Monument Valley 2
Year: 2017
Rating: E
Time Played: 96 minutes / 1.60 hours
Video game sequels have this fine balance between continuing the gameplay that made the original successful enough to warrant a sequel while also innovating with new ideas to make the sequel its own thing. There are lessons to be learned from the original that can improve a sequel because it refined what made the first game good. Monument Valley 2 attempts to do a few things differently than its predecessor, but it still feels too similar to stand out on its own.
Once again, I enjoyed the calming experience of Monument Valley 2, even if the narrative elements were meant to invoke reminders of the global collapse in the real world. While the first Monument Valley was about the right length for this kind of game, this took an hour less to complete. Perhaps this was due to the learning curve from having beaten the first game so soon before playing this one, but any game that doesn’t even last two hours to earn 100% of the achievements feels like it’s not big enough to be its own thing (like it should have just been DLC for the first one).
Again, the mouse control in the “Panoramic Edition” felt a little clunky, but I recognize this game was originally designed for touch screen devices. Its similarity to Monument Valley was perhaps too strong, as I don’t recall any of the newer concepts it tried to implement other than the fact that there were two characters to control. This isn’t to say that Monument Valley 2 is a bad game. It’s still fun and has some thoughtful puzzles that are combined with neat M. C. Escher-like visuals and a calming soundtrack. I played it and enjoyed it much like I did the first game in this series.
More of the same from Monument Valley, just less of it, I give Monument Valley 2 3.5 stars out of 5.
1/2
