The original Volgarr the Viking was an early retro-inspired gem that hit a variety of consoles and PCs officially and unofficially – including a Dreamcast homebrew release that allowed the long-gone hardware to enjoy a newer release that was both a throwback and something new. Feeling very much akin to a more modern-feeling Rastan/Rastan Saga, Volgarr is the titular viking and aims to take out all manner of enemy for Odin and in doing so, led the player into some of the toughest action-platforming sections in many years.
Armed with a sword for short-range attacks and an arrow to both take out foes and climb platforms, his first adventure was very much like the first Rastan only with a more modern character feel to it. Jumps were floatier there than in that game and in many others where your jump animation was locked in. Combat was also quite a bit smoother and while you still had to be careful in your movements to avoid not only falling off of platforms, but be mindful of enemy placement and attack patterns to avoid knockback, it was a beatable game with a lot of careful planning put into its design.
Viking Combat
Crazy Viking Studios' original hit aimed to test the mettle of players in a far more ruthless manner than many were used to – leading to people either growing frustrated or quitting the experience early on to never see more of the adventure. The follow-up aims to be punishing still, but a bit more forgiving overall thanks to quality-of-life improvements and the addition of things like a practice mode, checkpoints, and unlimited continues. A new feature added in alongside the quality of life improvements is the undead mode where you may enjoy invincibility at the cost of still dying from knockback and pits while also dealing with green zombified skin.
Volgarr’s familiar sword slice and dodge roll are intact, although players that found the original game too daunting will want to partake in the gameplay buffs offered up now that weren’t in the first game. Practice mode unlocks if you’re killed at a boss battle, while checkpoints enable you to resume from where you were killed off. Players can get extra spoils, however, if they choose to destroy the checkpoint. This is something we’ve seen before in titles like Shovel Knight – but rarely in more unforgiving games like Volgarr II. With Shovel Knight, the game had tough moments, but was far more forgiving to players on the whole with its NES-hard visuals, but really benefitted from being kinder to all players across the board.
A Bold New World
Volgarr the Viking II aiming to be a more player-friendly experience overall while still keeping everything that made it a tough-as-nails experience before is an interesting balance to strike. Longtime players who loved the first, but found it too tough to complete such as myself have a whole new reason to dive headfirst into the new adventure and experience the quality-of-life improvements firsthand. The core gameplay of the first game was incredible, but its razor-thin margins on mistakes made it a tough adventure to see through. Having things make that journey easier if I want to helps quite a bit and I look forward to trying out the game without aids and then again with them to see how dramatically the experience changes. Volgarr the Viking II is available now onSwitch,PlayStationconsoles,Xboxconsoles, and PC viaSteamand in DRM-free form viaGOGas well.
