Before we even begin, I would first like to confess that I’ve never played, seen or even heard of Hammerwatch II or its prequels prior to its release. This is a game that only caught my attention while trying to browse through August’s current game releases and because the name sounded cool at the time, I just had to ask for it. Was it a decision that I would regret much later? Well, I don’t want to spoil you the fun so let’s leave that for later.
Hammerwatch II as the name suggest is a direct sequel to the first Hammerwatch from Crackshell. And much like any other, it starts on the back foot of where the previous title met its conclusion. But despite my lack of knowledge on the series, the brief explanation at the start of the game gave me the gist of what’s up so making the transition to start this adventure first didn’t really feel like I was missing a lot.
However, I was not prepared on what’s to come. My first adventure was met with a lot of bloodshed and while the game didn’t feel like it was coming at me in cold blood, I was breaking in a cold sweat as I realized how wrong I was after my first boss encounter where I’ve died more times than I can count. But after besting the beast and continuing my adventure on the next island where most of the story takes place, I’ve decided to just start from scratch and view the game in a different angle where I switched from a flimsy rogue to a beefy paladin.
With a brand-new set of clothes, the game where I’ve been hammered felt a lot smoother. What’s changed here is that my initial ignorance to the game’s mechanics which has mostly been introduced as a small text box at the corner of the screen is now something I’ve held dear.
And this is really where Hammerwatch II’s first problem rises. Unlike the modern games that us gamers are now used to; important game mechanics has always been splattered right in our faces along with visuals to really make sure you notice it. Because even after my first failed run on my rogue, it took me up to the next island before I noticed that I needed to allocate both my attribute and skill points to be more effective in battle. And that’s just one of the many things that disappoints despite it being a really fun yet short side quest of sorts considering I was done with it in under 12 hours.
Heroism takes no breaks for anyone…
I’ve mentioned earlier that Hammerwatch II starts right off after the events of the previous game and please do take that quite literally. Because unlike other games, the heroes of Hammerwatch apparently didn’t deserve any rest. After starting the scenario, Roland’s Revenge, you are splattered with walls of text before eventually taking control of your character who’s trying to escape the ruins of Castle Hammerwatch.
From there, you supposedly need to sail to the resistance hideout where you will meet up with King Roland and aid the resistance to beat the evil forces that’s taken over the kingdom. It’s a pretty straightforward and simple quest but what makes the adventure so endearing and at the same time frustrating is the vast open world the game takes place in, all while letting you and your band of misfits if you even had any friends to begin with run like headless chickens in its many side dungeons and what not.
While it doesn’t take long to beat the entire game even if you were to go through most caves you come across, my twelve-hour playthrough was just the right amount of fun, if fun was all about going through dungeons that sometimes never really had anything worth notable in it.
As a huge fan of RPGs even back in my childhood, I was a firm believer of leaving no stone unturned and no dungeon being left unmapped. As such, most of its dungeons left a sour taste in my mouth whenever I end up with nothing more than a bunch of materials from slaughtering maybe an entire species of beetles, wolves or even wasps. While I can turn them into craftable armor or materials for enchanting, nothing really beats getting a unique drop that you normally can’t craft or obtain by other means.
There are a handful of unique stuffs like the eyepatch you get from the first boss in the pirate encampment, however, most of them are obtained through main story bosses that you could never obtain again at a higher item level. This made my item progression also a bit more complicated.
It drives the yellow bus to an old school classic
Hammerwatch II does have its redeeming factors though. The gameplay which is something that I would consider as somewhat addictive, drives a fine line between Diablo and a Soulsborne game. I’d say it leans more into its Diablo aspect where you have your five classes each with their own unlockable skill sets and three attribute types namely Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity to which you can freely allocate points towards.
The adventure hack n’ slash RPG’s Souls-like aspect comes with its death sequences though… death which is normal to most RPGs is ramped up and somewhat penalized with losing a percentage of gold for each one. Something that in my first attempt has made me feel like a complete homeless person that couldn’t even afford a night in a proper inn which is also something that is quite a necessity for most cases as NPCs have their own set times when they go to sleep or refuse service.
The game pays homage to the classics I’ve come to love and grew up with. An era where hand-holding is for dingos and just trying to find the next objective of the story is the real end-game content before you even reach the end-game. Because what Hammerwatch II does best is just that.
I can’t say that I miss not having quest markers telling me where to go before I even know where to actually go however there’s a sort of charm to it when you don’t have them. It makes me feel more invested in learning the story and its objectives when I know I’d end up reading the quest details again later if I don’t. This also points to a more exploration-heavy adventure where quests would only give you hints on the general direction of where you need to go which leads me to appreciating more of its world despite being a headless chicken most of the time trying to get from point A to point B.
A charming pixelated world filled with life and its nuances
The world where Hammerwatch II takes place in is also something that I do find interesting. The pixelated world manages to capture my eyes with its mesmerizing pastures and vistas as each blade of grass sways along the wind, its dreary and mysterious caves along with its not-so-hospitable inhabitants feel like they’re ready to pounce at a moment’s notice while the kingdom’s massive city and scattered villages are filled with life and activity.
There’s a more realistic approach to it all as well. Unlike other games, especially fantasy-inspired ones, fast travels and items for teleportation has been a huge staple. Hammerwatch II however tries a more conventional route of hiring a coach to get you around its villages while for everything else, I do hope you love walking. And this is where it starts to become really disappointing.
On one end, you have a vast open world you’re free to explore with tons of twists and turns but on the other, this vast open world and its many intersecting corridors and pathways inside dungeons doesn’t particularly give you a way out once you’re done with it. This leads to a whole lot of backtracking which means the game doesn’t really respect your time as you’re going back the same way you got in with no actual merit to doing so other than the fact that you needed to get out to continue its story.
Conclusion
For better or worse, Hammerwatch II has delivered something that I’ve been missing for a long time. Its archaic choices in its mechanics and designs have made this old man in his 30’s feel nostalgic but beyond the nostalgia, some of them still work while others just flop in today’s standards.
There are a lot of things that makes me not want to recommend this game. It might just be my gamer dad moment here but between the poor exploration elements that couldn’t respect my time, its lack of convenience elements to distinguish dungeons you’ve visited compared to those you haven’t yet or even just having a proper post-game content to go through, Hammerwatch II feels a bit shallow. But passed that, I’ve enjoyed quite a bit of it too which is really thanks to it being a breath of fresh air.
Hammerwatch II Video Review
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