Aggelos 2 Review
Explore interconnected light and dark worlds in Aggelos 2, an old-school action-platformer that goes much bigger than its predecessor.
Aggelos 2. Credit: WONDERBOY BOBI / PQube / PixelHeart
Aggelos 2 from WONDERBOY BOBI is a much bigger game than its predecessor. The action-platformer gives you two interconnected worlds to explore. It’s proudly old-school in its design, including some bits that should have stayed in the past.
The story is basic and stays out of the way. You play as an Aggelos, an angelic warrior tasked with defending the Kingdom of Lumen from the Army of Darkness besieging it. To succeed, you must also take on a Demon form and explore the dark realm. The two forms change your speed, abilities, and playstyle.
I found the straightforward combat less interesting than finding my way around the map. Traversal gets more enjoyable as abilities open up and give you new ways to reach previously inaccessible areas. Some traversal abilities become accessible refreshingly early, which makes exploration all the more fun. It’s a nice change of pace.
Aggelos 2. Credit: WONDERBOY BOBI / PQube / PixelHeart
Aggelos 2. Credit: WONDERBOY BOBI / PQube / PixelHeart
The game isn’t very good at signposting where you should go next, leading me to spend a lot of time wandering around. The map can be unclear, and fast travel points are far enough apart that finding my way back after going the wrong way isn’t trivial. I understand the old-school design choice, but I found it more irritating than nostalgic.
The colorful 16-bit pixel art and large sprites bring Sega Genesis classics to mind. The clearest visual analog I can think of is the Wonder Boy games. It’s an appealing look, though the environments can feel flat despite all that color.
Aggelos 2 is a fairly large adventure, clocking in at over 12 hours, even longer if you’re a completionist. I enjoyed exploring Aggelos 2 despite my annoyance at finding my way around it. Simple combat and irritating navigation keep it out of the upper tier of its genre.
Aggelos 2
Aggelos 2 makes exploring its interconnected worlds rewarding, even when old-school navigation turns finding the next objective into a chore.
WONDERBOY BOBI goes bigger with Aggelos 2, an old-school action-platformer spanning interconnected light and dark worlds.