Game Review: Steamworld Dig 2

So, Steamworld Dig 2 (PEGI-7).  Seb has been playing this and he told me I should play it too - we've both finished it now.  And yet Dad, who bought it in the first place, has not finished it!  (He's not very good at finishing things.)  It was a great game to play on the Nintendo Switch, really suits the small screen pick up/put down format.

I hadn't played Steamworld Dig, Steamworld Heist or Steamworld Quest, so this was my first introduction to the Steamworld series.  There are five games altogether in the series now, you see - the first was a tower defence game, then the 'Dig' games are platformers, 'Heist' is a turn based strategy thing, and 'Quest' is an RPG card game with deck-building.

As you might have guessed, Steamworld Dig 2 follows on from Steamworld Dig. You play as Dorothy, a robot who looks a bit like a frog.  She's trying to find her friend Rusty.  (In the first game you play as Rusty.)  Quite what has happened to Rusty is up in the air until the end of the game.  You have to hope he's not gone over to the dark side, but that's what the game keeps telling you.  A secondary (but not unconnected) objective is to find out what's causing the earthquakes that are affecting the planet...

The game functions a bit like Metroidvanias like Hollow Knight.  You roam around, able to access new areas as you gain new powers.  The game pretends you have freedom about where you're going, though it's actually not giving you much choice.  Although you can dig tunnels, there are some bits you can't dig through - you have to go where the game wants you to.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, when it's telling a story, but it does feel like it's pretending to offer more freedom than it is.  Perhaps I feel this more acutely because the time I've spent with games like Terraria and Minecraft, which let you dig wherever you want to!

Dig, Dig, Dig

As you follow the story there's plenty of exploring, mining and fighting to be done.  You end up in the town of El Machino on a regular basis, purchasing upgrades and talking to the inhabitants.  One of them wants you to collect artefacts for him; in return he'll give you blueprints to upgrade yourself even further.  There are three boss battles, the last of which took both Seb and I numerous attempts (I did give up for a while and make myself more powerful).  And along the way, there are lots of caves with puzzles to solve, which will net you cogs for upgrades or artefacts to swap for blueprints.  Helpfully, when you've completed everything in a cave it ticks it off on the map.

I like the 'steam-powered robot' vibe, and the western theme is fun.  The music is annoyingly catchy.  It's a very well put together game.  Image & Form are to be congratulated for their skill in making different game formats accessible.  This is a great game for both kids and adults.  They've taken the Metroidvania style game and made something that holds you by the hand a little more, and not to its detriment.  They've done the same thing with the X-COM style Steamworld Heist Heist and the RPG card battler Steamworld Quest.  I can't even hazard a guess at what direction they'll travel in next!