similar to the original,but he spouts out ufos whenever he slams,to the ground,these little green fellows seem pretty,harmless despite having such advanced,technology they have the slowest,projectiles known to man,the dangerous part however is when they,die if you damage their ship throw a,rock at it or so much as look at it the,wrong way they fall and violently abrupt,into flames theyre basically falling,grenades that explode on impact but once,you get it down you can really just,cheese the almac and after you beat the,almec you can receive your spoils of war,and its the ankh the ankh can be used,to reach secret areas or it could act,like your own medical insurance or what,we call in america as thirty thousand,dollar debt,the secret areas are used to reach a,secret boss in case this game wasnt,already hard enough if you go to the,temple may god have mercy on your soul,the temple makes jungle volcano and the,dwelling look like a daycare everything,in the temple is out to kill you the,sorceress is one of the newer npcs who,shoots lasers at you and if it hits you,ouch but if it misses it spawns a,creature once you make it past the traps,like the crush traps and other misery,that awaits you you finally get anew,this,now depending on what you have this is,either the easiest fight in the game or,the worst you should see slow moving,rings and do 10 damage,now i know what youre thinking this guy,is easy just dodge,oh,yeah i forgot to mention he has a new,attack,but after you finally beat him he drops,the scepter now i wish more games did,this where like the boss drops their,cool weapon like splunky does right here,and i can understand why they wouldnt,because this thing is just broken,now the scepter is such a cheese weapon,it automatically targets all living,creatures and flies to them at mach 3.,this doesnt differentiate between,enemies and allies so itll instantly,kill monty if youre not careful but,with a weapon so strong who cares if the,shopkeeper is angry you can instantly,wipe him out without ever having to look,at him now its up to you if you want to,keep the weapon and cheese the rest of,the game or take it to the secret area,it acts like a key to unlock a door that,leads you to the city of gold now this,is another secret area on the way to the,boss and it feels much more like a,reward than the test of your skills like,some of the areas felt like before,theres no bosses here and nothing to,fight that you really havent fought,before,oh,yeah theres that,remember what i said about the ankh,secret level inception oh yeah and any,health that youve been farming has just,been set for now the blocks around you,are destructible but instead of the,indestructible borders around you its a,miss that pushes you back if you ever,get near it now you got to be careful,because its so easy to get stuck,between the mist and the mob and youre,just going to die since youre stuck in,a loop you got to be careful of your,bombs here though because you cannot use,rope theres nothing for the rope to,hook onto so it just falls straight back,down so you got to be really careful of,your bombs because you can easily get,yourself soft locked if you dont have,anything to grab onto if youre climbing,gloves or if you dont even have,climbing gloves,now if you have paste and bombs this,fight is like ridiculously easy its,almost as easy as the original anubis,fight if you dont though its a pain,depending on your favor cali might give,you bombs based on how many things you,sacrificed her in the past,defeating anubis gives you a jet pack,its a handy way to guarantee one at the,cost of your medical insurance defeating,osiris on the other hand gives you an,old tablet older than your grandmother,you can get the tablet alternatively by,just going to tidepool at olemix lair,tidepool is one of the completely new,areas featuring tons of the undead and,seafood,its a lot easier than temple and you,get a cool sword from the second level,not much later youll run into madame,tusk in her bodyguard this is where you,can form a gambling addiction and,attempt to win big or small prizes its,a nice little shop where you can get,tons of items to help you out or just go,flat out broke and theres a way to,cheese dice rolls sometimes on the third,level the entire ocean is replaced with,lava theres a one-way door that leads,to an area behind it where you can,attempt to trigger some explosives to,clear it however the door is one way so,the only way to get out of there is if,you have an ankh and to respawn at the,main entrance some people have figured,ways to set off the explosives without,having to sacrifice your ankh but ive,never been

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Spelunky 2 Review – The Final Verdict

