Thursday, June 22

Grim Legends 2: Song of the Dark Swan Review


As it could not be otherwise, we will face the investigation by direct order of the king, and what we will discover will be a plot of conspiracies, revenge, betrayal and hexes that has had in check, from the shadows, the regents of the country during the last years. What secret does the black swan hide? Why has the queen fallen ill? Who has stolen the little prince? Who is behind all this infamous chain of events? You can only clear these unknowns if you get to the controls of the new adventure point & click graph of Artifex Mundi. Welcome to Grim Legends 2: Song of the Dark Swan.

Duration

The game has two difficulty modes. In the simplest, you will have visual clues that will guide you, although the truth is that it's not necessary either. At some times they may be a little lost, not knowing what to do, but teaches to put the course of history on the table, without major problem, even in expert difficulty mode. In both, you also have a system of assisted tracks that allow you to even jump an entire puzzle, which is activated by pressing up on the crosshead, but to abuse this ability is to spoil the playable experience completely and i don't recommend using it.

Whether or not, you take help, it can take four to six hours to complete, and at the end of it for the first time, an additional episode is unlocked which tells a parallel story that will add between one and two additional hours of play. The total hours are a little scarce, and more so if i consider that there are not too many incentives to rejuvenate it unless you have left some collectible and want to get all the achievements.

Gameplay


The simplicity is also one of the keys of the game, which, like the previous ones, becomes a great gateway for anyone who wants to get started in graphic adventure. Learning how to play, it's as intuitive as breathing and, if you have already played other games in the studio, you can skip the tutorial without any problem.

In Song of the Dark Swan, has chosen to combine the puzzles of hidden objects from among lists of objects to find, with others in which you don't have the definitions of things but appear with images. This is an original way of adding a variant to a mechanic that was beginning to become outdated, something that also happens with other types of puzzles that begin to give off a whiff of old, for being employed since the first game they launched. Two more companions have also been added. In previous games you could ask a monkey or a mechanical bird for help, but now you can throw an otter, an elf, and a hummingbird. However, their role is almost anecdotal.

Of course, this follows the line of his predecessors in terms of fun. Grim Legends 2 is very entertaining and addictive, although it isn't too challenging for tanned players. Some of the mini-games may have you spinning five or ten minutes longer than normal, but in general features isn't a difficult game.

Graphics & Design


The studio has put the "batteries" and in this new game, the graphics look better defined, without that granulated filter that had the previous ones. It enjoys a more current aspect but without losing that halo of magic and fantasy that characterizes the saga. The animations are more fluid and have worked much more facial expressions. The images are usually static and don't interfere too many transition scenes, which is normal for the game to perform perfectly and over with tiny load times, which go almost unnoticed. All scenarios are quite baroque, as is usual in the games of this developer, and the recreation of each element is perfect, without highlighting the selectable objects, thus helping to find them isn't insulting because it's obvious to see them in others securities of this type.

The soundtrack is very similar to what i see before, both in the saga Grim Legends, Enigmatis or Nightmares from the Deep, all of Artifex Mundi, and perhaps it could don't bad thing a change of approach to the composer, although in the end, the style of the melodies is part of his identity. The effects continue to sound very flat, lacking in spectacularity, but i also say that they have finally used a decent compression system in the audio, so now neither the music nor the voices nor the effects sound with those annoying clicks that distortion in previous titles.

Conclusion


The Artifex Mundi's new point & click graphic adventure is original and have a narrative level but not playable level. Grim Legends 2: Song of the Dark Swan is a lot of fun despite it's meager difficulty. This makes it, the ideal proposal for those who want to get into the genre. And, of course, the fans of this saga are going to spend pipe with him and they should not miss it.





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