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Review A Game of Two Worlds: Gamebanshee Reviews Two Worlds II

Crooked Bee

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Tags: Eric Schwarz; Reality Pump Studios; Two Worlds II

Gamebanshee's Eric Schwarz, also known as sea, has penned a detailed 5-page review of Reality Pump's open world action RPG Two Worlds II. It has a lot of good points, and obviously I cannot quote them all for you, but here are a few snippets:

Two Worlds II is, in some respects, literally a game of two worlds. On the one hand, it has some of the best visuals I've seen in an open world RPG, it has a fantastic soundtrack, it's mechanically quite sound, and when the game tries for it, there are some surprisingly involving sub-plots and quests. On the other hand, the lack of polish becomes evident immediately and never lets up throughout the entire game. At its heart, Two Worlds II is an enjoyable open-world RPG that has several good ideas and entertaining sequences; whether it's worth putting up with the game's many shortcomings and frustrations, however, will come down to personal preference more than anything else.

[...] Two Worlds II's story is more a framing device for its huge selection of quests and content. The entertaining parts of the game come in the smaller moments, and much of the game's satirical bent comes out in these moments, ranging from simple tasks like saving a saleswoman's clients from killer umbrellas, to a full-on parody of Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade's final sequence (complete with arbitrary Monty Python references). At times, it breaks the fourth wall, but this is also when the game is at its most enjoyable.

[...] Unfortunately, the story highlights one of Two Worlds II's biggest internal contradictions: that while it's billed as an open-ended game with freedom to explore, the reality is that the game is actually quite linear. [...] Open-world games revolve around sandbox-type gameplay, exploration and a player-driven sort of experience. However, Two Worlds II doesn't really reward exploration. Almost every cave or dungeon to explore is locked until its associated quest is provided, and thanks to map markers, you'll rarely be lost on where to go or how to get there. This means that, rather than strike out on your own in search of adventure, you'll need to rigidly follow the quests provided.

[...] Fortunately, Two Worlds II has some surprisingly robust and enjoyable mechanics that flesh out its RPG feature set. For starters, it features a fully open, classless character system. This means that it's possible to make pretty much any character you like, at least within the confines of what the game offers, and it encourages mixing and matching rather than sticking to one specific role. The game also has just the right number of attributes - Strength, Willpower, Endurance and Accuracy - and pretty much every single skill you can pick up is useful, from various crafting skills, to pickpocketing and assassination, to elemental arrows. Leveling up is pretty quick early on, but late in the game you'll be getting most of your experience points from quests. There's some satisfying character progression on tap, although like a lot of other titles, Two Worlds II does have a strong inverse difficulty curve.

[...] Last, and most interesting (especially for Elder Scrolls fans), Two Worlds II has a pretty interesting and original magic system which revolves entirely around creating your own spells. By using magical cards with different properties, it's possible to summon various creatures, apply buffs, throw around elemental bolts, and just about anything else you'd expect from an RPG, but with the added flexibility of being able to choose how you use those base components to your advantage. While not as flexible as Morrowind's spell creation, it allows for a lot of experimentation, and lets you decide how to spec your spell list, unlike some RPGs, which saddle you with dozens of fixed spells that grow obsolete over time or are simply useless.​

Be sure to read the full review.
 

Aeschylus

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A good review. I actually just recently picked this up during the Steam summer sale and... I agree with probably 90% of the things said in this review. It's a mostly average game, that has some surprisingly well-done parts and some really weird design decisions.

It sort of feels like a game that was shooting for an experience similar to Divinity 2, but fell into the Elder Scrolls' hiking simulator trap. Still, not too bad as these things go.
 

abnaxus

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Good review as always, but... don't you kill Gandohar at the end of the first game?
 

sea

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Good review as always, but... don't you kill Gandohar at the end of the first game?
I never played it. I assume Two Worlds II retconned the ending - you are ruling by Gandohar's side for a time, but then he imprisons you when your hero has thoughts of overpowering and deposing him. You get locked in a dungeon for five years or something before breaking out.
 