[Music],so,[Music],spelunky is one of the most beloved and,influential roguelike games of all time,it was lightning in a bottle and its a,game that players are obsessively,pouring hours upon hours of their lives,into this very day,its not surprising then that with its,sequel developers moss mouth have taken,an iterative approach rather than trying,to reinvent the wheel,thats both a good and a bad thing on,one hand spelunky 2,offers the same type platforming and,addictive gameplay that its predecessor,did,and by not trying to rewrite any of its,most fundamental rules,it ensures that if you liked the first,game theres no way you wont enjoy the,second,at the same time though the lack of,ambition feels a little disappointing,especially because the changes spelunky,2 does make are some of its best,elements,and i cant shake the feeling that more,of that would have elevated this great,game,into an even better one in spelunky 2,you play as ada,the daughter of the first games,protagonist the core of the experience,will be familiar to anyone whos played,spelunky before,you dive down into caves filled with,deadly booby traps and a variety of,dangerous enemies,equipped with nothing but a whip limited,health and a small number of bombs and,ropes to help you descend deeper,all the while collecting treasure with,which you can buy more weapons and items,while movement in spelunky 2 is fast by,default your character now runs while,walking is delegated to holding down a,button,it is imperative to survey your,surroundings and proceed with caution,you never know what trap you might,trigger where an enemy might pop out to,surprise you,what treasure you might be missing out,on death comes quickly in spelunky 2,and it often comes very very often but,as is the case with most roguelikes,each death is also a learning moment,that tile that shoots arrows might have,surprised you at first,but going forward youll always know,either to avoid it or throw something in,front of it to trigger the trap before,heading down yourself,platforming is still tight and precise,your whip still doesnt have a lot of,reach which means theres always a risk,reward element to taking on enemies,enemies themselves also exhibit a lot,of variety and force you to change how,you approach any given situation on a,near constant basis,all of this is of course par for the,course for anyone whos played spelunky,and that core formula hasnt changed in,the sequel its good that the foundation,of the game is as strong as it was,in the first game but since it doesnt,shake things up too much its also,largely similar,that doesnt mean there arent any new,elements whatsoever spelunky 2 makes,iterative changes that might not grab,headlines but do add to the gameplay,experience especially collectively,and especially as you play more and more,for instance the introduction of mounts,is a notable addition,not only do they give you the ability to,double jump and take an extra hit on,your behalf before perishing,each of them comes with its unique,attributes from flapping their wings to,make fall slower and more controlled,to breathing fire onto oncoming enemies,then theres the fact that each time you,complete a world you can choose between,one of two worlds to head to,which means theres more to see more to,explore and more to discover,that in turn means that theres an even,smaller chance of you seeing a great,deal of what the game has on offer,even in a run where you get to the,credits which finally means much greater,replay value than the original spelunky,which is already one of the most,replayable games youll ever play,thats one of the things most will like,about spelunky 2 how much more expansive,it feels,at the risk of repeating myself yet,again it may not feel like its too,different from its predecessor,but it is like any good sequel should be,bigger and better,theres just so much to discover so much,to explore so much to see,so much to learn spelunky was a game,that players were learning new things,about,even years after it had launched and i,have no doubt in my mind that the same,will be true for the sequel as well,levels and spelunky 2 also have much,more secret pathways and rooms hidden in,the background,but this is perhaps the most,disappointing new improvement thats,largely due to the fact that the secret,pathways dont really have much of an,impact on how you play and the rewards,they present are either negligible,or at times flat out non-existent,spelunky 2s progression is another area,where i feel it would have benefited,from growing with the times once again,the sequel mostly sticks to the rule,book written by its predecessor,as you descend through its procedurally,generated levels you collect more,treasures and unlock more items and,weapons,but every time you die your progress,resets such is the way any roguelike,game operates,but spelunky 2 can feel a bit too,punishing at times,especially since having to play through,similar areas again and again without,any of the upgrades youve unlocked,can open the door for the feeling of,repetition to creep on,you do have the ability to unlock,shortcuts of course but thats no,cakewalk either,all in all spelunky 2 can occasionally,end up feeling a bit too unforgiving,and while thats not exactly a new,feeling in a spelunky game its a little,disappointing that the sequel sticks to,its guns so closely,rather than trying some new things and,potentially introducing improvements to,an already solid formula,but of course for many fans of the,original more of that already solid,formula is exactly what the sequel,needed to be,part of the reason for the original,spelunkys appeal was its purity of,concept and execution,almost like a game distilled to its,purest form and thats all,true here as well perhaps even more so,thanks to some smart,iterative improvements and additions to,the formula if you like the original,youre going to love spelunky 2 and find,it equal to its predecessor and always,accept one where the original was a,trailblazer the new,game seems content to much like it asks,of its players,simply plumb into familiar depths and,that wraps it up,if you like what we are doing please,consider subscribing to our channel,and dont forget to switch on the bell,notification icon,that way you will never miss out on any,of our videos

