Uncharted 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy, a review of the sequel to the excellent roguelike

if you are reading Undiscovered 2: The Wayfarer’s Legacy review, we are more or less sure you know its glorious predecessor. That little gem of Unexplored: Small, indeed very small, The Immersion has managed to create a good fan base with its minimal and colorful style. The success of the series is given by its most outlandish feature, its much-acclaimed proceduralism that makes it shine amid hundreds of other games that abuse the epithet “Roguelike.”

If in the predecessor random generation was limited to three levels that are freely discoverable and more or less reproducible, then here we are faced with a huge evolution in terms of enormous refinement and research work, code design and the possibility of discovery and variation. experience.

History

There History As you might guess from the title of the article, it’s very simple: On Yendor’s pilgrimage to destroy his staff, we will emulate the Wayfarer, created by chance or through a small but influential editor. His sole existence is doomed to destroy the entire world. In theory, the narrative ends here, and “Go from point A to point B” is limited to the ending. Instead, it’s exactly the journey, the journey, that just keeps talking about the highest that makes all the difference in the world. Or maybe we should say “I” travel. Yes, because we can say that there will be a before and after Unexplored 2 without fear of being proven wrong.

What makes the game experience extraordinary is something that surprises us: every time we die with our character, we will lose everything and start our journey all over again, and so far everything seems to herald another roguelike.

But no, because it’s not just that, but for each of our deaths. the world will change accordingly, but for its own sake it will be a dynamic change, not a procedural change. In fact, once passed, the game will show us the map and what will happen to the map in the years following our death, where various clans compete for available territories and empire (yes, there’s also Star Wars, if we want to quote) Yendor’s relentless scepter to get his hands on it. it’s progressing somehow.

Exp, this is unknown

But let’s get to the fun part. The game begins with the creation of our alter ego, whether procedurally or created by us, it doesn’t matter, the beginning will always be the same in any situation: we will capture and possess Yendor’s staff. go and destroy it. In the city we will be aware of, we will be able to talk to some non-player characters who will explain the specific mechanics of the game world and unlock points on the map that can only be accessed after exploring them. . While doing this, we started our adventure with a staff and some other basic equipment on his shoulder.

After leaving the city we are in game world mapIt can be discovered by clicking on one of the areas adjacent to the area we are in, so it can move forward in time and make us vulnerable to a series of bad weather and adverse situations like fatigue, cold or heat. Once we arrive at the desired area, we can decide to explore it, recover objects, meat or clues to unlock other areas, or continue with the main quest.

The most important thing to keep in mind is, no experience points nor skill trees or various upgrades. Things that can help us along the way are also things we can find through hints from the various characters we encounter along the way. But these are swords, spears, spells, shields and armor, rings and necklaces, which we lose when we die like a good rogue.

This will happen very often: among enemies, bad weather, environmental traps and explosives, you will often find yourself having to start the journey all over again. Another new feature we like is the dialogues and interactions with objects, altars and various inscriptions. A kind of dice game we will find that we receive a random answer to questions about what we are analyzing or the character we are talking about.

This feature allowed us to reopen that door dedicated to D&D only, which we had kept closed for so long. From what we can’t tell, knowing how the dialogues develop, whether we can decipher a stele, where to go or where to look for an artifact is really intriguing and gives it a “real and genuine” feel. We have to admit it took us several hours and several dozen kills to fully realize its potential, but once we get into the game system we can assure you it will never come out again.

One of the best experiences is to go look for this or that artifact, recover it, and then perhaps die strangely, go back to that exact spot and not find the treasure we lost anymore, because years have passed. and maybe someone else has been compromised, so you’ll have to start looking for clues to figure out what it is. And so, in all that happens between the blood feuds between the clans and the allies that have become enemies, the journey that will lead us to the destruction of the staff of Yendor will become more difficult. dynamic and more diverse than ever before.

technique and art

From an artistic point of view, this Uncharted 2: The Traveler’s Legacy is a feast for the eyes. Frankly, we’re talking about a particular product that varies heavily on low poly with a delicious toon shader, but it still does its dirty job and does it very well. All environments, from the barest and crude to the most refined, with buildings, waterfalls, forests, animals and various oddities. really fun to explore. Yendor’s staff, if equipped at night, emits a very special colored light that accompanies us as we explore caves and dungeons, whose music can perfectly immerse us in the game world.

right there movie soundtrack Another point in favor of production: we move from epic pieces to more dominant music, generally it always accompanies our raids properly.

Unfortunately, the controls, animations, and feeling of disorientation in the first part of the adventure make such a strange and well-made production dirty. The movements almost seem to slide on the ground, with some sort of animation tail making either annoying escapes or movements that require more precision, as if they were always wet. The animations of the attacks and the characters in general are poor compared to the others, and what bothers us the most is that the feeling of disorientation you have in the first hours of the game is sure to deter novices or beginners. In any case, expect an action game more dedicated to classic exploration.

While it is not a negative point for many, another small note we always want to make is this: Lack of Italian localizationespecially since there is enough stuff to read and understand.