I bought Cat Quest 1 and 2 on a bit of a whim due to the fact they were both like £2 on sale from the PS store. So I thought, why not? And, i’m so glad I did. As you can see in my previous review of Cat Quest 1 I really enjoyed the quick and nifty RPG.
With this sequel they’ve improved upon nearly everything. The first noticeable improvements are the graphics. Immediately you notice the higher quality of detail. From the shading on the traversable map. The water, the translucence of the floating clouds above. All the while losing none of the charm of part and whimsy of part one.
You have two playable heroes this time as well, whom you can swap between at anytime. Having expanded the map to contain two kingdoms, one is the land of the cats and the other is dogs.
Having two heroes you have even more weapons and armour options, which function the same as in the first game. You initially find them in chests or you get them as rewards and they can be upgraded at either the armourer or blacksmith to improve their stats. This time round the game feels more balanced and the builds you choose to use feels more worthwhile as a direct result.
There are more dungeons to be spelunked this time around, and they have been overhauled. They still aren’t massive and only take a couple mins to run through. Still quick, fun and to the point. But they look better along with having more traps and better enemy variety. Plus a few of them are now trials, which are three to four enemy waves you have to defeat. A small improvement but in the platinum run it helps out instead of the same sort of monotonous dungeon each time.
The main story is better, it’s still not the best but there’s a slight continuation from the first game. Some returning side characters appear and even smaller ones for a few side quest as you go along your journey. Which even if you haven’t played the first, it won’t infringe upon playing this game in anyway.
Combat is pretty much the same as last time. You can attack and roll once the red circle triggers on the enemies to allow time to dodge the incoming attack. You have magic attacks returning again. This time you have 12 to choose from, each hero can equip four ago once you’ve found the corresponding rune stones. Which also boost your overall mana pool.
Along with these, there are four royal arts which are passive abilities. A new feature to this sequel. You get water walking, added damage to your roll whilst you dodge into your enemies. A power smash attack with critical hits doing added knockback damage. You don’t get flying this time round which would’ve been a massive help in mopping up during the last few hours. However, water walking is still mightily helpful.
They’ve added a few quality of life improvements as well, you can scourer the map properly this time it still doesn’t come with a zoom function though. The menus are better to navigate through and there are fast travel points dotted around for slight easier travel. If you want to do multiple playthroughs there are three save slots and multiple difficulties with new game plus. Now it took me 11 hours to do everything and that’s with me playing it slightly badly. So it’s not the longest game, nor the shortest. The quick fun, nature of the game really shines through each time you play it. Whether for a quick half hour or a few hours a go.
I’d argue the side quest still suffer the same as the last game, now the idea is supposed to be quick and easy. Which they achieve and they are fun, don’t get me wrong. It just misses the mark in that there needs to be a few bigger side quests that are bit longer then go here, kill these monsters or clear this dungeon. Just something a bit meatier that could award you with bigger stacked upgrades for you weapon or they end in a much bigger dungeon with a bigger mini boss to defeat.
The world and lore of the game is expanded on as well, adding to the story started in part one. I have high hopes for three and have seen good things from it. As long as it follows the improvements from 1 too 2. I can only imagine those few niggle points will have been addressed and will make for an even better game which is already really doing most things right.
Overall I’d rate this belter of a game a highly Tasty 8/10.
A great sequel too an already slightly hidden gem of a game. Where it only gets better from the moment you boot this game up. A quick, fun and easily replayable game that hopefully sets up the third game just as well as one did for two.
Released September 24th 2019, Sony Playstation 4.
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