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How Spelunky 2 Fixes Difficulty Levels

Spelunky 2 is a game that I will never, ever finish, not in a million years. And statistically,speaking, neither will you. Now, that sounds like a weird thing to say about a critically,acclaimed sequel to one of the best rougelikes ever and one of my top games of this year,but it’s basically true. In case you don’t know, Spelunky 2 is the highly anticipated,sequel to Spelunky, a brilliant platformer rougelike created by derek Yu, a game that,is legendarily hard, and the sequel is no different.,You can defeat the dwelling, vanquish Volcana, implode the ice caves and trounce the boss,waiting in the sixth level of the caves, something that is no small feat, and you’ll still,be nowhere near to actually seeing the true ending of the game. To properly complete spelunky,2 you have to go to a bunch of secret areas, use hidden items in obscure ways, and beat,a truly obscene number of levels without dying once. Needless to say, it’s very hard to,do. As of writing, only a handful of incredibly dedicated people have managed to claim the,dubious honor of 100%ing spelunky 2. In spite of that fact, however, I think the game’s,approach to difficulty is actually spot on and that it’s part of a wider trend of allowing,as many people as possible, from experts to total noobs to experience games as they were,intended to be played.,See, for the longest time, the difficulty of video games has been more or less completely,out of the hands of the people playing them. This makes sense in theory, after all, it,allows developers to calibrate the intended level of challenge for their game allowing,players to have the best possible experience – however, in practice, things are a little,bit more complicated. Because players are going to be coming into games with different,levels of experience, and wildly varying skill – they run into the classic goldilocks problem,- for every player that thinks the difficulty curve is just right, there are going to be,two more who think it’s too easy or too hard.,Through absolutely no fault of their own, it’s impossible for developers to account,for the playstyles, level of experience and accessibility requirements of every single,player that’s going to pick up their game, which, unfortunately, leads to people getting,less out of otherwise great games than they potentially could. I can’t count the number,of times I’ve locked myself into a game’s normal difficulty, only to realise that I,really should’ve been playing on hard, or.. Of course, the opposite, but let’s ignore,than in favour of the one that makes me look good.,So, what’s the solution here? How can games make difficulty settings that are applicable,to everyone? Simply put… they can’t. What they can do, however, is offload some of that,responsibility fron the developers and onto the players, allowing them to customise their,experience, and ensure the game is at the exact right level of challenge for them. I,call this approach granular difficulty, because rather than having several discrete tiers,of difficulty, games utilising a more granular approach are instead filled with lots and,lots of tiny decisions that can modulate the challenge of a game on the fly. This way of,doing things has a variety of benefits, from giving players a much smoother transition,into mastery, catering to multiple different playstyles, and creating legendary challenges,worthy of only the most dedicated players, whilst still letting the rest of us plebs,have a complete and satisfying experience… but I’ll get back to that later.,Spelunky does all this and more – the game is FILLED with different ways to either make,the game easier or to push yourself to greater and greater challenges. One of the most obvious,ways the game does this is through the shops. Spending treasure collected over the course,of play can nab you extra health, helpful items, and restocks of your supply of bombs,and ropes, but treasure is also your score at the end of the run. For new players who,are just trying to progress as far as they can, they can spend money to give themselves,a much needed helping hand on their adventure, by buying a hoverpackpack which helps with,platforming or a shotgun which can obliterate most enemies, whilst experienced players are,encouraged to spend as little as possible to maximise their score, or even become a,shop robbing criminal, which spawns powerful shopkeeper enemies, making the game much much,harder.,But spelunky’s approach to granular difficulty doesn’t end there, players of all skill,levels are challenged to push their limits and accept extra risk bit by bit, slowly