![]() When you die the first time, all your progress and kills are retained, and it’s only after two deaths that it’s truly Game Over. Death sends you back to where you entered the level, but in another Sekiro-inspired touch, you now get two chances to complete any mission. Lince Works has come up with an impressive array of objectives for these missions and the levels are designed to be tackled from multiple angles, which keeps things feeling fresh. While you can expect around the same number of levels as the first game, you’ll now revisit each one multiple times. This somewhat more lenient approach also applies to Aragami 2’s mission structure and checkpoints. Honestly, it’s not terribly fun, but it works in a pinch and makes Aragami 2 more forgiving and less frustrating that its predecessor. The combat is essentially a dumbed down version of Sekiro’s system, as you’re aiming to deplete an enemy’s stamina in order break through their guard and land a killer strike. Speaking of which, yes, when the bad guys spot you, you now have the option to fight back. All these skills are now tied to a quickly-regenerating stamina bar or a simple cooldown timer, replacing the old system where you had to lurk in the darkness to recharge your “Shadow Essence.” A few new skills have been added, like the handy Warp Strike that lets you immediately jump to and dispatch an enemy, and some favorites like Shadow Kill return, but overall, the game is less about combining powers and more about thinking fast on your feet. In addition to the added mobility, certain abilities you had to unlock in the original game like your ninja radar vision and ledge kills are now standard issue alongside other welcome improvements like being able to easily pick up and stash bodies. It definitely feels like the folks over at Aragami developer Lince Works played a bit (or a lot) of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice while making this sequel. For starters, you can actually jump this time around! Heck, you can double jump and perform a mid-air Shadow Leap, allowing you to instantly grapple onto the edge of buildings, fences, and other convenient ledges. The first Aragami limited your basic abilities, forcing you to focus heavily on your inventory of special skills, but now you’re much more capable. At least the game’s Japanese-inspired soundtrack is once again excellent.Īt first glance, Aragami 2 may seem a lot like its predecessor in terms of gameplay, but it actually feels quite different. And, of course, “step up” is a relative term – this still largely looks like an HD PS2 game. Aragami 2 is much less character-driven than its forerunner, and as a result, it never really got its hooks in me.Īragami 2’s visuals are unquestionably a step up on a technical level, featuring larger environments, sharper textures, and more advanced lighting, but honestly, I liked the more stylized look of the previous game a bit more. The story serves up a decent number of twists, turns, and machinations, but neglects to provide a reason to actually care about what’s happening. It’s up to you to stop that while uncovering the Akatsuchi Empire’s aragami-related schemes. There’s a whole village of aragami now and more who are being enslaved by the Akatsuchi Empire, who are looking to take over the Rashomon Valley where aragami live. While the first game cast players as a specific character named Aragami, now you’re simply an aragami, a warrior who has gained immortality at the cost of a piece of their soul. Visually, it's still quite a treat for the eyes given its smaller status than AAA titles, and looks to be improved tremendously in the visual department.Aragami 2 ostensibly happens in the same universe as the first game, but this is largely a soft reboot, taking place 100 years after the original with a new cast of characters. The head-on combat looks directly lifted from Sekiro's more methodical parrying/positioning too, though we'll have to see how the flow of gameplay might've improved over the original game's admittedly wonky combat. It's hard not to look at the reveal trailer for Aragami 2 and see hints of the first game, but mostly overshadowed by the fact that it looks and might potentially play similar to Team Ninja's Nioh and From Software's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice in certain aspects. READ MORE: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Debuts Uncut PS5 Gameplay Demo Revealed at Gamescom 2020, Aragami 2 will take a few leaps ahead of its predecessor with improved graphics and some awesome co-op multiplayer involving stealthy, synchronized kills from the shadows. It would make sense, then, that a sequel would be in the works. Developer Lince Works released an artistic ninja stealth title in 2016 with Aragami, which earned mostly positive reviews and went on to become somewhat of a cult classic to a devoted fan base.
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