Equipped with light mechanics, but at the same time with different layers of depth, it offered an immediate and captivating gameplay, designed especially for the local multiplayer, but also well-functioning online. It was a simple title, fulminating in his brilliant basilarity.
Nidhogg 2 starts exactly from Nidhogg : if he turns it in his hands, he examines it in the finest details and finally understands that any attempt at detachment would mean losing the charm that brought the game to the road, so it is limited to widening it, keeping its formula is substantially intact.
WE SHARPEN THE SWORDS
Nidhogg 2 does not tell any story. In reality there is a vague tapestry and the presence of the vermons determines a certain mythology, but basically the game is limited to being a comparison between two players that follows very simple rules. Starting from the central point of each level, you must reach the opposite side from the starting point , killing the opponent while he wants to do the same heading in the other direction.
Killing and not being killed is crucial, because it determines the direction in which the level flows, indicated by a clearly visible arrow at the top of the screen.
The gameplay is not therefore reduced to being a senseless race, but it is mainly formed by a series of comparisons between the players, with the loser who reappears after a few seconds in front of the other, after having given him the opportunity to walk a piece of level and maybe to change the screen. How do you fight in Nidhogg 2? Each character holds a weapon.
In the first chapter there was only the rapier, but in the following three were added: a heavy two-handed sword, a short but lightning knife and a bow with arrows.Each weapon has different characteristics and slightly different attack and defense strategies. For example, the bow allows you to hit from a distance shooting arrows at two different heights, but you have to pay attention to the time of reloading the shots and, above all, to the possibility for the opponent to
send back the arrows parades. The sword is instead a heavy weapon that does not follow the rules of the staple and the knife, ie can not be used to bring attacks at different heights, but provides a single powerful shot that disarms or disintegrates literally opponents. Obviously it is also the slowest weapon in the melee range, so it is prone to counterattacks of the quickest ones.
The staple and the knife instead, work in a similar way: both allow to carry attacks at three different heights at great speed. The only differences are the length of the weapon and the speed of recovery of the shots. That said, as in Nidhogg all the weapons can be thrown at the opponent and, when they are left unarmed, they can fight with their bare hands with kicks, punches, slips and flying kicks , all techniques that mainly serve to disarm or land the ‘opponent.
MAKE UP THE TRICK
If the fighting mechanics of Nidhogg 2 remained almost identical to those of Nidhogg, the same can not be said of the visual side, enriched by a much more detailed and colored pixel-art. No more chromatism and sprites from Atari 2600, in short, but well-defined characters (customizable at the beginning of the game), detailed backdrops and many more animations.
From this point of view progress is evident and undeniable even by those who are fond of the original style. See the characters that when they die become bloody colored pools that drip from the platforms is very satisfying, as well as admire some of the landscapes, much more varied than those of the first chapter: between a level set in the snow, another on the ships flying , another one in a disco and so on.
