5/12/2023 0 Comments Querious review![]() ![]() The party system is one of the strongest points of Curious Expedition 2 because there’s no single correct party to navigate the game with a maximum of five party members, numerous human classes, and a multitide of animals that can come along for the journey, how each player will overcome obstacles can vary wildly. Angry characters are less productive and may ditch the party in the middle of an expedition or develop even further drawbacks. Generally, all party members will have one boon and one drawback to begin for example, a priest’s boon allows a party to rest at a mission for free, but could be an alcoholic and grow angry when booze is not provided to him on a regular basis. From there, players can choose who to add to their party by recruiting members at the bar or through a trio of Clubs, which provide the funding behind these myriad expeditions. The player is offered two options for their protagonist at the start of their run: a combat-oriented general, or an exploration-detailed leader. Thankfully, Curious Expedition 2‘s gameplay manages to eclipse the weaker parts of the title. Also a definite weakness of the Nintendo Switch version is crashing this is most prevalent in the third and fourth acts of the game’s main story, and can mean redoing large swaths of content if the map’s recurring autosave isn’t especially recent. The graphics on the other hand fits the adventurous steampunk theme perfectly, with animated characters just self-effacing enough to be over the top in a funny, engaging way. It’s almost as if it was all designed for an entirely different title, and then slotted in, but a square peg does not fit in a round hole. The game’s sound design doesn’t do much to support the story exploration tracks lack memorability, big moments lack impact, and sound effects rarely match the adventurous feel of the game. The story is simple and predictable, but it floats the gameplay along adequately. The story isn’t deep, and there are no real secrets regarding how things are going to end, but there’s enough content before and after each mission to bring it all together into a cohesive package. It’s up to the player to chase as many free-form explorations as can fit in a game year, while tackling a story-driven mission to chase an alien artifact that can either bring world harmony or cause mass destruction. These treasures are not without their danger, islands are rife with tribal feuds, dangerous animals, and strange flora, not to mention a mysterious purple fog that makes travel hazardous. Islands have been cropping up in the oceans lately, replete with technological marvels to be discovered. However, an engaging exploration system along with a flexible party setup make this expedition worth it, for the right kind of explorer. Each run relies far too heavily on luck, with a predictable story and mediocre sound design. ![]() Curious Expedition 2 is a turn-based roguelike RPG, set in a reimagined version of the late 19th century, with oodles of possibilities to ensure each run plays a little differently each time. The age of steampunk invention is well underway, with the world’s three richest powers - the Americans, the British, and the Chinese - all converging on Paris, France to compete in the Exposition. It’s the close of the 1800s, and the Exposition Universelle will be kicking off in the near future.
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