The entire mechanic of picking up a body and disposing of it is rendered useless because it doesn’t matter in execution.Īragami 2 will surely scratch any itch that you’re looking for within the stealth action genre. They don’t notice the splattered blood of their dead comrades right in front of them and quickly lose interest in you after you jump onto a ledge, hilariously allowing you to backstab them within seconds. In addition, the enemy AI can’t keep up with your skills. I understand that stealth is the main focus, but introducing a new mechanic this broken isn’t a good look. If I was spotted, I always opted to run away because of how unbalanced and unpolished the combat mechanics were. Perfectly timed parries sometimes do nothing, and enemies often hit me through walls or break out of my stun-lock to one-shot me. The sword combat is a chore as the button input response is inconsistent. Though Aragami 2 does offer the element of real-time combat, if you manage to break stealth, it doesn’t do it well. The versatility of the skill tree also dramatically benefits the game’s replay-ability, allowing you to tackle previously completed missions with some new tricks up your sleeve. Stringing together a slew of tightly knit executions without being spotted by an enemy always left a sly grin on my face. These range from creating a cloud of stunning gas via lamp posts and summoning a shadow clone for distraction to warp striking your enemy.īy the end, your entire arsenal of shadow powers allows for some very satisfying gameplay. While your signature move, shadow kill, still makes an appearance, there are many cool new skills and abilities. For the most part, these details are excusable because the main focus is on the gameplay mechanics, which leads to some ambitious features. Voice acting is awkward, with characters speaking without their mouths moving in a language that I assume is supposed to be Japanese but doesn’t sound like it at all. The cel-shaded artwork is passable, with noticeable improvements to the engine. The same goes for visual and audio design. The narrative is significantly lacking in the middle portions that bring the story to a crawl, and it isn’t until the end that new map layouts, enemy types, and mission objectives are introduced.

However, you begin to naturally slug through the levels as you perfect navigating their layout after a while. The scale of each map paired with this mechanic made them feel like a playground I was swinging across.

One of the benefits of level design is the feature where you can leap to cliffs, ledges, windows, and rooftops. You revisit the same maps upwards of seven to eight times as you cycle through the same loop of objectives: rescue or kidnap someone, fetch some items, or kill some enemies.

Sadly a few more limited design choices make their way into this new adventure, including a long, drawn-out campaign bloated with fluff in the middle hours that don’t push the narrative any which way. Customization comes in different color dyes for armor unlocked through gameplay, with hidden blueprints containing rarer colors. Further, levels have money bags scattered about that provide the funds needed to purchase items or cosmetic armor. Each mission is ranked by a letter for performance, with S being the highest achievable tier, so there’s reason to replay stages outside of collectibles.Ĭompleting missions earn experience points that can be exchanged for abilities in a skill tree. Instead of story-guided missions, it introduces a central hub known as Kakurega Village, where you can select missions via a map, talk to NPCs, unlock abilities, and purchase items. In addition, the protagonist’s signature cape from the first game is replaced with a stamina bar, and the level design is more extensive, offering free-roaming exploration to explore and find hidden collectibles and blueprints.Īragami 2 is a fairly linear game. Though both games are challenging, Aragami 2 allows for a welcome addition of head-on combat. There are a few notable differences found in Aragami 2 when compared to its predecessor.

Aragami 2 armor