This review contains spoilers
Spoiler only discussed at the very bottom
I wish I could be more enthusiastic writing this review, but I gotta be upfront with you guys- Costume Quest 2 was not fun. Not only does it do nothing to fix any of the issues I had with the first (minus one alleviant that has its own shortfalls), but it also saps the charm its predecessor at least coasted on when the gameplay faltered. The story is underdeveloped, the protagonists less individualistic, and the combat as atrocious as before. I don’t recommend it in any way, shape, or form.
When we last left off, the quartet were stranded in a plane of existence housing multiple portals. Unfortunately, there is no save transfer, meaning you’re going to get some discontinuity with the costumes the four are wearing here versus at the end of your Grubbins on Ice playthrough (an aspect that’ll prop up multiple times, but more on that later). Those who thought this would lead to some Rick and Morty-esque traversals through different dimensions with their own takes on Allhallowtide celebrations would be wrong as you are instead provided a basic time travel tale: the twins’ resident dentist, Orel, is scheming with time wizards to remove the holiday for good.
I know it’s dumb to dissect a lighthearted plot for its holes, but consistent worldbuilding is imperative when it comes to any fictional project. No matter how silly the tone, if you do not have coherent rules, your story will crumble and consequently lose viewer interest. These wizards, led by a sage named Kronoculus, appear out of nowhere: we aren’t told why they’re making a deal with Orel, why they care about removing Halloween, or why they’re so incompetent if they can control time. It may seem strange, but their parallels in the first Costume Quest were all addressed: Dorsilla’s magic gave her power and influence over the Repugians; they were targeting Halloween in order to amass enough confectionaries for Big Bones; and the Grubbins were regular blue collar workers who hated their job and subsequently privy to labor mishaps.
It’s a shame that the narrative wanes as often as it does because there was potential for an actual emotional climax(+). Yet that wasn’t to be, and you’re alternatively left with the generic goal of trying to save the timeline from culminating into a candyless dystopia.
Gone too, are the personalities of the Twins. The prior game glided on their conflicting demeanors and burgeoning acknowledgment that they loved each other: now, they’re just lackeys for whatever MacGuffin the other characters set them out to retrieve. There are moments when they get some one liners here and there, but overall they’re silent protagonists in spirit.
I mentioned earlier that one drawback from CQ1 was resolved, and that was the lack of player control over speech. You were forced to essentially sit back and wait for this recording to play out, no matter how fast or slow your pace of reading. The sequel fixes things by adding a control trigger, but this is offset by the transitions going from one pose to another. It’s like you’re reading a comic book, with the next character’s line of speech being associated with a complete shift in their posture, facial expressions, or even location. The result was jarring and lazy, as though the developers were unable to program a stationary camera showcasing these adjustments occurring between conversations in-real-time.
Graphically, Costume Quest 2 hasn’t changed much: you can read my critique of the first game for a full breakdown (https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/279063/), but the character models and architecture are more-or-less unaltered. The decor of Hallow’s Eve is also more diminished this time around, being substituted with a nighttime vibrancy dependent on the district you’re in (the Jazzy French Quarter is decked with pink and purple stage lighting; old Auburn Pines a dilapidated neighborhood of Autumnal plainness; New Repugia a smokey metropolis of LED signposts and economic grit). As you can probably guess, there are a lot more locations this time around compared to CQ1, and the aesthetic minutiae were evidently planned to a tee by Double Fine. Unfortunately, while I do understand wanting to avoid rehashing the prequel’s atmosphere, the lack of an overarching theme does leave something to be desired in a game that is technically focused on Halloween.
The only real visual downside I found was the occasional costume clipping during trick-or-treat cutscenes. On that note, let’s talk about the gameplay: it’s literally the exact same. Progressing from one region to the next entails you doing a series of quests whilst engaging in combat with the monsters roaming about; 99% of these tasks (including side ones) consisting of fetch quests. Though a few involve interacting with some eccentric individuals, the majority are boring and forgettable, whether it’s playing hide-and-seek with the local kids, trading cards, or collecting candy/packages (read: trick-or-treating) for the occasional mook.
