The Surge 2

Well writing this review is a bit of a headache. I really like the game from gameplay perspective. Other things.. not that much. The gameplay got a bit upgrade from since the first game, your drone is more efficient, you can pull individual enemies close, to make group fights easier, but the big thing is the directional parry mechanic. Unlike in Sekiro, here you do not parry, by pressing blocking in the right time. You can hold block as long as you want, you have to flick the right stick to up-down-left-right, depending where the attack comes from. (I've read that if you use keyboard and mouse controls this is a pain in the butt.) This is a core mechanic you need to learn, as you get an attack-direction indicator "perk" when you get to the main open area. You can unequip it, if you need more challenge, just be mindful, some enemy attack bait you to parry in the wrong direction. As a sucked for parrying, this (plus the dismembering mechanic) overrides all the negative things for me. The main gameplay loop is the usual souls like. Wander around, find a shortcut, open it, it leads right back to the medbay (bonefire). With the attack indicator and the ability to "bank" your currency at the medbays makes this game one of the EASIEST souls-like (a bit too easy for my taste). Also other than stamina, there's "energy" aswell, which is used to charge your injectables (dmg boosters, healers, etc). With a fast hitting weapon, you can just spam the light attack and you'll gain so much energy to recharge your healing item, you can just tank every hit, because you're already back to full health. Quests have got their own tab, so you can easily check which one is finished, you can ask for reminders for each of them and get proper instructions. Also you can basically resolve every (quest related) conflicts either peacefully or with force, it's up to you. What is also great about the game is the armor perks. A full armor consists of 2 arm pieces, 2 leg pieces, 1 head peace and 1 torso piece. If you have 3 of the same kind of armor set, you get a "partial bonus", basically a somewhat useful passive perk. if you use 6 of the same kind, you get another passive perk. If you think that the second passive perk would not be useful, you can use 3 armor pieces from a different set, to have the "partial bonus" of both sets. But how can you make sure to get each pieces as a drop from the enemy, that wears the needed armor? This is where the game design is just genious. In Dark Souls, you just have to farm killing the same enemy over and over again, and hope that you will get lucky and get that loot you want. In Surge, you can target each individual armored limb (or torso) on the enemy, and attack that part of their body, if enough damage is dealt, you can cut it off, and get the blueprint for the armor piece, which you can now craft at the medbay. Here's some heads up, what you might find off putting about this game: -If you liked the aesthetics or vibes of the first game, its mostly gone. Most of the things are bright and colorful, the game changed just like Star Wars Fallen Order changed into Jedi Survivor. The mood/tone is often much lighter, wants to be funny, which i don't think suits the game well. -Graphical issues. Probably due to the engine used, some parts are either "muddy" some others are so bright I had difficulties seeing the environment. -Voice acting. Just plain bad. -The game wasn't tested properly. Do you know the usual metroidvenia map design? Let the player see some interesting thing/loot in the distance, where they can't go just yet. Let them explore/gain required skills to get there. Well the developers did not think it through, but you can sometimes just run and jump over the gap. You can easily get out of bounds this way, or just get to areas you're not supposed yet (or at all). -Following up the previous point, you can even access one of the mid-game areas right out of the gate. It should be closed by a blocked gravity lift, but if you trip the alarm, all nearby enemies aggro on you. Even the one at the top of the elevator, and the enemies are programed to be able to use the elevator. However after that enemy descends with the gravity lift, the lift does not go back to be blocked. This is how i got into the mid-game area right away and as my second boss i had to kill a 3 phased mid-game boss (that is actually the hardest fight in the entire game, if you're underlevelled, as i was). So i thought this area's difficulty is the normal one. After that I got to the area where I was actually supposed to go in the early game and it was way too easy. You'd think think the late game would be difficult, but no, the perks you can use are just so efficient, that you can demolish most enemies in a few hits. Of course, you can use a perk that makes you take 100% more damage if you want it, but i'm not sure if this is a good way to balance the game. -The final boss is waaaay too easy. I wasn't even that much upgraded and had more than 1.000.000 tech scrap (currency) in the bank (roughly enough for upgrading more than 40 levels), that i did not even use to level up. For 2€ it's certainly worth a try tho.