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The rest just seems like complaints that would apply to both the original and 2, which of course 2 is going to share things with 1 but improve on it, like combat (being able to cancel Lilac's boost is one of the best additions).
I guess if you want more speed, then Spark 2/3 are better (good for speedrunning but levels blend together too much), but FP1/2 definitely do much better level design and bosses.
Perhaps FP2 keeps getting overlooked for a reason. It seems like the only people praising the game were already fans of the original, whereas everyone else thinks it’s just mid. I think the stigma of Indie games being “better than AAA games” leads to people judging them less critically and excusing problems that bigger games would get blasted for.
I mean, sure, the game improves upon a lot of things from the original, but they’re still fundamental flaws shared between both games. The combat still feels pretty shallow when you can just bum rush through everything, especially since enemies don’t deal contact damage. All those fancy moves feel pointless when a simple spinjump would get the job done much quicker. I agree that Lilac’s boost cancel is a great addition, but enemies barely put up a fight anyway and it makes boss fights trivial, since you can just stand in one corner, wait for the boss to come to you, then boost through them, cancel at the last minute and run to the other side of the arena. Rinse and repeat.
I would argued that Spark games have much better level design and bosses. For one, they don’t take forever to finish, the levels make it clear as where you’re supposed to go, bosses have better telegraphing, and they justify having a parry mechanic. I think it’s telling that Freoum made for a much better final boss than Brevon or Merga.
The thing with FP2’s bosses is that they feel like shoot em up bosses except you don’t have the range or precision to deal with them in an effective and fun way. Those kinds of bosses work in Contra or Gunstar Heroes because your character has, oh I don’t know… GUNS. You can shoot them from a safe distance and dodge attacks at the same time. Even MegaMan gets bosses right, since it’s all about paying attention to the bosses’ movements, knowing what the best weapon to use against then is, and positioning yourself to shoot them. Heck, even FP1 has better bosses, since they’re not damage sponges and don’t rely on spamming the screen with a million projectiles.
All I’m saying is, while FP2 is a big improvement in a lot of ways, it still a disappointing sequel and leaves a lot to be desired.
Not to mention a heavy Sega inspired Sonic-like game with difficult Gunstar style bosses isnt something that will get immediate mainstream success. Thats not a bad thing, its just how very specific genre games work.
(you're also trying way too hard to compare Spark with FP, when Spark has a much bigger individual combat focus and less unique level design focus, while FP has combat mostly be optional and bosses arent about parrying but about avoiding/using dodge move and then doing the most damage you can at once before running away or using a move that gives some invincibility).
FP2 looks like a really big puddle of water that's only 1 inch deep that took 7 years to form.
Hub-worlds gives the illusion that you'll have a lot to do and discover, but there's NO Side Quests or reason to talk do NPCs, cuz most of them have the same dialog with all 4 characters. Sure, you have the shops but...
The Ranking System is so dumb that makes the shops and equipment you can buy USELESS.
To get the best rank, you gotta equip Brave Stones that makes the game "hard", your rank goes up and you also get more gems. With gems you can buy items that makes the game easier, but by making the game easier, your rank gets worse, which makes you get less gems.
So, you wanna test that new thing you bought? Great! Here's a Rank B!!
Speaking of "new things", only the early stages holds Brave Stones. The mid and late game stages only have Music CDs.
I've read somewhere that the devs had NO IDEA where to hide the Time Capsules and... I- I just can't understand this one... seemed obvious even to a dumdum like me ':V
Even Time Attacks(or PAR Times) are the same for every character, and most of the times are super generous, so really there's no challenge at all, even for harder characters like Neera.
And boy oh boy don't even get me started on the fact that this game doesn't have a Stage Select Mode, FP1 did it right, what happened here?? Now everything is tied to character specific save files, and if you delete that well TOO BAD go get everything again.
In fact, you don't even need to delete your save! Just start playing with another character and your ranking progress, music collection and museum unlockables are all gone!
It's like the game was made to make you repeat stuff as much as possible, just to give this illusion that you have so much to do. But it's just that, an illusion.
Gameplay is top notch, music is amazing and the pixel art is stunning, but it doesn't matter when everything is being held with scotch tape. At least you can still have fun I guess.
Honestly, i'd take a FP2 where there was no Hub Worlds or Ranking System, all stories were 12 stages long, with exclusive Stages, Boss Fights and Endings, focused on each character's main conflict, ending with a nice little True Final Boss just like the one we have here.
It would've been a shorter game, but FP2 proved to me that more is less, even if you have an amazing base to work with.
The ranking system being so tied to limiter items was an odd choice. Not bad, but being reliant on specific equipment means you cant really experiment with different ones while going for rank.
Not having a level select is a thing that they should patch later. The world map works well during the story, but the menu that you use to check your score/rank for a level should also be a level select.
I do disagree with other things though. For a series called Freedom Planet, having hub worlds to expand how the world works really helps the location seem like a functioning location instead of just a background for cutscenes like in the first game, and I'd rather the side quests be kept to a minimum and only needed for things like unlocking the secret recording items so I think they did the hub areas very well. If you want to talk with everyone you can, but theres nothing forcing you for those that don't.
I mean they got the battlesphere, rhe rematches, the hidden items, getting all the vinyls, dont tell me there isnt any side content here
Oh yeah, cuz that’s what we come to a speed based platformer for: that delicious, rich world building!
Seriously though, it should have just been stage to stage like in the original. The hub areas aren’t interesting at all and the NPCs don’t say anything important. They instead say trivia about the world that doesn’t matter and try too hard to be quirky. They could have justified hubs by having NPCs offer sidequests, but nope! It’s just as AlphaPHK said: the hubs are only there to give the illusion of the game world being bigger than it actually is.
Speaking of, if your going to have items tied to a secret true ending, then have them be hidden in those big maze like levels instead of those vinyls that unlock music. Why would I search for those when I can listen to the soundtrack on YouTube instead? Bottom line, either go all the way with side quests or don’t have them at all.
From the footage I've seen of the sequel using the Dragon Boost in hub worlds just tears through the environment and shows how fast Lilac really is on terrain not designed to curve everywhere.
But if you want the story to have a little more impact it helps. It’s one thing to have the game say you are helping, and it’s another thing to see where you are and who you are helping yourself.
Except you don’t help anyone in the story. In fact, you’re just a random nobody to everyone, since apparently the world likes to treat the main girls like dirt and not acknowledge their accomplishments in the first game. Oh, but they are quick to bring up the fact that they were thrown in jail for being ex-theives when they tried to save the world. Plus one NPC makes a tasteless joke about cutting Lilac’s hair (seriously, what were they thinking?!).
I agree with everything you said aside from the music. I dunno, after 7 years of waiting, I expected the game to be better. Makes you wonder what happened during development.
Haven’t played the game yet, lol.