I never had the chance to play the original Hammewatch back when it was first released in 2013. However, I love a good fantasy RPG and this newest entry in the series piqued my interest with a charming retro art style. In this aspect, Hammerwatch II certainly delivers. Everything about the game’s world, gameplay, and presentation will no doubt appeal to fans of old-school MMOs like Runescape or dungeon crawlers such as Diablo. Sadly, the game never really surpasses those it seeks to replicate and thus the overall experience fell short for me.

The main story of Hammerwatch II picks up right where the original game left off. An evil dark lord named Blight the Horrible and his Dragon servants have brought about ruin to the kingdom of Herian. Groups of heroes are sent out by the resistance movement to slay a dragon. In the aftermath of it’s death you are forced to escape the crumbling lair of Castle Hammerwatch. Now you are tasked with defeating the latest dragon servant adventuring beyond the castle and liberating the kingdom.

I appreciated the quick recap given for newcomers though the premise is relatively simple. Unfortunately, the story is where most of my issues with this game arise. Hammerwatch II contains a huge amount of content. There are dozens of side quests and an expansive world to explore. It’s easy to get lost for hours accomplishing various tasks and level grinding without actually moving the plot forward. However, the core reason for this is that I was never intrigued enough by the major characters or the overall narrative to prioritize the main objectives.

Most main quests equaled slightly more involved side quests themselves with simple objectives. Characters in Hammerwatch II are all surface-level with no definite personalities and no memorable aspects. This is unfortunate as the genre is known for crafting exciting narratives that allow solo players to stay engaged and interact with characters in the absence of social interactions with friends. A game should be able to be fun no matter if it is in single or multiplayer, but there isn’t enough offered by the current story to keep my interest over other RPGs.

In terms of gameplay, Hammerwatch II has a fair amount to offer. There are five main classes to choose from: Wizard, Paladin, Ranger Rogue, and Warlock. Each has its own unique skills that can be upgraded as you progress. Combat works like most other ARPGs, with each ability executed with a simple button press as you maneuver in real-time against enemies. Defeating enemies grants you experience points, items, materials, and more. You can use these things to advance your character, trade with NPCs, craft enchanted items, or purchase necessary consumables.

None of these systems are super revolutionary but are executed well and will allow for a decent level of customization across various campaigns. However, I wish there were more visual customization options as equipping different gear doesn’t change anything about your in-game character model. As I mentioned previously, there is a variety of side quests and dungeons that you can take on solo or form a party with friends.

I enjoyed the various environments Hammerwatch II had to offer, though exploration can quickly lead to death. Most enemies within the game typically follow two attack patterns. Either they rush you with melee or hang back and shoot from range. As a result, it’s quite easy to get overwhelmed and surrounded when playing by yourself, given you often face large hordes in any given scenario.

While this can be a fun challenge for some folks, It can also slow your progress substantially and make clearing dungeons laborious as I found most enemies can hit quite hard. Now this was in part because I chose the Wizard and thus was quite fragile, but I can’t imagine anything but the heavily armored Paladin able to stand up to some enemy onslaughts.

Furthermore, there are some enemies that can soak up damage. This causes some encounters to boil down to a cat-and-mouse chase where you run around and hit each other for bits of damage until someone dies. The natural response to this scenario is to spend tedious time grinding until you can one or two-shot everything in a particular area. That saps the fun out of combat and I’d like to see some adjustments done in the future that may remedy these issues in some way.

On the other hand, the graphics are quite charming and the stylized pixel art is wonderfully rendered with colors that pop off the screen and detailed backgrounds. Locations are filled with small details and touches that help everything feel more visually appealing. The soundtrack is also fantastic and the various songs provide a perfect background for adventuring.

Despite those upsides, I did have a few issues with overall performance. From time to time load screens can drag on for minutes or more. It’s a weird problem, given that the game is a lot simpler than other titles I’ve played that run seamlessly on my PC. No doubt this is an indication of optimization issues. It’s nothing game-breaking but can get irritating when you are facing a difficult boss and have to reload the level multiple times in quick succession.

Overall, Hammerwatch II isn’t perfect but it can certainly still be a fun time with friends if you are looking to adventure through an old-school world. Despite the issues, I appreciate the effort that was put in here and most of the base gameplay systems are well constructed and will lead to a good experience.

A PC Review Copy of Hammerwatch II was provided by Modus Games for this Review.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Hammerwatch II

24.99

5

Score

5.0/10

Pros

• Charming retro art
• Music is Great
• Lots of content

Cons

• Story is bland
• Single player experience can be dull
• Minor balancing and optimization issues