Aggelos 2 (Multi) Review

A rare Saturday morning review to start your weekend on the correct foot--or perhaps, "the correct wing" would be more apropos to say! Our first review of September takes us to the angelic skies, to the demonic depths, and all lands in between with Aggelos 2.  

 An angelic Metroidvania with a little bit of a demonic side to it.

2018 saw the original Aggelos release, a Wonder Boy-inspired 8-bit style action-adventure game that I ended up enjoying. Now, almost a decade later we see the sequel arrive on all major platforms, upgraded with a 16-bit style, much more ambitious series of worlds to navigate, and the RPG systems eliminated. 

Aggelos 2 features the ability introduced early in the game to shift between Angel and Demon forms on the fly. Both have their own uses, as light attacks will deal more damage to dark-based foes, and conversely dark/demons attacks will deal more damage to light-based foes. Though it works the same against our hero as well, where if he takes damage from light attacks in Demon form, he'll lose more health. 

Our angel/demon hero has both melee and long-ranged offense available to him.

Regardless, both forms can launch magical beams from their sword for super helpful ranged combat, as well as get up, close, and personal with their sword for melee maneuvers. Both can also fly to the left and right for a temporary amount of time, and true Metroidvania fashion, this power of flight eventually allows both to fly around without being locked to the X-axis. 

Perhaps the greatest point of contention I have with the Angel and Demon forms in Aggelos 2 is how the right-most face button uses a magical vial. In Angel form, this magical vial heals for a set amount. However, in Demon form, this vial merely speeds up your character. Within particularly stressful and intense moments of action with Aggelos 2, chiefly boss battles, I found myself often wasting these potions in Demon form instead of healing myself. Needless to say, this resulted in many deaths when healing instead of speeding my character up would have sufficed and saved my attempt. When runbacks to bosses (i.e. the path and time it takes to head from the nearest save point to the boss you're aiming to take down) can be a bit lengthy a lot of the time, this can be mildly frustrating at best and utterly agonizing at worst. 

Demon form prefers to make his enemies get the "point".

The original Aggelos was a smaller endeavor, featuring a world that could be crossed and explored within minutes. So small, in fact, that a map wasn't even included for exploration. Aggelos 2, by comparison, is a much meatier game, for better or worse. Not only is there a massive light world to explore, but there is also a second map, a dark, demon world to navigate as well, entered through various portals scattered around the game world.

Fortunately, this time around, a map is included in Aggelos 2. However, that isn't without a series of issues. For one, it's difficult--if not flat out impossible--to tell where different environments and biomes are within the map. Everything on the map is the same color. Collectibles, of which there are many, in Aggelos 2 do not appear on the map when discovered or collected. Instead, the developer insists on putting beacons on the in-game map to note where important, notable discoveries and places to return to are located. This is its own ball of worms, as it's quite easy to forget what reason and why a beacon was placed, so you can return to where a beacon was placed only to remember, "Oh, wait. I still can't do this yet." Different icons for the beacons would alleviate this problem.

Use your energy to perform powerful sword and beam attacks. Just watch that energy meter!

It's not helped that there's not always the best signposting or generally logical leading or luring of the player towards where they should head to next in Aggelos 2. This is one aspect where Aggelos 2 utterly fails in its world and map design. Many times I found myself completely without a clue on what was required of me and where I should explore. I even did some unintentional sequence breaking by having enough hearts to brave entering lava-filled paths and coming out the other side with enough health to progress safely. Apparently, desperation breeds exploration, especially when you just want to make some semblance of progress and the aforementioned lack of helpful map markers don't assist in allowing you to do that.

The two-map world allows for fast travel within it, but you're limited to particular statues at the start of the game. It's not until about halfway through that you find a weighted button you can stand on, which opens up all statues--not just as certain type--to allow yourself to be teleported to on the fly.    

The aforementioned collectibles come in various forms in Aggelos 2. From heart and energy vessels that boost your maximum health and magic energy respectively, to wallet upgrades that boost the maximum amount of currency you can carry by 100 with each upgrade collected, Aggelos 2 is in no shortage of things to find and collect--which makes the previously mentioned map issues so vexing. 

In the early game, flight is limited, so you use a grappling hook to latch onto a scale walls.

The greatest collectible is that of golden eggs, of which there are 100 spread around the game's two maps. These offer different rewards upon returning to the shrine in the game's lone town, one reward for every ten eggs returned.  

No doubt the original Aggelos was a challenging game, all said and done. Aggelos 2 isn't necessarily an easier or harder game; it's just different in its difficulty. Aggelos 1 used an experience point and level system, where you could pretty much grind your way to be stronger. In Aggelos 2, this leveling system is gone. Instead, and in true Metroidvania fashion, through collecting upgrades as well as finding special statues and shrines that boost your attack and defense, you become stronger and more resilient. Aggelos 2 does have a mostly steady difficulty curve, but it does noticeably jump up the first time you enter into the demon world.  

Perhaps the largest challenge within Aggelos 2 other than overcoming confusion in navigating the world and knowing where to go next, is that of boss battles. These are all required in order to achieve the best ending in the game, and these require some serious skill to beat. Between the area of effect, occasional bullet hell patterns being launched at you (these can be negated by slicing your sword at the bullets with the correct matching Angel/light or Demon/dark form) and learning when to go on the offensive and when best to bob and weave to avoid the attacks, these battles usually aren't a "first try, GGs" affair. You'll be attempting them multiple times, and the previously discussed runbacks make for some added aggravation.

Bosses are large, in charge, and will generally take several attempts to overcome.

Aggelos 2 took me about 12 hours to achieve the good ending while finding all of the collectibles to be discovered across the game's two worlds. Needless to say, the latter part was no easy task. In this time, I did encounter several glitches, such as enemies clipping through walls and becoming stuck, my character being caught in a specific animation upon accidentally using my sword and beam special attacks at the same time, and other graphical issues. 

That said, Aggelos 2 is an impressive looking game all the same. The 16-bit visual style is full of color, detail in the environments and especially the beefy amount of monster types in the game, as well. Musically, the soundtrack offers catchy themes of a retro styling that one can't help bounce around in their heads, even after the game's been turned off. 

Aggelos 2 is all-in-all a solid Metroidvania that delivers lots of sweaty palm-inducing action, especially with its level of challenge and difficulty when it concerns its boss battles. Perhaps the greatest challenge, however, comes in a less than stellar way, with its confusing navigation due to a lackluster map system and quality of life features that are entirely absent. Aggelos 2 doesn't necessarily rise up to Heaven, but it also doesn't plummet into the depths of Hell, either.

[SPC Says: B-]

A code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review. 

This game was played via the Steam Deck and PC versions. Aggelos 2 is also available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, and Xbox One.