improving,their skills at the game. A Ghost Urn spawns in every level and contain a very valuable,diamond, but when broken, they summon the instakilling ghost, valuable idols are guarded,by devious traps, and pets can give you a precious hitpoint if you escort them to the,end of a level but have a nasty habit of wandering off and dying. If a new player wants to be,cautious, they can safely ignore any urns, idols or pets they come across, but if they,want that extra cash to buy a big box of bombs, or a safety net for when they’re exploring,a new area they’re not familiar with yet, they’re going to have to test their platforming,and planning abilities either by outrunning the ghost, dodging traps, or safely transporting,their new friend to the end of the level, getting better at the game in the process.,Xenoblade chronicles uses this approach with its unique enemies. Dotted around every map,are some ultra-hard boss monsters that are often way harder than story bosses of the,same level. These guys serve as optional tests of mastery and deadly lessons for players,who want to test their skills. If you’ve not mastered the art of timing shulk’s monado,shield move to negate special abilities, then this big angry lizard Reckless Godwin will,knock your entire team over and then make mincemeat of you whilst you can’t fight,back. This is a technique you won’t need to master until much later on in the game,,but for players who want that extra challenge right now, and the prestige of taking down,the game’s toughest challenges, they can fight these guys whenever they like, leaving,newer players to tackle them whe they feel ready, or just skip them completely and get,on with the story.,By nesting difficulty settings within games themselves, we can do away with traditional,,clunky easy and hard modes. Instead, developers can focus on making a single ideal difficulty,curve that can then be adjusted by players to suit their preferences.,Many modern platformers engage to a degree with this idea already, things like red rings,in sonic generations, off the beaten path moons in mario odyseey and the hidden coins,in the surprisingly good yooka laylee sequel offer optional challenges for experts that,reward them for finding secret areas or performing feats of platforming that new players can,more or less ignore. For this reason, I’ve found it’s usually more effective to reward,players who choose to make the game harder with prestige or the opportunity to play even,harder levels rather than powerups and extra lives, as the only players likely to be going,after these challenges are the very people who neither need nor want second chances or,a helping hand.,Celeste is probably my favourite recent example of this, the game is intentionally hard, but,just completing the mandatory levels to see the ending is usually fairly manageable because,the game’s checkpointing is incredibly generous, there are no lives and respawning is almost,instant. If you want to challenge yourself, though, you can go off the beaten path to,find strawberries, cassettes and crystal hearts, all of which unlock completely optional levels,that really test your mastery of the advanced mechanics and the full extent of the level,design possibilities.,The great thing about Celeste’s mini challenges is that they often lead to players of varying,skill levels playing the exact same screen in totally differ

Spelunky 2 Review

im john luceike reading for reviewer,andrew king like its acclaimed,predecessor spelunky 2 is a rare,platformer that demands to be played as,much as a tactics game,as it does a mario game as you learn or,relearn how to survive,success requires a willingness to think,three moves ahead,some tiles are booby-trapped to shoot,arrows as you leap through their line of,sight,some vases summon a relentless ghost,when smashed,some pottery hides snakes and tarantulas,you really shouldnt even move from your,initial spawn point without pausing for,a moment to pour over every,treacherous inch of the screen spelunky,2 resembles the opening level of the,first game,at least at first you have a whip you,have some bombs and you have a rope you,can toss into the ceiling to climb,to otherwise inaccessible heights,the creatures you encounter like bats,snakes and spiders will be familiar too,but from there the game quickly,bushwacks its way into unfamiliar,territory,there are robots that turn into bombs,when you stomp a button on their heads,mechanical ladybugs that spray fire from,their outstretched wings,and relentless cavemen with boomerangs,each level which is remixed each time,you play via procedural generation,houses new enemies and new environmental,hazards to learn to navigate,after the first biome youre presented,with a choice jungle or,robot volcano and with either comes a,new host of rules to learn,all of this is rendered in the same,expressive cartoon style as its,predecessor,its slightly crisper and clearer this,time around but its a tribute to the,timelessness of spelunkys art style,that splunky 2,isnt more of a noticeable step up the,controls match the arts precision,developer moss mouth has added some,quality of life tweaks,you can now run by default and need to,hold a button to slow down,instead of the other way