Jets'n'Guns 2

WHY ARE THERE NO DIFFERENT SHIPS LIKE IN THE FIRST GAME! I DONT GET IT!

Shoot em up a dir poco sottovalutato e purtroppo conosciuto da pochi. Puó vantare un comparto grafico di primo ordine oltre alla giocabilitá praticamente perfetta e arricchita dalla possbilitá di potenziare il nostro aereo da combattimento con tantissime armi, una piú devastante di un´ altra. Fatelo vostro e non ve ne pentirete, anzi, lo amerete soprattutto se giocato in compagnia.

A flawed but nevertheless cool reimagining of a cult side-scrolling classic from the 2000s. It’s clear the developers labeled it as "complete" long before realizing their ambitious vision, and the overall lack of polish and depth is palpable, but it can still be a whole lot of fun, provided you know in advance what not to expect. And if you cut it some extra slack because all of this was created by two people, then it becomes a pretty impressive effort. In a few selected areas it even managed to surpass the original. The visuals can compare favorably not only to the awkward photo textures of JnG1 but also to many newer indie shmups, and the game capitalizes on its sleek look by cranking the amount of excessive destruction up to 11. You get more speed, more enemies, more bullets, and everything explodes all the time so lavishly and beautifully. The boss fights became much more involved, numerous and epic (half of those bad boys don’t even fit on the screen), while the boldness of customization options is impressive, with some upgrades significantly affecting the core gameplay (like a manual aiming module or a device that lets you ignore the heat limit at the price of your health). However, there are obvious drawbacks as well. The campaign is very short (about 2-3 hours even if you account for the retries), which isn’t a sin per se, but it does feel extremely lacking compared to the scope of JnG Gold, and the game actively invites such a comparison by using a lot of the same set pieces, weapons and item descriptions, often making it feel closer to a remake than a sequel. Another obvious downgrade is the story: there’s no funny comic strips here, only bare-bones text descriptions. One might say JnG2 tries to compensate for that with fleshed-out NG+ options, inviting to replay the campaign again and again while both you and the enemies get stronger (in contrast to JnG1 where the loops barely changed anything and were purely an exercise for achievement hunters). This only half works, though, due to a serious lack of balance. It seems like the devs kept wildly adjusting the multipliers up until the release, so now everything is either very easy or very hard, with scarcely any middle ground. In particular, starting from loop 6-7 the game turns into an unintuitive puzzle, overwhelming you in seconds unless you go for a specific build base (namely, equip Blast Projector plus Circulus to multiply damage through drones and Tigerfun missiles to negate enemy projectiles). Ironically, this is also where the previous advantages start to feel like design flaws, since most upgrades are rendered meaningless, bosses become easier than regular mooks, and the screen gets filled with so much crap you rarely see what kills you. Still, it’s possible to extract enjoyment even from the late NG+, provided you’re willing to stick to the few working solutions. And if you’re not too psyched about fumbling around for them yourself, I recommend using [url=https://steamcommunity.com/app/830820/discussions/0/3202618375238266783]this helpful build[/url] but with Zeldor Panzer + Shield instead of Device Connector + A.M. Generator to avoid getting near-1HKO’ed. This way, you won’t have to explode before all the other exploding things while still maintaining basic gameplay engagement (unlike many other OP builds aimed at screen-wide attacks, which just turns the process into a mind-numbing, eye-straining exercise in "press X to win"). Last but not least, the OST by Machinae Supremacy is as awesome as you would expect if you know who Machinae Supremacy are (and if you don’t, I highly advise changing that). Granted, it feels less OST-like than in JnG1 and more like simply a collection of catchy metal tunes, but they are damn good catchy metal tunes. The band looks like they’ve been hibernating for the past decade, but they woke up temporarily and did their magic for a successor of the game that shaped them as much as they shaped it. Overall, I’d still recommend playing [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/262260]Jets’n’Guns Gold[/url] first, since it’s a much more complete and well-realized title, but if you end up wanting more after it or prefer to start with something prettier and modern-looking, this is a perfectly viable option as well. Also, the Mortal Tetrix minigame is pretty cool.

