Chris InglisLost Castle 2 is a 2D beat ’em up roguelite game in early access, developed by Hunter Studio and is sequel to original 2016 Lost Castle. I picked up the original game in a Steam sale near release and loved how simple the premise was, yet the depth of the gameplay kept me coming back for more each holiday break. So far, the developers have built upon the solid foundation of the original with a vibrant, refined art style and combat that is fluid and responsive, with plenty more to come on the road to release.
The premise is that the Dark Castle stands deep within the border mountains, a mysterious fortress surrounded by exceptionally unique environments, strange, mutated creatures, and mysterious Ethreals and Soul Crystals. Everything indicates it holds hidden secrets. As a member of the Treasure Hunters Guild, you journey to this location to embark on a fresh treasure-seeking expedition.
The core of Lost Castle 2 remains its satisfying, button-mashing combat paired with choice-based branching exploration and a random loot system. Whilst the first game had us starting in the castle and doing dungeon delves, leading later into forests and other areas, this game has us starting in a forest camp. The camp features numerous npcs you can talk to for some story titbits, but they will slowly unlock new features as you play, gain coins and learn the intricacies of the branching loot runs.
The game is very polished with an art style that balances simple customisable player character and npc designs with enemy units that vary in complexity and strength, including elite units and boss fights. The music is inquisitive enough to provide a subtle backdrop to the action, and combat feels greatly improved from the original. You can build up combo points and then unleash big combos on groups of mobs or bosses.
While a controller is recommended, I used keyboard with WASD for movement and JKL for attack, dodge, and lunge attacks. Monsters will get knocked down and you can press E to pick them up and throw them at other enemy units. Similarly, there are crates, boxes and explosive barrels that can be thrown at enemies. Each battle is a fun dance with the controls, with elite mobs glowing red and shaking when they are about to do big attacks, allowing you to time dodges and jumps. Co-op is integrated into the camp experience where you can invite friends before jumping into your next run.
Every run feels distinct thanks to the sheer volume of content available even in this initial early access state. The Early Access build packs in over 180 randomised weapons across six major categories, though you get an initial choice of three at the camp. You can use the blacksmith to re-roll these options for a cost. There are also around 80 armour sets with different bonuses, and more than 130 different treasures with passive bonuses. More will be added over the early access period leading to release, but this massive collective encourages continuous experimentation with your build. Back at the camp, coins collected during runs is spent on permanent upgrades to the blacksmith, alchemist and other aspects like boosting your attack power, max HP, or potion efficacy, ensuring that every failed run pushes you closer to victory.
So far, Lost Castle 2 contains a heap of high variety beat ’em up action and tons of loot to theory craft your next runs, wrapped in an aesthetically pleasing bundle of short but fun combat runs. There has already been new levels, difficulties and items added to the game, and the content promised for the full 1.0 release is extensive. For fans of the original game, or for anyone who enjoys the frantic, synergy-driven action of games like Hades or Castle Crashers, Lost Castle 2 is an easy recommendation.
This review utilised a key provided by 71 PR and Lost Castle 2 is available now on Steam early access.
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