JarlFrank

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Good review. I mostly agree with your opinion, but I didn't enjoy the later areas much at all (from the Swallows onwards) since they were both linear and filled with respawning filler combat that grew very tedious very quickly. Not a bad game overall, but it really falls down in the later half. The savannah island and that Asian-styled university island are pretty good and I enjoyed them, though.

Have you played the expansion? How does that compare to the original game, and is it worth playing if I liked the more open areas but disliked the later ones?
 

sea

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Have you played the expansion? How does that compare to the original game, and is it worth playing if I liked the more open areas but disliked the later ones?
Working on it. It seems to be far less serious due to the pirate theme. It takes place across 5 islands, most of them reasonably sized, but so far the quests haven't been that interesting, just your standard fetch/kill. The dialogue is presented in a more cinematic way too, though they replaced the main voice actor who now sounds pretty awful. Overall hard to say, but if you liked the game then it's basically more of the same, for better or worse.
 

Rivmusique

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Is two worlds 1 worth playing? I'm nearing the end of this Gothic 2 playthrough so want some more open world ARPG goodness, and TW1 is 50% off on gog. How does TW1 compare to Gothic 2?
 

Micmu

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Is two worlds 1 worth playing? I'm nearing the end of this Gothic 2 playthrough so want some more open world ARPG goodness, and TW1 is 50% off on gog. How does TW1 compare to Gothic 2?
No. It's horrible and does not compare to G2 at all; different kind of game. You're gonna puke your guts, that much is guaranteed. It doesn't even compare to "G" 3. It compares to dungeon lords, with (slightly) less bugs. Or Oblivious except 100-times shittier even.
 

Aeschylus

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Is two worlds 1 worth playing? I'm nearing the end of this Gothic 2 playthrough so want some more open world ARPG goodness, and TW1 is 50% off on gog. How does TW1 compare to Gothic 2?
Unfavorably, as with any other open world ARPG. Two Worlds 2 is a bit better, even if the exploration is nowhere near as rewarding as Gothic 1/2.
 

sea

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Is two worlds 1 worth playing? I'm nearing the end of this Gothic 2 playthrough so want some more open world ARPG goodness, and TW1 is 50% off on gog. How does TW1 compare to Gothic 2?
Skip it and get Two Worlds II, if you want one. The first game is basically the same as the second, as I recall, even down to most of the mechanics. I haven't played the first, as I said, but everything I've seen suggests it's simply a far less polished version of the same game (which is saying something).
 

abnaxus

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First game has a huge world and much more variety in environments, weapons and armour. From a kill-'n-loot perspective it's much better than the second.
 

Rivmusique

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I see. Maybe I will just play some other games on my backlog then return to Gothic 2 when I have forgotten a bit about it. It can be my "next" open world ARPG. Or perhaps pickup TW2 if it goes on a decent sale sometime soon.
 

Roguey

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This being graphicswhoredex and all
Fortunately, Two Worlds II is visually stunning. It has some of the more impressive open-world landscapes I've seen, with tall grass blowing in the wind off into the distance, animals grazing, and just about every technical bell and whistle available today.
screenshot_twoworlds2_2010-11-02_08-00-52-52_copy_copy_38665.jpg

Some of the character models leave a bit to be desired, and animation during cutscenes can be a bit poor, but otherwise there are few complaints to make.
TwoWorlds2%2B2010-12-29%2B01-48-46-08.jpg

:what:
Also everyone in this game has baby arms, like the Dead State t-rex lady. The artists fail at anatomy forever.
 

Aeschylus

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It's so easy to make games look horrible with still shots. :obviously:

The game does look very nice for the most part, though as mentioned the characters models can be a bit... wonky. The environments are quite nice, if you care about that sort of thing.
 

Metro

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I see. Maybe I will just play some other games on my backlog then return to Gothic 2 when I have forgotten a bit about it. It can be my "next" open world ARPG. Or perhaps pickup TW2 if it goes on a decent sale sometime soon.

It happens quite a bit. I grabbed the 'Velvet Edition' (includes the expansion) for $10 last Steam sale. I think it might even be on sale at Gamer's Gate now, although 'RPG Week' of their Summer Sale could have just ended.
 

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