Guacamelle! 2

Guacamelle! 2

Well...everything has deteriorated rather quickly hasn't it? I will pretty much be working from home for the next few months so I guess it is time for me to get some content written! Hope you all stay safe and look out for each other. 

For now, here is my review of the platinum for Guacamelle! 2.  - Some Spoilers in "Notable Trophies"

The Game

I absolutely loved this game! The first Guacamelle was an unexpected hit for me and I was really excited to play this sequel. Needless to say, it didn't disappoint.

First off, the art style is gorgeous: The "Dias de los Muertos"theme really fits the aesthetic of the game and the visuals of the living and dead world are subtle enough to not distract but to also give you so much to look at whilst suplexing hordes of skeletons. 

The combat is also a major strong point of this game and it plays out excellently throughout. Abilities get given to you as the story progresses and the platforming/puzzle sections all directly relate to the new moves that you have been given. I will say that there could have been more of a focus on defensive rewards as I found myself rolling through most enemy attacks without a risk/reward factor (like a parry). I also found that a lot of enemy arenas just tend to throw the most "annoying" combinations of enemies together and class that as a natural increase in difficulty. I prefer managing movesets and groups of enemies, not just having opposing mechanics fighting against each other. Other than that, the combat is a major selling point of this game and anybody who is a fan of Metroidvania-style platformers will love this game. Imagine"Dust, An Elysian Tail" but with more spandex. 

The game is also hilarious. The writing team seem to have taken all of the criticisms of the previous game and not only worked on improving the overall quality of the humour but to also address those criticisms in the silliest possible way (you will know when you see it). The alternate realities also gave some hilarious side-plots and the dialogue is excellent throughout. I always think that dialogue is one of the hardest things to get right in any production and the jokes were on-point throughout. 

One extra thing: The music in the first game was a huge attraction for me, and whilst the music in this game was brilliant, the "Chicken Illuminati HQ" track that plays over a certain section is laugh-out-loud funny. I have found myself playing it whilst cooking and it just makes my day brighter to hear it. 

The Platinum 

This was a great platinum to achieve! This is the second review in a row where there are no missable trophies and no online grinds to achieve. There are trophies that require you to 100% every map (which was surprisingly frustrating) and a few combat trophies that needed a quick look-up but in the end, it was a very straightforward platinum. 

My overall roadmap consisted of:

• Complete game on normal difficulty (I got most of the combat trophies and upgrades naturally)
• Complete the crucible challenges and defeated the last boss again for the "good" ending
• Explored and 100% completed every map
• Completed the game on hard mode 
• Mop up individual trophies that I missed

It is worth saying that the hard mode is really just the same as the Normal mode but enemies hit a lot harder and have more health. Apart from this, there are no changes to the gameplay or the overall difficulty of the game. I think I got a bit frustrated in a couple of sections (I hate you Wind Skeletons) but it was nothing that significantly set me back. 

I would say that the hardest trophy by far is the one that is directly related to the Crucible challenges. These challenges are very tough and require almost-perfect timing of your skills and abilities. You will find yourself having to juggle multiple fatal mechanics whilst also juggling multiple abilities (whilst also running away from lava!). It is brutal and quite unforgiving but if you persist then you will find that they will pass quite quickly. 

It is worth noting that you can input a cheat code to start the game on hard mode (as you need to complete it once on normal to unlock it naturally). I would not recommend this (especially for first-time players) but if you want to cut the platinum time by a few hours then you can input this:

Thank you to https://www.playstationtrophies.org/forum/guacamelee-2-a/329053-guacamelee-2-trophy-guide-road-map.html

To be honest, I would play through on normal, enjoy the story and then make your hard play-through a pseudo speedrun. The game gives you a completion time when you defeat the final boss and it is quite cool to see how you ranked up against other players.

343...Not bad

Notable Trophies 

The alternate realities were very funny and whilst this trophy was not challenging in the slightest, it was good to see the game poke fun at a wide range of game genres. This one was not the funniest but it was a good reflection on the pay-to-win model when you have to literally pay in-game gold to get this trophy. Good stuff. 

These crucible dungeons were absolutely horrible. I would advise that you take each bit slowly and just chip away at the puzzle at hand. You will die/reset over and over again but you will get through them. 

This was the biggest disappointment of the game for me as Salvador is plugged to be this terrifying Luchador that succeeded where you failed, achieved god-like powers, and tore realities apart...only to be quite a simple boss to overcome. If you survive the snake phase then you will find it hard to fail the final fight. 

I am terrible at exploring and this trophy took me an age to get! The map is quite frustrating in that it doesn't entirely note where you may have missed a chest. I found myself going around in circles (even with picture guides!) Big tip: complete the crucible challenges to be able to have infinite chicken dashes and just fly around everywhere!

Summary 

Gameplay - 8.5/10

Absolutely loved the gameplay and frankly, I was sad to see the game end.

Platinum Difficulty - 5/10

I am giving this a 5 as some of the challenges were very tricky. I have always been a fan of platformers of this style so it wasn't too frustrating but it was still a hefty challenge at times.

Overall Time - 3/10

Another weekender. You can get this done in around 10 hours (5 if you rush through hard mode).

Overall Trophy Enjoyment - 8.5/10

This was an immensely fun platinum to get. The trophy list was forgiving and the additional challenges added an extra layer to the game. The hard mode was disappointedly lacking in brutality but overall, a very good platinum. 

"I bestow upon you...the Power of Pollo"