SteamWorld Dig 2

[The Shoemaker]

This game launched a little over a week ago. I picked it up on Switch as it released there first, but I believe it's also available on PC and Vita now, with plans to hit PS4 later.

I've been enjoying it a lot. It's quite the upgrade from the first game, a game I already liked quite a bit. Just in terms of presentation this game has a lot more story involved, better writing, and I'm really digging the music.

The fundamental gameplay loop involves you going into a mine, digging down, finding ore, and bringing it back up to the top to sell for money and get upgrades to help you go further down into the mine. The big difference in the sequel is that the mines aren't procedurally generated like the first game, so it makes for a lot more purposeful digging. Ore will be hidden in specific spots that require you to use specific tools, or there will be little mazes you'll have to dig around to get inside.

What I really like are the caves you find in the mines. While the main mines are more open in where you need to go, the caves are linear puzzle sections in a similar vein to shrines in breath of the wild. You'll usually find cogs in here that you can use to put modifiers on your tools, but there's always a secret passage somewhere that leads to more treasure. There are even larger dungeon-esc sections to explore separate from the main mine.

I'm really impressed with this game so far, about 7 hours in now. It's a great different take on a metroidvania.