around but,mostly the team didnt mess with a good,thing,the highest praise i can heap on splunky,2 is that in a game where you need to,land jumps on tiny spits of land,leap above spike pits and skirt pools of,lava i never felt like my death was the,games fault,some things take getting used to sure,but once you get the hang of things,spelunky 2 offers,near-perfect platforming it doesnt feel,as buoyant as some of its genre,contemporaries instead spelunky 2 feels,grounded,your jump wont take you very high and,your puny whip necessitates getting,close to enemies,the games many traps unpredictable,procedurally generated world,and punishing fall damage mean that the,longer you spend,airborne the less likely you are to make,it back to the ground in one piece,spelunky 2s ever-present sense of,danger encourages you to make,careful calculated decisions if you take,the time to analyze the screen before,choosing your next move,getting there is usually easy i often,thought deeply about where to go,but that was the hardest part,[Music],however that doesnt mean you still,wont die a lot,mastering splunky 2 is a little like,penning the great american novel,you may have the vocabulary but that,doesnt mean you can put the words,together well,spelunky 2 offers a brief tutorial to,get you in the swing of jumping climbing,and,bomb throwing these rock solid basics,are your sole lifeline as you begin your,adventure,conversely learning each new enemy and,trap is a,baptism of fire it can feel overwhelming,at first,over time though as you gain your,bearings this feeling almost entirely,dissipates,for each seemingly arbitrary death the,game dulls out there is a lesson about a,set in stone rule waiting to be learned,there are some exceptions but on the,whole spelunky 2 does a,stellar job of displaying all the,information you need to know at all,times,once you know how to read it splunky 2,doesnt mess with the original formula,too much but the changes it does make,keep that formula fresh,new biomes like the world filled with,lava and robots,come with new challenges for experienced,adventurers,as each world begins you will be unsure,which tiles you can stand on,and how new enemies will behave its,extremely satisfying to master a space,that once killed you,instantly you dont unlock new weapons,or level up,instead as the cliche goes knowledge is,power,mechanically the most significant,addition is the inclusion of,mounts these double jumping creatures,can make it significantly easier to,breeze through levels,they move quickly and some can attack,from a distance,offering a nice change of pace on the,runs where you find one,but theyre also easy to accidentally,kill,and in the turkeys case there is,incentive to purposefully kill them for,health,i was always extremely grateful to find,a rock dog,a pink fire-breathing goat creature that,can be spotted and tamed in the wild,or purchased at a store and i was,likewise sad to see them go,when hit by an arrow or burned up in,lava a major positive to their addition,is that they can tank that damage for,you effectively granting you another hit,point,and in some cases a second life,at the moment my online experience has,been consistently hampered by,pretty significant lag its a shame,because rushing through spelunky 2 with,strangers,is a terrific zany time and a great way,to experience the later levels before,youre skilled enough to reach them on,your own,moss mouth has already pushed out,several updates since launch,so hopefully the lag improves over time,the most damning thing i have to say,about splunky 2,is that it mostly feels like more,spelunky the new mechanics,like mounts and the new stage themes,feel right at home,to me splunky 2 seems familiar obviously,this isnt a bad thing,the first spelunky is a fantastic game,and splunky 2,improves on its formula making the best,version of splunky possible,is a worthy goal but spelunky 2 suffers,a little from the,lack of ambition beyond that despite the,great time im having with this game,my excitement is tampered slightly by,the nagging feeling that this is,mostly just a better take on the,original design,rather than an ambitious entirely new,thing at least,that seems to be the case right now the,original splunkys proc gen depths hid,secrets that took time for its avid,community to discover,so its possible that splunky 2 has,secrets of its own that i have yet to,find,and they could push the game in a,different direction from its predecessor,splunky 2 is a successful evolution of,what made the original spelunky work,the tight controls impressive use of,procedural generation,expressive art style and interesting,stage themes are better than ever here,but the more notable changes in how we,play and talk about this game will,likely happen in the coming months as,players discover the heart of the game,and the deep dark depths we arent yet,even aware,[Music],exist,[Music]

Hardest Modern Game (That I’ve Played) – Spelunky 2 Critique

