Heaven Dust 2
- June 16, 2021
- indienova
- 20h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on itch.io Store"Heaven Dust 2" is a survival horror game serving as a sequel to the original "Heaven Dust." After a virus outbreak in a research center, Steve must escape while battling zombies and uncovering a horrifying truth. With enhanced production value, this installment features double the content of its predecessor, offering improved graphics, effects, and an estimated 10-hour gameplay enriched by exploration, puzzles, and resource management.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Heaven Dust 2 is a significant improvement over its predecessor, featuring enhanced graphics, improved gameplay mechanics, and a more engaging atmosphere that pays homage to classic survival horror games.
- The game offers a satisfying blend of exploration, resource management, and puzzle-solving, with a variety of weapons and enemies that keep the gameplay fresh and exciting.
- Players appreciate the nostalgic feel of the game, likening it to classic Resident Evil titles, and find the overall experience enjoyable despite some minor flaws.
- The game suffers from frustrating design choices, such as respawning enemies, unbalanced boss fights, and puzzles that can be overly vague or unintuitive, leading to potential softlocks.
- The English localization has numerous grammatical errors and awkward translations, which can detract from the overall immersion and clarity of the game's narrative and puzzles.
- Some players find the combat mechanics to be inconsistent, with certain enemies being overly tanky and requiring excessive ammunition to defeat, which can lead to a feeling of imbalance in gameplay.
- gameplay43 mentions
- 37 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 7 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received high praise for its unique aiming mechanics, improved survival elements, and polished level design, marking a significant upgrade from the previous title. Players appreciate the blend of classic survival horror tropes with modern mechanics, including a rewarding headshot system and engaging puzzles, all set within a captivating atmosphere. However, some have noted frustrations with resource management as the game progresses, which can detract from the overall experience.
“The style and gameplay mechanics are a huge improvement compared to the first one, and had a better charm in terms of level design and aesthetic compared to the first game.”
“The gameplay is smooth, puzzles are great and kinda hard, and the atmosphere is amazing!!”
“If you enjoy the RE franchise like I do and enjoy zombies, puzzles, inventory management, map utilization through backtracking mechanics, and self-destructing labs; then this game is going to be right up your alley.”
“It’s constantly frustrating, despite its enhanced mechanics and the longer length really makes these constant annoyances grate on you.”
“The sheer amount of damage they can take is obscene and I honestly don't know how anyone could approve such stupid mechanics.”
“Overall, there seems to be a switch to RE2 2019 and RE3 2020 inspired mechanics and concepts from the elements of the classic RE titles and a much bigger emphasis on action.”
- graphics34 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 74 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics in "Heaven Dust II" represent a significant improvement over its predecessor, showcasing enhanced lighting, textures, and overall visual fidelity. The unique chibi art style, while initially polarizing, ultimately complements the gameplay and horror themes, contributing to a polished aesthetic that many players find charming. Overall, the visuals are praised for their quality and the game's ability to evoke a spooky atmosphere, making it a standout in the survival horror genre.
“The graphics are a huge step up from the first Heaven Dust game.”
“Huge improvement on lighting and visuals.”
“Pretty unique art style and graphics.”
“For a game with a chibi aesthetic, it's not very cute or charming, so it's a little puzzling why they went with that.”
“I liked the first Heaven Dust well enough, despite its mediocre art style.”
“Where a lot of games inspired by Resident Evil fail is that they often focus on the visuals and combat.”
- story34 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The story is generally considered average, featuring a classic amnesia and zombie escape narrative with some depth, but ultimately lacks memorable characters and originality. While it includes engaging elements like multiple endings and puzzles, the plot is often described as nonsensical, partially due to translation issues. Overall, the game is more focused on gameplay than storytelling, appealing primarily to fans of the genre.
“It does have a lot more depth to it, and pretty solid for what it was trying to capture when it comes to the story.”
“Truly a fun recall back to the old school Resident Evil games with fun gameplay and a good storyline with multiple endings.”
“There was plenty of cool story though, and a combination of other characters, journal entries, experiment logs, and diaries lay out a pretty cool story that a fan of Resident Evil will appreciate.”
“The characters are also pretty forgettable and don't bring anything new to the table when it comes to storytelling.”
“The story and dialogue are kind of nonsensical, partially due to the mediocre English translation, and probably because I didn't play the first one.”
“The branching path is fairly obvious if you know what to look for and the story is fairly average.”
- atmosphere9 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 33 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is consistently praised for its impressive dark lighting and creepy ambiance, enhancing the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the significant improvements in atmosphere, noting its authenticity to old-school survival horror, complemented by intricate puzzles and smooth gameplay. Overall, the game's atmosphere is described as amazing and immersive, contributing greatly to its appeal.
“The gameplay is smooth, puzzles are great and kinda hard, and the atmosphere is amazing!”
“Authentic old-school survival horror gameplay that's incredibly rewarding, intricate puzzle-filled environments, excellent atmosphere and effects.”
“The lighting and atmosphere is really dark, and actually pretty darn impressive for a 3D isometric shooter.”
“Heavily improved atmosphere.”
“Creepy atmosphere.”
- music5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is highly praised, with many users noting it as a standout feature of the sound design. Alongside unique zombie sounds and expected weapon effects, the overall audio experience contributes positively to the game's appeal.
“I’d say the music was my favorite for the sound design.”
“Story and music are nice, all in all, great game for its price.”
“Zombies all sound unique from each other, weapons sound as you expect, and the music is actually good.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
Overall, users report that the game's performance is fantastic, though there are some mentions of slightly poor optimization.
“Performance was fantastic.”
“Performance was fantastic.”
“Slightly poor optimization.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, with issues such as a flawed saving system, respawns, and monotonous boss fights. Additionally, the difficulty in spotting certain enemies and the need for backtracking contribute to the overall frustration with the grinding experience.
“They very quickly descend into tedious, however.”
“On the other hand, this time they included some standard flaws of corporate console manure, like a 2nd rate saving system (not 3rd-rate because it has the decency of being multi-slots), respawns, a repetitive 3-stage grindy boss fight, and the debilitating typewriter effect designed to jellify literate brains.”
“[Some zombies can be hard to spot; backtracking occasionally gets tedious.]”
- humor2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of amusing "engrish" that adds charm, alongside dry humor sprinkled throughout the experience. While some players find the plot nonsensical and the gameplay features frustrating, the comedic elements provide a lighthearted contrast to the game's challenges. Overall, the humor contributes positively to the sequel's appeal.
“The 'Engrish' is funny (I believe the devs are Chinese) but remains understandable throughout, adding a unique charm to the experience.”
“I love the added dry humor sprinkled throughout the game.”
“There's so much backtracking, big boss fights, and a nonsensical plot, but the humor makes it all worthwhile.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized as unexpectedly wholesome and endearing, with a respectful and sweet tone that resonates positively with players.
“It's completely unexpected, but wholesome, endearing, respectful, and sweet 🥰👑”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game features multiple difficulty levels, unlockable weapons, and two distinct endings, enhancing its replayability and encouraging players to explore different playthroughs.
“The game offers multiple difficulty levels, unlockable weapons, and two different endings, making replayability a key feature.”
“With various difficulty settings and unlockable content, the game encourages players to experience it multiple times.”
“The presence of two distinct endings adds a layer of depth, inviting players to replay the game to explore all possibilities.”
“The game offers different difficulty levels and unlockable weapons, but the two endings don't provide enough incentive for replaying.”
“While there are multiple difficulty settings, the lack of significant changes in gameplay makes replaying feel redundant.”
“The two endings are interesting, but they don't change the overall experience enough to warrant multiple playthroughs.”
