Monster Train 2 Review (Sloppy Sally)
I am hesitantly *optimistic* about the game. I mean hey, I bought it sight unseen day of. I have 700+ hours in Monster Train. If Monster Train 2 is more of the same, then I am sold. I AM sold. I bought it.
However . . .
NEGATIVE:
1. The camera is MUCH more zoomed in this time around. Your perspective is locked to a single floor of the train. In Monster Train one it was easy to see all floors of the train at once. Now you need to scroll wheel up and down to get the same view.
2. The art style is much more self-serious. Everyone looks like that anime meme where they've come out of the closet wearing too many belts. At a minimum, character silhouettes are extremely busy compared to the clean aesthetic of the first game. To go with the more self-serious art is a self-serious story.
3. I'm undecided on whether flipping the trains direction from top-to-bottom to now bottom-to-top of the screen is a trivial difference and I'm just a fuddyduddy who can't accept change or something that's genuinely annoying.
POSITIVE:
1. New ways to influence the train are a natural evolution of the form. Equipment cards. Room cards. All good stuff.
2. The new options at the shop are all welcome additions.
3. Activated unit abilities? Cool.
4. An undo button? Neato.
5. A more diverse starting lineup of train stewards? What a nice QoL feature.
NEUTRAL:
1. The iconography is debatably more legible? Each individual icon is more readable but there are many more icons with more busy graphics. It's a bit of a race for the galaxy problem. At a glance I have no idea if I'm looking at INCANT or RESOLVE or TRIGGER or STRIKE or . . . so yeah the icon is pretty but it's still a really messy visual.
2. The deployment phase is a bit of a mixed bag. While it's nice to spend my first turn laying out my train the the way I want from a pool of resources that doesn't subtract from my normal supply - it also means **you deploy blind**. You don't really have any clue if the setup you're laying out actually matches with the threat you're about to face. Maybe this is something that's softened with more experience and just memorizing enemy waves but I've definitely been burnt laying out my dudes just to have the enemies appear in a formation that if had I known I would have never setup that way. You also can't "undo" your formation as ending the deployment phase ends the turn.
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And that's generally my take so far. The good is all obvious stuff thats just more of the same. More and different options at the shop? GREAT! More and different factions? GREAT! Customizable pyres? GREAT!
I'm just also kinda disappointed by the zoomed in camera and change in art style.