Utawarerumono: ZAN 2

“The gameplay loop is vastly superior to the first Zan, offering a highly engaging mix of fast-paced hack-and-slash combat and intricate RPG progression.”

“There are varieties of boss fights, previous characters, all with different moves and mechanics, requiring different approaches rather than just button mashing as one would expect from a Musou-type game.”

“With over 50 story missions, the combat feels punchy, allowing you to seamlessly mix flashy techniques and equip powerful, gameplay-altering items.”

“Even in terms of visuals, the charm of the heroines moving vibrantly in 3D is exceptional.”

“Great graphics and anime style; this game gets a 10/10 from me.”

“The main highlight to the story is of course the emotional ending scenes, and the 3D models really do it justice. Because of that, it is very much worth the play.”

“Interacting with your companions between missions deepens their emotional arcs and makes the inevitable sacrifices and triumphs on the battlefield hit that much harder.”

“The transition to 3D animated cutscenes dramatically elevates the storytelling and emotional impact.”

“From having the Ennakamuy Castle serve as an explorable hub in between missions, the vastly improved combat flow and gameplay systems, the character and economy progression feeling constantly rewarding, and one of my favorite features, a posted-up jukebox that not only lets you select from the top-tier soundtrack for this series that you unlock from previously mentioned economy progression as either the home base theme or battle theme, but they give you 5 whole custom playlist slots for setting up whatever flavor and order of tracks you want!”

“Boy howdy, games need more ways in-game to engage with an OST like this, haha!”

“Music was really great but that's to be expected honestly.”

“The PC version's optimization is not bad; while it might not feature ultra-high resolution or top-tier graphics, it offers a very stable frame rate, allowing players to comfortably enjoy battlefields where flashy effects fly about.”

“It runs smoothly on the Steam Deck, too, so it's probably fine on lower-end systems as well.”

“The "dream arena" mode offers fantastic replayability, bringing challenging online co-op and single-player maps that test your mastery of the combat.”

“The process of thoroughly strengthening your favorite characters through your preferred style of growth is easy to get absorbed in, and the wealth of replayability elements, including high-difficulty missions available after clearing the game, far exceeds the previous title.”

“Playing on Steam Deck it runs great out of the box and it is a constant 60fps - the original game initially locked to 57fps, but that was patched in a very recent update - and it looks like it won't be an issue here either.”