The stages themselves are where the new art style for Nidhogg 2 does work. Stages will have multiple areas and you must traverse a number of these until you reach the finale and your comical demise. The objective in Nidhogg 2 is to run to your opponent’s side of the screen. The action is as fun as ever and rightfully retains its crown as one of the best accessible competitive multiplayer games.Įvery encounter begins the same as two competitors stare down each other with a weapon raised.
The combat mechanics stay very true to the original and this is ironically Nidhogg 2‘s best attribute. The reason I am being bogged down by the art design is because it is the focus of the sequel. The original had a graceful decorum to the battle not too dissimilar from the art of fencing yet the art direction in Nidhogg 2 alters the concept and bouts feel like gladiator matches instead of sparring ones. Killing an opponent is a barbaric act as their rib cages erupt from their torso and the stage is drenched with blood and guts. The oddly charming flying worm who devours the victor at the end of each match now looks vulgar and menacing. Outside of character creation, the new art style is felt everywhere as it is such an assuming choice, you cannot escape it. Randomizing your appearance causes your character to spins and dances to the beat, but this is the only time they possess any trace of charisma. Upon entering combat you can customise these deviants appearance and although hats and glasses add uniqueness, nothing averts the unpleasantness. The original Nidhogg both graphically and mechanically had a finely balanced design which brought with it a charming style, however, the sequel misses this symmetry and as such graphically, Nidhogg 2 feels like a misstep. In Nidhogg 2 limbs look disproportioned and eyeballs bulge from their sockets the new 16-bit visuals only make characters look even more vulgar.
The character models have derived from pixelated stick figures into deformed brutes. These visual ingredients can blend triumphantly as it does with Bloodborne and the Dark Souls series, however, Nidhogg 2 does not share their success. Nidhogg 2 can look unappealing and grotesque. Nidhogg 2 bypasses a couple of graphical generations and plants itself into the colorful 16-bit era yet simply put, it is not a pretty game. Whereas aesthetically Nidhogg could be defined as minimalistic, there was still an aura of elegance to the simplistic graphics.
I feel slightly hypocritical beginning this review with a critique of the art style after my ‘gameplay is king’ statement however upon starting Nidhogg 2, the bold design choice cannot be ignored. Typically sequels are bigger, better and more ambitious but could this apply to Nidhogg? Messhof Games felt the answer was yes and Nidhogg 2 preserves the beloved competitive fast paced combat from the first but also introduces some unwelcome additions too. Nidhogg put the mechanics first and found success because of this however they inadvertently put the developer in a tough dilemma about the future of the franchise.
#NIDHOGG 2 TRAILER SERIES#
Long standing titles such as the Mario and Zelda series have aged maturely over thirty years because aside from the graphical difference, they are still fun to play. This powerful phrase to me is gaming scripture and denotes the original Nidhogg perfectly.
0 kommentar(er)
