PC Review Code Provided by Bedtime Digital Games
After the positive reception to their first game, Bedtime Digital Games has returned with a sequel title to their inside-the-mind adventure with Figment 2: Creed Valley. Taking players through a journey that swaps between the open and closed mindset, with opinion characters to match the current mood, they will have to figure their way through a series of issues while trying to solve the case of what went wrong and why the mind has lost its peace.
Story
Nightmares have shattered the Moral Compass, making The Mind unable to function properly. Take on the role of dusty and his ever-optimistic sidekick, Piper, who must travel to Creed Valley, where The Mind’s ideals are formed to restore peace. Along the way they will interact with opinions and learn more about the thoughts behind the closed-minded and open-minded opinions. Who knows, perhaps this journey will show the benefit to each mindset and their importance in utilizing them at the right times.
The story is pretty well set for an impactful adventure and even in the short amount of time it takes to play through this game, there is definitely an impact felt by the end of it. They did a good job setting up the difference of situations based on the mindset you are currently in and the perspective the player takes on the scenario as a whole.
Gameplay
This game will have players solving puzzles as they try to progress through each level. A typical aspect of this is getting the right battery color and placing it in the proper control panel for it to power. Some panels are only powered by a single color while others are powered differently by each color. This does cause a bit of back tracking every now and then, but the levels are small enough that this isn’t a hindrance.
There will be other puzzles in the game other than the batteries. From using your mind to put together clues to solve a case, to making your way through a puzzle maze full of different styles, there is consistently a puzzle to solve. However, some puzzles are solved with the might of your sword and using combat in specific ways, such as deflecting bullets.
Combat in the game is pretty smooth, although repetitive. There is now powering up, weapon changes, or anything fancy like that. You have your simple attack combination you can throw and the dodge roll action to get out of the way of incoming attacks. The enemies are diverse enough for the length of the game, giving you a small variety of enemy types to take down.
Boss fights are interesting because they aren’t direct combat all the time. In fact, a lot of the boss fights are spent evading their onslaught of an attack. But they usually have an interesting song to go with the fight, so there is something to listen to while running and rolling everywhere!
Audio and Visual
The aesthetics of this game are highly unique but would be similar to that of the first game. It seems like the pathway of the entire level setup is floating in the middle of a mysteriously magical place. There are weird, pretty, and generally eye-catching things that go by in the background which only slightly pull you away from the somewhat strange pathway art style. All-in-all, there is always something interesting to look at which definitely helps with the player immersion and intrigue.
This is a music game so while the sound effects were rather straightforward, the music that layers this game is pretty diverse. From a specific tone that plays as you cross a bridge or take an auto-moving platform, to rhythmic talking by some characters, to just singing from enemies or NPCs, there is always some form of music encroaching on the experience, in a good way.
Replayability
As you go through the game, you can find orbs that, when enough are collected, can unlock a memory. This can be done at just about every level, but they are easy to overlook as well. If you want to unlock all of the memories and missed them the first time, then there is a reason to go back. There is also a two-player mode where one player can control the bird side-kick, which might be interesting and a way to find hidden areas or items.
What It Could Have Done Better
I don’t mind short games, but for $24.99 at full price, I’m not sure three and a half hours really suffices. While the game is impactful and fun to play throughout, they should have offered a bit more gameplay in the game for that price. This could be done by improving the combat to have more variety and maybe even adding a battle arena section to really let the player experience the combat through a trial area that’s just as long as the puzzle trial area.
Verdict
Figment 2: Creed Valley is an impactful experience I won’t soon forget! This game is fun to play from start to finish but does fall short on the overall length of the game itself. Seeing how that is the only issue I have, then it is easy to say that this game is one I can see many players enjoying and is worth picking up, even if you wait for it to be on sale. The story has a strong premise and the journey you take doesn’t force any ideals on the player yet gives them the information and objectivity to consider them instead.
Figment 2: Creed Valley is now available on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.