What brings down the whole experience, however, is the combat. It’s a good thing my rant from the first game remains true, as I don’t have to waste words explaining why it’s so bad, so if you want to know why it (and the RPG elements in general) fail, head over to that page. To be fair, a few adjustments have been made: one, sticky treat cards replace battle stamps from before and can be used by any character; two, the Repugians are replaced with a greater diversity of enemies (though they still go down the same); and three, taking a cue from the first two Paper Marios, there’s now a collision meter whenever you attack/defend that increases the power of each the closer you tap it to the moment of contact between you and the foe. Sadly, it’s diminished by the fact that you don’t unlock it’s full usage until close to the endgame, and it ultimately doesn’t do much to modify the repetitious nature of brawls. And while there are more than 10 levels this time around, I honestly went out of my way to avoid fighting whenever I could because of how monotonous such scenarios got.
Not only is the customization the same, but you’re often forced to reacquire and rehash suit powers that you used to own before, like the light sword for navigating dark alleys and the pirate hook for riding ziplines. That Double FIne couldn’t come up with any more unique abilities is definitely disappointing. Oh well, at least the menu interface is a lot cleaner, and you start off with the rocket boots by default, allowing you to burst drift from the get-go.
The one area Costume Quest 2 improves upon its progenitor is the sound. Attacks have a lot more force behind them, allowing you to feel the impact of whatever strike you throw out. I also enjoyed the score more this time around, the main theme being catchy, the battle music invigorating, and the ragtime tunes of a Saxophone as soothing as ever. On the downside, there is still no voice acting, and Costume Quest 2 is definitely a title that would have benefitted from the inclusion of vocalizations, at least for its main players.
That’s about all I can say on the subject. Despite being thematically appropriate, I do not recommend you waste your Halloween indulging in Costume Quest 2. It adds nothing to the original (minus retconning it to have a happier ending for the Grubbins), drains it of its charm, and doesn’t fix any of its qualms. Play something else.
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The idea of resolving Orel’s childhood abuse by using his past self to confront his future self was intriguing, and hearkened back to Goob from Meet the Robinsons. But it’s rushed and not delved into. Their sole interaction is reduced to a brief dabbling in Faustian bargaining.
It’s a shame too as seeing the adult Orel having a secret trick-or-treating facility was heartbreaking, yet confronting the trauma that lead to this situation is tossed out the window in favor of his adolescent version simply declaring he won’t turn into a loser. Wren stealing the talisman from him at the last minute (indicating, as the adult points out, a lack of trust in the kid coming to the right decision on his own) is just brushed aside.
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I wish I could be more enthusiastic writing this review, but I gotta be upfront with you guys- Costume Quest 2 was not fun. Not only does it do nothing to fix any of the issues I had with the first (minus one alleviant that has its own shortfalls), but it also saps the charm its predecessor at least coasted on when the gameplay faltered. The story is underdeveloped, the protagonists less individualistic, and the combat as atrocious as before. I don’t recommend it in any way, shape, or form.
When we last left off, the quartet were stranded in a plane of existence housing multiple portals. Unfortunately, there is no save transfer, meaning you’re going to get some discontinuity with the costumes the four are wearing here versus at the end of your Grubbins on Ice playthrough (an aspect that’ll prop up multiple times, but more on that later). Those who thought this would lead to some Rick and Morty-esque traversals through different dimensions with their own takes on Allhallowtide celebrations would be wrong as you are instead provided a basic time travel tale: the twins’ resident dentist, Orel, is scheming with time wizards to remove the holiday for good.
I know it’s dumb to dissect a lighthearted plot for its holes, but consistent worldbuilding is imperative when it comes to any fictional project. No matter how silly the tone, if you do not have coherent rules, your story will crumble and consequently lose viewer interest. These wizards, led by a sage named Kronoculus, appear out of nowhere: we aren’t told why they’re making a deal with Orel, why they care about removing Halloween, or why they’re so incompetent if they can control time. It may seem strange, but their parallels in the first Costume Quest were all addressed: Dorsilla’s magic gave her power and influence over the Repugians; they were targeting Halloween in order to amass enough confectionaries for Big Bones; and the Grubbins were regular blue collar workers who hated their job and subsequently privy to labor mishaps.
It’s a shame that the narrative wanes as often as it does because there was potential for an actual emotional climax(+). Yet that wasn’t to be, and you’re alternatively left with the generic goal of trying to save the timeline from culminating into a candyless dystopia.
Gone too, are the personalities of the Twins. The prior game glided on their conflicting demeanors and burgeoning acknowledgment that they loved each other: now, they’re just lackeys for whatever MacGuffin the other characters set them out to retrieve. There are moments when they get some one liners here and there, but overall they’re silent protagonists in spirit.
