It certainly does feel like Spelunky New Game+ in a lot of ways but I didn't put as much time into the first as some so I don't mind. I think it's having the stuff from the first game like the altars and so on that can make it feel like less of a step forward but I have a feeling it's just because people haven't found the secrets in this one yet
Found my way to world 4 and to a secret area too. Fun times. Although second time getting close to the secret area again and my helper friend decided to jump into a bat, come flying into me knocking both of us unconscious and letting the bat them come and kill us. Time to put the controller down for now...
Spent ages on this again today. Decided to used the short cut to practice level 2 more. Feel like I've got the hang of it much better (at least one way). And eventually worked my way to 4-1.
I've had so many ridiculous deaths and yeah, it's frustrating how sudden and unfair they can feel at times. But I think the big the reason this works where so many others don't is the length of each run. A botched effort is done in 5 minutes. Some roguelikes you're guaranteed to be playing an hour before things may or may not go wrong. Here, it's easy to just keep hitting restart and go again.
This game is fucking excellent. Secrets keep revealing themselves and layering with each other. I'm using the shortcuts too but now I'm feeling pretty good about second levels so should be able to do longer runs easier. Gonna be a bit tricky unlocking the next shortcuts because of what she wants.
The hooks are in me now!
It's very clever in its design (obviously) with how there's various types of runs you can do so that even if you get a little annoyed at trying to get to the end you can then focus on doing the things you need to get to that secret exit or focus on figuring out that other thing you saw. Or keep working on the fucking tutorial speedrun because 30.282 seconds isn't good enough!
Played this for 3 hours straight last night with a couple of whiskies and I had a fucking ball of a time. I was bursting out laughing at the calamities I was getting into. It's just hilarious. I'd forgotten why Spelunky is one of the best games ever made. The instant restart is the clincher for me, and of course the average length of the runs as Jon said. You can become embroiled in an action packed adventure packed with variety and tension before coming to a sticky end -
all in under two minutes. It crams more into a minute of gameplay than most AAA titles do over the course of five hours. The music is also amazing.
The further I get, the more it's revealing itself as a proper sequel. There's so much cool new stuff but a lot of it is kept for worlds after the first one. So many flippin secrets too!
One thing that might be worth doing for all you folk who are playing it is to set up a thread with spoilers as you explore the game. Or alternatively if you want take this thread and I’ll make it an open spoilers thread.
I was listening to the old spelunky podcast (now eggplant) and they mentioned that talking about the weird stuff you see in a group is a really good way to experience the game and enriches the experience but specifically if you start at the same time so the rate of discoveries are parallel.
I’ll probably set up a thread when I get it (PS5 day) and see what happens.
Ha, I can't wait to watch some speed run stuff with this. Also to see what crazy deep secrets people find. The devs know how deep their fanbase goes with this stuff so they must have gone overboard on hiding some stuff
I tried playing online to see what it was like. It was terrible. Doesn't work at all, basically.
Back in single-player, I am starting to get worn down a bit by the difficulty. So many instant death moments where you barely do anything wrong. And most runs I'm not seeing anything new anymore. There's a lot of stuff recycled from the first game.
I've reached 4-1 twice - different ones each time. Both times I died almost immediately and haven't had another look in since.
Yeah the balance might be tipped a little too much difficulty wise. It does grind you down. It's pretty pointless me trying to play this after work when I'm tired, for instance. It just turns into a best quick deaths montage of the like you see on YouTube.
Been playing almost exclusively in 2-player co-op and it's been great discovering new things together and immediately dying to them. When we're not accidentally killing each other, that is. Managed to get our first clear last night, just the regular ending so now it's time to figure out the secrets.
Still chipping away. Got the shortcut to 4 open, then spent about 90 mins practicing that until I managed to get to 5-1 once. Looks like that shortcut will be a bastard to open.
Ha, I think I'm right there with you Jon. A hint if you'd like
Spoiler:
there's a helper in the belly of the big fish.
I actually find in pretty comfortable now with every level up to where I'm at. Not sure how I'd go with a complete run from the start but tackling each world individually isn't so scary. Kinda like how I can see how much better I've gotten since I started and was dying within 30 seconds on the reg
They have patched the online so that it kinda works now. It's at least playable as it's smooth on your side,(just a smidge not as precise as single player) and it's just the other players that lag about. Can cause the game to think traps have been triggered and then correct it a second later and other such quirks but it's fun to play.
Will be good when they can patch it to work fully.
Managed to get to 5-1 again all the way from the start in not too many tries. Delivered the first part of the shortcut in the process. Looked up the next shortcut demand and it sounds pretty insane.