THREE WORDS: LUCHA. LIBRE. MULTIVERSE.
Back in 2013, game developer and fellow Canadians DrinkBox Studios released the extremely well received Guacamelee on PS3 and PlayStation Vita. In between then and now it has been ported to a lot of systems under various edition titlesm and only last year got a limited physical disc release for PS4 that I of course picked up via Vblank Entertainment (the folks behind Retro City Rampage and also fellow Canadians). Guacamelee was challenging, meme filled, and charming. Guacamelee 2 had a lot of live up to, and quite frankly I wasn’t sure what they could do to keep the game feeling fresh yet similar. It didn’t seem possible. I was wrong, disgraced, and was righteously stripped of my luchador mask.
The story of Guacamelee 2 picks up right as the first Guacamelee finishes, in a tribute to the game that named the very genre Guacamelee 2 falls into. It then time jumps to the hero Juan living with his family until he is pulled into another timeline to save the world from destruction because he’s the one Juan left. In the Darkest Timeline Juan died and another lucha saved the day, but he has turned evil and Juan must stop him before he destroys everything. If this sounds serious, please note that nearly every bit of dialog is filled with humor, and most of it sticks. Early on as Juan travels through timelines he ends up in the “Baddest Timeline” as well as somewhere that is between the world of the living and the dead just for a quick joke. The destruction of the universe can wait for a witty one liner.
PLATFORMS: PC, PS4
MSRP: $17.99 (PC), $19.99 (PS4)
PRICE I’D PAY: $19.99
I hate what I am about to write because I swear it could be said about nearly every game coming out right now: Guacamelee 2, like the original Guacamelee, is a Metroidvania. A Metroidvania is a platformer where the main character receives different upgrades to help defeat enemies and traverse the environment. Unlike the majority of the games wearing that label currently, Guacamelee 2 actually rewards exploring previous areas (that are not randomly generated) with newly gained powers to receive health upgrades, ability points, and money to upgrade skills.
Retrieving these bonuses involve some of the most difficult platforming I’ve played in a while. In fact, later in the game the difficulty hits a point where I think a lot of impatient players will find themselves checking out. The saving grace to Guacamelee 2 is that even if I miss a jump I rarely die; the game simply sends me back to the last static ground piece I stood on. Even the areas to get the bonus chests are completely fair. Fair however doesn’t offer a solution around the more difficult areas, and therefore lower level players will also find issue with some of the platforming sections. Using a combination of combat moves and standard mobility as well as shifting between the world of the living and the dead is necessary to get anywhere in this game.
There are also the combat portions of Guacamelee 2. These involved fighting different enemies, generally in a small closed room, as they spawn in until the door opens. Some enemies wear shields that can only be broken with certain special attacks, while other enemies can only be attacked in the world of the living or the world of the dead. Enemies in one world can still do damage to Juan regardless of which world he is in. There is also a bomb like enemy that counts down that if not dealt with immediately can end a fight sequence early by killing Juan in one single hit regardless of where on screen he is. Combat areas help break up long sections of platforming and are just as fun as the rest of the game.
Despite saying Juan, I should note that there are multiple playable characters to choose as well as costumes, because Guacamelee 2 has four player multiplayer. This is likely why at times the camera seems pulled out and the characters are smaller on the screen. While I imagine it makes for a lot of fun and trivializes combat sections, I’m sure the platforming sections will take a toll on some friendships. I’ll be honest, I did not try multiplayer in Guacamelee 2 or the two player multiplayer in Guacamelee. These games work perfectly fine as a single player experience, but it is nice that friends can join in and not just watch.
I forgot to mention the best part: Juan turns into a chicken again (the Guacamelee universe’s answer to Metroid’s Morph Ball) and the chicken has its own set of combat moves and platforming skills and more games need luchador chickens and that’s just a fact.
Guacamelee 2 is a fantastic title. Fans of the first title will be thrilled that there’s more Guacamelee in the world, and there’s new mechanics and challenges to play with. New players should go back and experience the first Guacamelee and enjoy that, but there’s definitely enough backstory and tutorial in Guacamelee 2 to make any player comfortable with playing. With the only downside being that this may be one of the harder platforming experiences in recent years and therefore not for everyone, Guacamelee 2 stands out as one of the finest, and funniest titles of 2018. Don’t let this one skip by.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
