Costume Quest 2 (XB1) Review

When you need something, that is a responsibility.

I like candy. I like humor. So when I heard Double Fine was doing a Halloween-themed RPG-lite, basing classes and powers off of costumes, I was in. Costume Quest 2 continues the adventures of Wren and Reynold as they travel through time to stop an evil dentist. Yes, the premise sounds fantastic, and with Double Fine penning it, it has to be good right? Well, after romping through this six hour adventure I am not smiling nearly as much as I wanted to, and it isn’t because all my teeth are rotted from the massive amounts of candy I consumed.

Costume Quest 2 is an RPG-lite in terms of the combat system. It has an active system that rewards timed button presses during attacks, allowing even a second attack with certain costumes. Each costume also has a special attack that is built up.

The combat can get tedious quick.

Platforms: XB1, PS4, PC, 360, PS3
MSRP: $14.99
Price I’d Pay: $5
Time to complete: 5-7 hours

The problem I had with the combat is that it is too simple, to the point where it got extremely boring quick. There is no real strategy other than timing button presses, and the costumes really only offer up cosmetic changes to attacks outside of their special ability, which isn’t really explained all that well to begin with.

The other issue I had is with the health system. Originally it was built to only allow players to heal their party members by visiting a drinking fountain, which are scattered throughout the world. This caused a lot of backtracking. For the console outings (and the PC version was patched) I can now spend my candy to heal party members. Again, this is something the game never bothered to tell me. I was randomly pressing buttons when I accidentally healed my team.

Neither solution is ideal, especially for a game built on simplicity.

The story is charming for lack of a better word. The humor hits sometimes, but a lot is lost without voice acting. The dialogue between characters is often designed to be cuter than anything else, and it works.

It is too easy to get lost in this world.

Working through the campaign involves a lot of the same mechanics as the first entry, such as knocking on doors and getting either tricks or treats. The locales change up a bit due to the time travel mechanic, but navigating them is a chore. The map is almost useless without a location indicator, and backtracking for water fountains drags on the traversal more than it should. A lot of small fundamental pieces kill some of the enjoyment.

Costume Quest 2 on consoles is not a bad game by any means, but it failed to keep me interested during most of its short duration. I wanted to laugh more and I wanted navigating these charming environments to not feel like such a chore, but most importantly I wanted to have more fun than I did.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Charming look and feel
  • Can be funny at times
Bad
  • Tedious combat
  • Health system
  • Most humor falls flat
6
Decent
Written by
Ken is the Editor-in-Chief of this hole in the wall and he loves to troll for the fun of it. He also enjoys long walks through Arkham Asylum and the cool air of Shadow Moses Island. His turn-ons include Mortal Kombat, Metal Gear Solid and StarCraft.