I mentioned earlier that one drawback from CQ1 was resolved, and that was the lack of player control over speech. You were forced to essentially sit back and wait for this recording to play out, no matter how fast or slow your pace of reading. The sequel fixes things by adding a control trigger, but this is offset by the transitions going from one pose to another. It’s like you’re reading a comic book, with the next character’s line of speech being associated with a complete shift in their posture, facial expressions, or even location. The result was jarring and lazy, as though the developers were unable to program a stationary camera showcasing these adjustments occurring between conversations in-real-time.
Graphically, Costume Quest 2 hasn’t changed much: you can read my critique of the first game for a full breakdown (https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/279063/), but the character models and architecture are more-or-less unaltered. The decor of Hallow’s Eve is also more diminished this time around, being substituted with a nighttime vibrancy dependent on the district you’re in (the Jazzy French Quarter is decked with pink and purple stage lighting; old Auburn Pines a dilapidated neighborhood of Autumnal plainness; New Repugia a smokey metropolis of LED signposts and economic grit). As you can probably guess, there are a lot more locations this time around compared to CQ1, and the aesthetic minutiae were evidently planned to a tee by Double Fine. Unfortunately, while I do understand wanting to avoid rehashing the prequel’s atmosphere, the lack of an overarching theme does leave something to be desired in a game that is technically focused on Halloween.
The only real visual downside I found was the occasional costume clipping during trick-or-treat cutscenes. On that note, let’s talk about the gameplay: it’s literally the exact same. Progressing from one region to the next entails you doing a series of quests whilst engaging in combat with the monsters roaming about; 99% of these tasks (including side ones) consisting of fetch quests. Though a few involve interacting with some eccentric individuals, the majority are boring and forgettable, whether it’s playing hide-and-seek with the local kids, trading cards, or collecting candy/packages (read: trick-or-treating) for the occasional mook.
What brings down the whole experience, however, is the combat. It’s a good thing my rant from the first game remains true, as I don’t have to waste words explaining why it’s so bad, so if you want to know why it (and the RPG elements in general) fail, head over to that page. To be fair, a few adjustments have been made: one, sticky treat cards replace battle stamps from before and can be used by any character; two, the Repugians are replaced with a greater diversity of enemies (though they still go down the same); and three, taking a cue from the first two Paper Marios, there’s now a collision meter whenever you attack/defend that increases the power of each the closer you tap it to the moment of contact between you and the foe. Sadly, it’s diminished by the fact that you don’t unlock it’s full usage until close to the endgame, and it ultimately doesn’t do much to modify the repetitious nature of brawls. And while there are more than 10 levels this time around, I honestly went out of my way to avoid fighting whenever I could because of how monotonous such scenarios got.
Not only is the customization the same, but you’re often forced to reacquire and rehash suit powers that you used to own before, like the light sword for navigating dark alleys and the pirate hook for riding ziplines. That Double FIne couldn’t come up with any more unique abilities is definitely disappointing. Oh well, at least the menu interface is a lot cleaner, and you start off with the rocket boots by default, allowing you to burst drift from the get-go.
The one area Costume Quest 2 improves upon its progenitor is the sound. Attacks have a lot more force behind them, allowing you to feel the impact of whatever strike you throw out. I also enjoyed the score more this time around, the main theme being catchy, the battle music invigorating, and the ragtime tunes of a Saxophone as soothing as ever. On the downside, there is still no voice acting, and Costume Quest 2 is definitely a title that would have benefitted from the inclusion of vocalizations, at least for its main players.
That’s about all I can say on the subject. Despite being thematically appropriate, I do not recommend you waste your Halloween indulging in Costume Quest 2. It adds nothing to the original (minus retconning it to have a happier ending for the Grubbins), drains it of its charm, and doesn’t fix any of its qualms. Play something else.
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-
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-
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-
-
-
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-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
The idea of resolving Orel’s childhood abuse by using his past self to confront his future self was intriguing, and hearkened back to Goob from Meet the Robinsons. But it’s rushed and not delved into. Their sole interaction is reduced to a brief dabbling in Faustian bargaining.
It’s a shame too as seeing the adult Orel having a secret trick-or-treating facility was heartbreaking, yet confronting the trauma that lead to this situation is tossed out the window in favor of his adolescent version simply declaring he won’t turn into a loser. Wren stealing the talisman from him at the last minute (indicating, as the adult points out, a lack of trust in the kid coming to the right decision on his own) is just brushed aside.
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