Capsule Review: Princess Remedy 2: In A Heap of Trouble
A cute little (less than an hour) shooter with minimalist plot, graphics, and sound. As Princess Remedy, progress through a series of areas presented with the look of an old-school RPG as you climb the ominous Boss Tower gathering power-ups and healing everyone you come across.
Each area has a number of NPCs to heal, which is accomplished via playing a quick single-stick shooter level (you continually shoot the direction you last moved in). Each healing grants you a power-up and there are more power-ups to find in the areas you explore. Once you have enough power-ups you can challenge the area boss (a harder/lengthier shooter level) and proceed to the next area.
There are a few difficulty levels to choose, but regardless the punishment is quite low - failing a healing attempt has no lasting penalty and you are free to try again immediately. There’s also a slight element of customization from the “dating” system - any healed NPC can accompany you as your date and replace your default special ability with one of several more-powerful ones. I stuck with one that caused my attacks to home in on enemies, but there are a variety of offensive, defensive, and mobility-related options.
Fundamentally, it’s a more-polished version of its free predecessor. The path is a bit more clear in this one so you’re less likely to get lost or run into a difficulty spike, and the dating system allows you to tune the gameplay somewhat. You can try the first one for free, and if you enjoy it, it’s worth supporting developer Ludosity with a couple of bucks to get the improved sequel.
I Stopped Playing When: I finished the game. The ending screen told me I had 100% completion and had played for 49 minutes.
Three Stars: Good. I liked the game enough to finish it (or just play it a bunch, for games that don't end). I recommend it to most genre fans.