Having played JNG Gold and then JNG2 back to back - i can say JNG2 is way more polished, less quirky and less "weird" - it's still weird dont get me wrong with some very unconventional weapons but I think it's better and the choice is a lot more obvious in this game and I really like JNG2. One tip for new players -> do NOT ever start with normal mode. Go with casual mode and then replay the game again and "continue" with a higher difficulty when asked at the end. Otherwise you will suffer dying a LOT. You'll be severely underpowered with very little cash at each level if you start at normal. I really like the graphics, the overall tone - although would have prefferred if this one was a bit longer (oddly enough I cannot wait till JNG gold to finish when I played it, because it felt repetitive and annoying in a number of parts of the game). This one I didnt want it to stop! Hope to see a JNG3 in the future, with more customisations, tweaks, options etc - really love this one!

The music. Oh the music :)

Here's one time I wish Steam reviews allowed a little more nuance, even just a "Maybe" beside Yes and No. Because while I don't feel like judging this game as bad on its own merits, it's also not the sequel I'd have hoped for the original [b]Jets 'n' Guns[/b]. Credit where it's due, they learned their lesson about the levels, which are shorter, faster-paced, and generally much more pleasant to go through. The destruction is once again top-notch; sometimes literally everything on screen can be dismantled, with plenty of explosions and many huge ones. The arsenal is once again large to the point of being almost intimidating, even more so with the new inclusion of special devices attached to weapons, the GEMs, which can grant special bonuses at the cost of side effects (example: more power but bonkers aiming). You can now go back to any level you have beaten and access secret ones if you found them, but you get more money only if you beat your own previous records. There's also a mode for more casual play, although I personally would have avoided giving so much firepower so early. However, where the original game was too long to the point of overstaying its welcome, [b]Jets 'n' Guns 2[/b] has too few levels comparatively; of course you can start a new loop after finishing, but it's over too quickly. The game has also lost a lot of character. [b]JnG[/b]'s storyline was nothing amazing but was narrated through nice comic-style screens, between encounters with many crazy enemies. This sequel is quite a bit more "subdued", with only the Beer Empire striking me as a "silly" level, and there's the flimsiest of excuse for a plot, narrated through just text boxes. Even the soundtrack, while nice, is not as good as the original. There's finally the issue of too much visual noise. The original could get confusing at times; this game does that quite often due to an excess of big explosions and screen shaking, and you can only deactivate the latter. I've heard this game went through a troubled development. It leaves me with a distinct impression of being incomplete, like at some point the developers decided to just cobble what had been made up to that point together, and be done with it. Better this than nothing... or not? Good game to kill time, but even with its flaws, the original could still scratch that itch better.