What’s the hardest game of the 21st century that you’ve ever played?,Is it one of the Souls games?,Bloodborne?,Sekiro?,Is it Super Meat Boy or Celeste?,Shovel Knight, Cuphead?,Or… the Binding of Isaac, Hollow Knight?,Unless there are some obscure titles out there I haven’t heard about, I think ONE of the,hardest and… maybe HARDEST… modern game out there is right here – the Procedurally,Generated 2D Platformer Roguelite Dungeon-Crawler…,Spelunky 2…,Or, I guess, let’s leave the dramatic stuff at the door and say: This is the game that’s,hardest FOR ME, of those that I’ve played so far.,No matter how much I tried, I just couldn’t beat this game for MONTHS.,It was embarrassing.,How in the world can I only beat a Roguelite (where the RNG ISN’T that extreme and you,SHOULD be able to eventually master the game…),AFTER LITERALLY 650 RUNS, or 70 HOURS of playing!?,That’s… about as much as I played Spelunky 1 PERIOD.,Yes, as you might’ve guessed, there is also a Spelunky ONE.,Well, there’s Spelunky 1 and then there’s Spelunky HD, which is somewhat of a remake;,better graphics, some extra areas and monsters and… kind of different physics.,All the games were made by Derek Yu, but I haven’t played Classic, so I won’t be,speaking about it.,What I HAVE played a lot of is Spelunky HD, which came out all the way back in 2008.,I’ll be calling it Spelunky 1 throughout this video.,It’s been decided…,In Spelunky 1, you have health and levels to go through before you reach the boss.,You have bombs to blow shit up with and ropes to climb.,You can whip and throw things.,You get items.,And so on…,I haven’t booted it up in years, but… it’s one of the most addictive and also,unique for its time games… ever.,It executes procedurally generated levels in a way that not many games had done before.,Every level felt… intentionally designed and, simply put…,NOT random:,You couldn’t get stuck if you didn’t have enough bombs or ropes, as long as you avoided,making dumb mistakes.,You didn’t have to sacrifice health because of the AI designing the level poorly.,Pretty much every death you suffered was due to your own fault.,The game was just as fair as it was annoyingly difficult.,And yet, going back to that game today, after playing Spelunky 2 is… honestly shocking.,Why is everything so… open, and clearly in view and predictable.,Why are there only 4 enemies on this level?,In fact, why is the game so short?,How was this hard for me..?,You see, Spelunky 2 came out in 2020, and it is NOT like this.,Of course, it has superior graphics, more levels and bosses, more items, and so on…,but it’s also much, MUCH more difficult.,And you know what’s not difficult?,Subbing, ringing the bell, liking, commenting, sharing, and watching my other videos if you’re,interested…,Anyway, first of all, this game mostly feels like either claustrophobia or the opposite,- agoraphobia.,You can’t just be comfortable, no, that’d be too relaxing.,Let’s take the Claustrophobia.,On its own, it giving you little space to navigate through the level isn’t difficult…,but IT IS when you have a thousand different threats to worry about.,Look at this starting area – The Dwelling.,This is one of few mandatory zones.,You have no choice but to go through its 4 levels, and I kid you not when I say it’s,my most hated area in any game ever.,It wasn’t enough to have the simple snakes, spiders and bats… but now we’ve also added,MOLES.,FUCK… the moles, okay?,They run around at supersonic speeds and, although you CAN mostly predict when and where,they’ll jump out the ground after playing the game for a good while… they still do,it at the worst possible time.,And it’s not like you can wait each one out and kill them when you only have 3 minutes,on each level.,They’re a great addition: another way to make the floor even more crowded, without,pushing it too far, since they’re underground.,Having enemies as aggressive and quick as the Moles above ground might be too ridiculous.,But why stop there?,Why not also add…,The Horned Lizards?,The moment they see you, these guys will start rolling and NOT STOP unless they meet a wall,or get hit with something that isn’t your whip.,And guess what?,This is one of the platformers where you can change directions in the air and every single,movement can be incredibly precise.,To demonstrate, this jump is actually possible, and you can do it somewhat consistently if,you’re good enough…,It’s like Super Meat Boy or Hollow Knight, if you’ve ever played those indie gems.,*laughs* And, no, you shouldn’t give me that power,when it comes to movement, because with it comes the responsibility of NOT jumping one,pixel to the right and landing next to the Lizard instead of on top of it, which then,makes it roll and take me for a trip throughout the whole cave before pushing me onto some,spikes.,*sigh*,The same thing with jumping NEXT TO and not ON TOP of an enemy, also happens with the,skeletons.,They’re passive until you approach them.,Then they get up and… kind of pace left and right slowly.,They’re very weak…,But, here’s the catch: Not all of these piles of bones are alive, and they are EVERYWHERE.,And in SUCH shitty places.,You’ll sometimes have less than a second to figure out how to go about passing the,next skeleton and whether to risk getting hit… as you’re being chased by a Mole.,The skeletons like to stand on ledges a lot too, often right next to spikes.,No matter how much you’ve mastered the game, you’ll always SOMEHOW get hit by these fuckers.,My frustrated wording might be a little deceiving