One of my favorite Indie platformers is 2014’s Freedom Planet. It was at the time (and still is, I think) the only Indie game to attempt to capture the magic of early Sonic The Hedgehog platformers and succeed. Now developer GalaxyTrail has crafted a sequel that takes things in an interesting direction.

Lilac, Milla, and Carol return in Freedom Planet 2, though this time you can play Neera, a fourth character as well. Each character has unique abilities and strengths, so playing through Freedom Planet 2 multiple times is a no-brainer. In the Adventure mode, you pick one of the four characters as you progress through a unique story. Lilac and her allies face Merga, an ancient foe released after the events of the first game.

Interestingly enough for Freedom Planet 2, certain characters find themselves on opposite sides, testing friendships and loyalties throughout the game. Adventure mode boasts a sprawling world map covered in landmarks, treasures, and unique experiences. There are also over 100 NPCs to interact with, including shops and NPCs that are important to the narrative.

Exploration and combat have been refined in Freedom Planet 2 as well. Not only can you equip items to your character to make things easier, but you can also mix a unique potion from various options to provide gameplay benefits. You can also equip Brave Stones which will make things more difficult, giving you various options to tailor your difficulty.

After completing Adventure mode, you also get access to Classic mode, which gives you faster access to stages and puts you right into the action. The gameplay is engaging and varied in Freedom Planet 2, with a fun story that expands on the world of the original game. The art style is also more developed, with rich colors and pixel art that is very well made.

Freedom Planet 2 is fully voice-acted and contains a soundtrack that I enjoyed bopping along to as I played. It is difficult to make a sequel, and I’d also say it is difficult to do a fully voice-acted game on an Indie developer’s budget. Regardless, developer GalaxyTrail nailed it.

I don’t have that many complaints about Freedom Planet 2. Neera (the new character) has a combat style that felt clunky to me, but I know plenty of folks who will enjoy the challenge of a more methodical play style. My other complaint is that while the storyline is fun, it also locks the true ending behind a secret level gained by collecting time capsules in every level.

While I didn’t mind too much, for someone who isn’t a completionist, missing out on the full story can sour the experience for people. With that said, I enjoy playing Freedom Planet 2 as a time killer, so it isn’t much of an issue for me to replay levels and try to collect things over again.

If you enjoyed Freedom Planet, you’ll love Freedom Planet 2. The sequel is more of what you loved the first time around, just with new gameplay elements and tuning. If you have never played Freedom Planet, but enjoy classic Sonic games, I think Freedom Planet 2 will scratch that itch nicely too.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Freedom Planet 2 was provided by GalaxyTrail Games for the purposes of this review.

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$24.99 USD

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Gorgeous Pixel Art
• Lots of Replay Value
• Engaging Story
• Solid combat and gameplay
• Variable difficulty

Cons

• Neera's combat is clunky
• True ending locked behind secrets