Within the recent few weeks, I've been playing a lot of videogames. I decided to start doing some Steam wishlist cleaning since some games have been on there for well over a year or two, and Hylics 2 was the I started with.
I beat this game within the weekend, took me roughly 12 hours. For 15 bucks that's a pretty great runtime given that it's not only an indie game but was made by a solo dev.
Where the game strides is its aesthetics. The visuals are filled with overlayed bright colors and patterns, with all of the 3D models being stylized after something like claymation and then pixelated. Contrary to a lot of adrenaline fueled RPG music, Hylics 2's soundtrack is very relaxed, adding to the psychadelic nature of the game.
Where the game falters a bit (depending on perspective) is the combat. While the game is still fun, the battles in Hylics 2 often span more than a few minutes in each fight. In the RPG genre, many players will often choose to conserve Magic for a boss fight so that it will be easier to manage, but that can't be done in this game. Every enemy is very strong from start to finish and they have their own assortment of spells and items that they can use as well. It makes for a difficult challenge, but the design of the game somewhat accompanies for it. Rather than having to conserve magic through out the dungeon and hoping that you will have enough to fight the boss, Hylics 2 offers a different way of restoring health and magic, via slapping weird small white amalgamations on the ground. Yeah, slapping.
Going back to aesthetics, the animations for the game's spells are very different from standard RPGs. Developer Mason Lindroth took videos of his hands in black gloves doing odd hand motions to simulate the movements one might make when performing a spell in the game, and then accompanying it with visual effects. Hands are a recurring theme within the game, as spells are named "gestures" and rather than attacking an enemy with a sword, you snap at them.
I beat this game within the weekend, took me roughly 12 hours. For 15 bucks that's a pretty great runtime given that it's not only an indie game but was made by a solo dev.
Where the game strides is its aesthetics. The visuals are filled with overlayed bright colors and patterns, with all of the 3D models being stylized after something like claymation and then pixelated. Contrary to a lot of adrenaline fueled RPG music, Hylics 2's soundtrack is very relaxed, adding to the psychadelic nature of the game.
Where the game falters a bit (depending on perspective) is the combat. While the game is still fun, the battles in Hylics 2 often span more than a few minutes in each fight. In the RPG genre, many players will often choose to conserve Magic for a boss fight so that it will be easier to manage, but that can't be done in this game. Every enemy is very strong from start to finish and they have their own assortment of spells and items that they can use as well. It makes for a difficult challenge, but the design of the game somewhat accompanies for it. Rather than having to conserve magic through out the dungeon and hoping that you will have enough to fight the boss, Hylics 2 offers a different way of restoring health and magic, via slapping weird small white amalgamations on the ground. Yeah, slapping.
Going back to aesthetics, the animations for the game's spells are very different from standard RPGs. Developer Mason Lindroth took videos of his hands in black gloves doing odd hand motions to simulate the movements one might make when performing a spell in the game, and then accompanying it with visual effects. Hands are a recurring theme within the game, as spells are named "gestures" and rather than attacking an enemy with a sword, you snap at them.
Hylics 2 is a fairly bizarre and interesting game, and I'd recommend checking it out if you're willing to sit through it. I should give a fair warning that the game does feature a lot of gore in some fashion (moreso skin melting rather than actual blood, but I thought it might be an important notice)
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