throughout this video, and I apologize.,I actually think the physics of this game are great.,It adds all the more to that paranoia of making even a single movement, since it could possibly,,maybe, perhaps be off by just a little.,And so, you get stunlocked…,This is pretty much the thesis of Spelunky 2.,A single mistake spiraling into the chaos which leads to your death.,Whether it’s literal in the way that you get thrown into some spikes, or more having,to do with YOU getting angry because of that mistake and proceeding to make more… doesn’t,matter.,Getting hit in Spelunky is about as frustrating as anything can be.,And I’m not kidding when I say I’ve probably died as much from suicide by bomb on the first,level after getting fucked over too early, as I’ve died naturally.,This is why the Dwelling is my number one hated zone; it’s just the zone in which,I’ve died in the most, though, truth be told, nothing is quite as annoying as the,Moles and Lizards really.,Also, this is definitely the game I’ve clicked Alt F4 on the most, due to rage.,Like… it happens multiple times every single session I sit down to play Spelunky…,But back to stunlocking, weren’t the totems reserved for the jungle and the golden city?,Not anymore!,We have them here too now, and they’ll do their part in fucking you over.,And the arrow traps?,Let’s make their placement even worse!,Let’s put some for when you walk sideways so they shoot a mere millisecond after you,see them.,You could’ve still reacted fast enough… if you were good enough… which you’re,not.,The arrows can actually be whipped reliably often now, which is SO cool each time you,do it.,It makes you feel like such a master of the game, before you’ve even beaten it.,That happens pretty often.,You’re making virtually no progress roguelike-wise, and you don’t even seem to be making much,when it comes to improving either, but… trust me, you are.,Progress is slow in this game.,You won’t be getting out of the second area consistently for a good while…,But you will eventually learn that… throwing a projectile at a dog causes it to start running,,which then allows you to pick it up like THAT without using a rope… before carrying it,to the exit and getting your +1 Health.,I’ll be calling them dogs, even though you can change their appearance to a rat or cat,as well…,Anyway, you’ll learn that your whip has a hitbox at the front, but also at the back,AND at the horizontal behind you, which is us

Good Game Design – Spelunky 2: Reinventing Perfection

Spelunky 2’s release date felt like a national holiday.,The first game is an absolute treasure, and probably my favorite indie game of all time.,As far as I’m concerned, Derek Yu is a master of game design.,I mean, somehow he took relatively harmless elements like snakes, bats and spiders and,created an environment where once they interact with each other it turns into this Rube Goldberg-like,chaos that became the game’s defining feature – I don’t think I’ve played anything else,quite like it.,It’s a showcase of pure mechanics working at their best, and on top of that you have,a fully destructible world just brimming with secrets to find.,It’s…perfect.,But this raises an important question – if you wanted to make a sequel, how do you improve,upon perfection?,Well, you make it fresh again.,Hey I’m Snoman, welcome to another episode of Good Game Design, let’s talk about it.,While Spelunky 2 easily could have simply given us more of the same by adding in a few,new enemies and biomes to explore, Derek (the genius that he is) decided that the true potential,of a sequel would make players feel the same way they did when booting up Spelunky for,the first time.,You see, the original was really really hard, but once you’d played it as much as I did,,you started to learn all the ins and outs of enemy behaviors and strategies that worked,more often than not.,Yes, its still random by nature so things can turn sideways real quick, but these little,tidbits became ingrained in my playstyle over time, so a huge part of rediscovering the,magic a second time was making sure those meta strategies no longer worked.,It’s funny because both games control almost identically to each other, and yet all these,little changes make them feel drastically different in execution.,For example, paste in Spelunky 1 was almost essential to have a successful run – it coated,your bombs with sticky goo, which made disposing of tougher enemies and precisely blowing up,terrain much, much easier.,You gain paste by killing giant spiders, which used to be littered all over the first area,,but now those fangy foes inhabit the Jungle, which means you can’t rely on those sticky,bombs early on anymore.,Well, I guess you can buy them from the shop, though that is rare.,Speaking of which, shopkeepers also behave differently now.,Before, once you were skilled enough, it was always a great idea to kill the shopkeepers,if their loot was worth the hassle because gaining a shotgun and potentially a jetpack,can lead to an easy win.,But those foolproof habits no longer work thanks to bomb bags exploding upon impact,and their movement being altered just slightly enough to even the playing field – plus they,climb ladders now, so the Black Market, which