Volgarr the Viking II
- August 6, 2024
- Crazy Viking Studios
Get on Steam"Volgarr the Viking II" is a challenging 2D action-platformer, continuing the saga of the barbarian king. With new power-ups, magic, enemy types, and a booming soundtrack, it builds upon its predecessor. Modern quality-of-life options provide a more accessible experience, allowing players to choose their level of difficulty in exploring new worlds, fighting brutal bosses, and discovering multiple endings.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- Volgarr II retains the core gameplay of the original while introducing new mechanics and longer levels, providing a challenging experience that fans of the genre will appreciate.
- The game features beautiful pixel art, tight controls, and a rewarding difficulty that encourages mastery of its mechanics.
- The developers have shown responsiveness to player feedback, making improvements such as patching the Undead Mode to enhance the overall experience.
- The addition of lives and the Undead Mode has been criticized for making the game feel less rewarding and more punishing, detracting from the experience of overcoming challenges.
- Levels are significantly longer and can become repetitive, leading to frustration, especially when combined with the new checkpoint and life systems.
- Many players feel that the game lacks the cohesive design and imaginative level structure of the original, making it feel like a less inspired sequel.
- gameplay7 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 71 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The gameplay features a new "undead mode" that introduces a lives and checkpoint system, which some players find repetitive and reminiscent of the previous game. While the mechanics are intentionally limited to enhance challenge, the overall experience is praised for its beautiful pixel art and refined mechanics, though some feel it lacks innovation due to the reuse of previous game elements. The hardcore nature of the gameplay, with a limited number of continues, adds to the challenge but may frustrate those who dislike the undead mode.
“Crazy Viking did not frontload your character with a ton of mechanics like most other modern platformers: they purposefully limit your mechanics in a very specific manner in order to give you a challenge.”
“Beautiful pixel art, simple but great mechanics, feels refined and solid.”
“I'm referring to the new central mechanic that is 'undead mode' which has to do with the newly implemented lives and checkpoint systems.”
“I'm referring to the new central mechanic that is 'undead mode,' which has to do with the newly implemented lives and checkpoint systems.”
“They are longer than Volgarr, but they become way too repetitive. It also doesn't help that many enemies and mechanics are copy-pastes from the previous game.”
“It's essentially just a hardcore mechanic; you have six continues before you 'have to restart' (which, of course, isn't technically true since that just triggers the undead mode). If you hate the undead mode, you need to improve your skills and avoid dying so much.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game offers enhanced replayability compared to its predecessor, featuring multiple paths for each of the five main levels and a secret level accessible through a more challenging route. This design encourages players to explore different strategies and experiences, making it enjoyable even before mastering the game.
“More enjoyable and fun to play before mastering it than the first game.”
“The first game has 2 paths for each of the 5 main levels, plus a secret level if you take the hard path, adding significant replayability.”
“That's my kind of replayability.”
“The first game has 2 paths for each of the 5 main levels, plus a secret level if you take the hard path, adding replayability to it.”
“That's my kind of replayability.”
- music3 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is widely praised for being pulse-pounding and engaging, enhancing the overall experience with its tight composition and quality. Reviewers appreciate the improvements made over the previous installment, highlighting it as a standout feature that complements the game's challenging and fun gameplay.
“Challenging, brutal, fun, awesome animation and art, pulse-pounding music... everything you want out of a sequel.”
“Just as tight as the first one, with good music and art.”
“The music is lacking and doesn't match the intensity of the gameplay.”
“The soundtrack feels repetitive and uninspired.”
“The music fails to create an engaging atmosphere, making the experience less enjoyable.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of Volgarr 2 to be more tedious than in its predecessor, with longer stages that can feel overly drawn out and challenging, detracting from the overall experience.
“Just like Volgarr 1 but amped up. Overall, a great and challenging game, but my only gripe is that the stages are way too long and drag on. The stages in Volgarr 1 were a perfect length, whereas here in Volgarr 2, it can get quite tedious to get through to the next stages.”
