Two Worlds 2 Message Board  

At just under 26 hours, the game is quite short in terms of modern RPG's, though it felt like I played it for much longer. Having said that, I do have 5 or 6 side quest scrolls in my inventory to complete during the epilogue. Still, I was hoping for a little longer... the main quest is supposed to be the meat of the game, with side quests merely extending it outwards a little. Two Worlds II felt like it had been designed the other way around. I spent a long time doing side quests, but when I finally decided to jump back into the Main Quest, it felt like it was over barely after I'd begun. The total lack of content on that massive continent in the middle of the map is a complete let down. Having that staring you in the face for the entire game, only to reserve 90% of it for Multiplayer only is just wrong. Still, I'm sure those of you who enjoy MP will find it extends the game very nicely.

The final boss fight was interesting and, as it should be, the toughest of the game. The way it's designed also makes you use your head, rather than allowing you to just run around and cheathappens a club at everything that moves as with the rest of the game. It also comes with a great plot twist that I have to admit I didn't see coming. Spending the entire game fighting to get Gandohar, only to find out he's really the good guy? Well, I knew Cassara looked far too evil to be a good guy, but I didn't really put much thought into it. I personally enjoy games which challenge the ideas and opinions you've come to form throughout the story.

There's two parts of the final act which did bug me, though. plot holes you could say. The first was... where the heck did Dar Pha come from? I mean... I suppose you could say she came with Cassara, but I doubt that since it doesn't really make much sense, given that she's just as surprised as everyone else to see her. The second is, where the heck did she go during the boss fight? I mean... come on. Did she just crawl into a secret passage which you get your ass burnt off, then pop back out when you're done? She should have been left out of the whole ending in my opinion. She doesn't really add anything except a little more eye candy (which I'm not normally one to complain about <.<).

I have to mention the ending cutscene, only because the last games ending was so poor it may as well not have had one. The ending movie itself isn't much longer than the previous titles, but much more satisfying. Granted, I had to press ESC to skip the cutscene after it faded to black when Dar Pha was offering the crown, so I don't know if I missed anything though I doubt it.

The epilogue is, well, a little disappointing. Dar Pha leaves you on the starting island, her parting statement(s) leaving her the tease we've come to expect. Unfortunately that's the last you see of her... and everyone else. This is what I found most disappointing about the epilogue. You can't re-enter your base/cave/home/whatever. You can't talk to your comrades who you've spent the entire game working with and for. Hell, you can't even see them that I know of. Also, I teleported to a few locations and from what I can tell, absolutely nothing has changed from before the ending. This too is a little disappointing, but to be honest I'm not sure of any other game with post-MQ play that actually changes anything to reflect you've finished the game.

All-in-all, the epilogue is good for finishing those few sidequests you may have lying around, but there's not much else to do. The only real advantage to it is if there are any expansion/DLC plans, or if the game is moddable by the community.

Overall, the game was extremely enjoyable and challenging, and there were many moments when I was glad to have the trainer at hand. Surprisingly enough there haven't been any moments that would stop me re-playin the game. By this I mean the kind of thing where you finish an area and think to yourself "thank god that's over, I don't want to ever do that again", of which I find myself thinking far too often with modern games (I'm looking at YOU, quick time events). The only truly frustrating part of the game, for myself, were the "knockdown" effects some of the later enemies have. This gets especially frustrating in the final chapter, where they're littered all over the place, often in groups.

To sum up this excessively long ending review: a great game, an average but awesome story, great gameplay, a few technical issues, a somewhat lacking GUI, a great improvement over the original and well worth it. Here's hoping there's plenty of extra content to come, or even Two Worlds III!