previously ensured you had plenty of bombs,if you were robbing, becomes especially hairy unless you play by the rules.,Overall this means runs are going to be less overpowered, forcing you to get back to Spelunky’s,roots and try to beat the game in a more traditional way.,One of the biggest changes was to the ghost.,This was probably the most divisive addition in Spelunky 1, new players didn’t like it,because it enforced a time limit to each stage – after 2 minutes and 30 seconds a giant invincible,specter chased you down until you left the area, but again, once you knew how to handle,it, you could use it to your advantage by turning regular gems into diamonds, which,are worth way more money.,But now there are 2 major differences – after the ghost appears, it eventually splits into,2 smaller and faster ghosts, making it significantly harder to avoid, and they also added these,pots that contain a single diamond inside, but will instantly summon the naughty spirit,when it breaks, even if you just started a stage, so you’d better plan ahead carefully,,or just not mess with it at all.,On top of this, the ghost normally arrives after 3 minutes now, so while it became more,lenient for newcomers, it also has a neat risk vs reward system for those that want,to test their luck.,Great stuff.,A lot of the game’s memorable baddies make a return here but are tweaked just enough,to keep things interesting.,Olmec appears very familiar the first time you see him, but as soon as he starts moving,you realize he’s significantly faster and when you previously would have beaten him,,now he just starts a 2nd phase where he launches bombs at you and floats around the stage.,Holy crap!,These serve as both nods to the original to put a smile on your face, and as bait and,switches to bring you back to reality.,Even idol traps are revamped to catch you by surprise, you can’t just get by with,your previous knowledge here, I love it.,But the 2nd thing Derek implemented to revolutionize his spelunking formula was to give the player,more choices in how they want to explore.,For the first time, you don’t have to go to the same 4 locations in a strict order,anymore – after The Dwelling, which is Spelunky 2’s replacement of the Mines, you can choose,to either go down to the Jungle or Volcana, a robotic lava-filled hellscape.,Afterward, things link back up with the Olmec fight, but depending on how deep you dig here,,you can either go to the Tide Pool, a japanese-themed water garden, or the familiar yet still terrifying,Temple of Anubis.,So each run could look drastically different from the last depending on which branching,path you take, and you might be better suited for a specific biome based on the various,items you collect so honestly things feel a lot more freeing instead of following the,same optimal route every time.,Even the shortcuts you unlock are cleverly placed so that you can pick which area you,want to practice, and at the 2nd fork in the road it costs all your bombs and a rope if,you want to go down to the Temple, so yet again more risk and reward stuff.,But thats not the only thing that’s new – the entire game is chocked full of new enemies,,new items, mounts that give a double jump and even an extra heart in the middle of a,stage if you cook the turkey which is a huge change and lends to all sorts of viable strategies.,And these new systems combine with the old to create never before seen scenarios and,crazy chain reactions all over again – something as simple as a mole that digs through walls,or a lizard rolling toward you make The Dwelling feel completely unique despite its similarities,to the Mines, and that really shows how special Spelunky’s recipe for design is – just one,new asset can interact with every other piece in interesting ways.,Oh I almost forgot!,Each level also has a 2nd layer behind itself now that you can access via doors throughout,,sometimes as obvious entrances and other times as hidden alcoves housing all sorts of secrets.,In fact that was my favorite aspect of Spelunky 1 – the secret path of items used to unlock,a new final area and extra boss fight against Yama, which is now expanded (as far as I can,tell) into not one but two separate secret paths as well.,I haven’t figured out every little detail yet but it appears the original series of,events from the Black Market to the City of Gold is still there, but now you can also,use the Udjet Eye to drill down in Volcana and follow a new path involving a crown and,sword.,If I had to guess there are now at least two more secret endings for those willing to put,in the extra effort, and man, discovering all the goodies below the surface has been,the best part of exploring Spelunky 2 so far.,I first got into the original game from watching countless let’s plays by Northernlion and,Baertaffy so I already knew about this extra bonus path, but now, everyone’s as lost,as I am and is finding out exactly how deep this rabbit hole goes at the same time.,I’m not sure if this is why they released on PS4 a few weeks before PC, but a nice side,effect has been the lack of data miners ruining all the surprises from scouring the source,code – we’re all in this together trying to find everything, and that’s honestly,a ra