[quote]Just saying, but I do have a curator page. If you like my remarks about games, you can find more of them here: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44130985-TDP%27s-Gaming-Escapades [/quote] As I had stated in my review of the first game, Jets'n'Guns shaped up my interest in shmup games thanks to its unexpected & over the top presentation and thus, has a special place for me. I was blown away as a kid because the game simply felt too "hardcore" compared to other shmup games on the PC market at the time. While other games were mostly space shooters with calm or heroic soundtracks, Jets'n'Guns was a bloody, explosion-filled experience that blasted sick metal tunes. To try and recreate that lightning in a bottle moment, especially in this day and age when Eastern shmup developers have easier access to global markets, takes a lot of bravery. Still, people at Rake In Grass decided to try their hand and answer their fans' constant pleas for a sequel. On first glance, everything seemed perfect: Devs had more experience under their belt, Machinae Supremacy was coming back to compose the music once again, and the switch to a newer engine meant more compatibility and technical ease of access. But now I have the final product in front of me and... I'm conflicted. [h2]Don't get this if you want more of what Jets'n'Guns 1 offered[/h2] [b][i]Let me be clear: Jets'n'Guns 2 is by no means a bad game[/i][/b]; It's just an normal shmup and a disappointing sequel. Jets'n'Guns 2 is very different compared to what you knew and loved about the first game, and has become more like the shmup games that the series originally tried to outdo and ultimately dunked on in style. The story is no longer one of the game's priorities, so the humor and comic panels are all gone. The game has ship customization now, but the drawback is that there is only one ship in the whole game. The rewards you get from cargo caches are no longer interesting and don't feel like something you would put in them (like hotdogs and beer). There's no need to change your loadout and see what works best anymore, as just buying the newest and the most powerful equipment is enough to get you through the whole game on the standard difficulty setting for the majority of it. Gaining enough money is no longer an issue as you are showered with it and the game even lets you replay levels and get the difference between your best scores as profits, allowing you to upgrade your equipment to their max levels as soon as possible and become a machine of mass destruction. You have access to a lot of new defensive abilities (such as shields and health refills) and the game even gives you hull repair powerups en-masse through the levels and boss fights, drastically decreasing the game's difficulty compared to the first game. If you want more of what you experienced in the first Jets'n'Guns, you're not going to find what you seek here. And I can also say the same thing about the music as well. The new music tracks, while are very well-composed, feel MUCH less energetic and memorable for the most part. Now I don't know if this is nostalgia clouding my judgment on the music, or something else. [h2]Looks fantastic, however...[/h2] Now what if you're a newcomer to the series or did not like the first game very much? Well... there is a high chance that you might like Jets'n'Guns 2 more than its predecessor; Although I don't know if you'd be willing to actually finish it or start a New Game Plus run (which actually makes many changes to how the bosses behave). While the game has many differences in terms of gameplay compared to the first game, it has still retained the series' explosive personality. The enemies and the structures in the environment blow up in spectacular fashion, something that has been amplified compared to the first game due to JnG2 utilizing modern technologies and fancier graphics. Although the number of slow motions that happen after the destruction of big structures is very high, making them lose their novelty and become annoying instead. There's also a very high variety of equipment and weapons to choose from, with the game introducing new ones even as you finish a run and go through New Game Plus, allowing you to deal destruction on a massive scale and fill the screen with all sorts of visual effects. The game leans heavily towards being an explosion-filled spectacle and thus, it seems like it can be a good candidate for those who just want some much-needed dopamine. But unfortunately and contrary to popular belief, visuals are not entertaining on their own. Something, in many cases the gameplay, needs to go hand in hand with it to provide actual entertainment value. And this is where Jets'n'Guns 2 stumbles. [h2]I'm not mad... just disappointed...[/h2] The game's visual readability problems are still intact. So, as you progress through the game and get access to more powerful weapons (which increase your ability to cause destruction), the screen will be filled with all sorts of visual effects that hinder proper bullet visibility and make it easier to get hit by what you didn't see coming. To counter this, Jets'n'Guns 2 introduces a variety of defensive abilities such as shields, health regenerators and protective drones. This has actually prevented the unfair moments to ruin the game, but it has also caused the game to get way easier than it's supposed to. If you are an experienced shmup player, you are going to plow through the enemies and bosses with ease, because the game is not challenging and even showers you with health refills and money, allowing you to get your hands on the most powerful weapons much faster and easier, or to just tank every attack that comes your way. There's a whole lot of cooling items as well, allowing you to keep your finger on the shoot button for extended periods of time without the fear of your weapons overheating. I am not kidding when I say I was no longer enjoying the game after the first hour. All I did was to aimlessly move around as my overpowered loadout made quick work of anyone who stood in my way, and use any chance I got to drop my utterly destructive bombs on the bosses for quick kills. And yes, I could try to go through the game with no shields, but I should not be forced to deliberately handicap myself in order to create the challenge that the game is failing to give me. The only time when the game gets hard, is when you are going against one of the bosses; And the difficulty comes not from the boss itself, but certain design decisions that I personally do not like. Nearly all of the bosses either frequently enter the left side of the screen (where you start and stay at for most of the game), or quickly lunge towards your ship's location. A lot of the bosses, final boss included, also have to be hit in specific weakpoints or your damage will not register, with them being placed in hard to reach locations. And some of these boss weakpoints can only be hit using your ship's rear weapon, a new gameplay addition in JnG2 that is barely useful in normal levels, and may force you to retry a level as you might not have a good rear weapon equipped to deal with the boss. Jets'n'Guns 2 is a game that cannot satisfy its longtime fans, who wanted more of the same thing but with improvements, because of the many changes ir makes to the formula. On the other hand, it also cannot satisfy seasoned shmup fans as it's too easy and devoid of challenge, with the difficulty options and New Game Plus feature not managing to hit the right spot. As such, I really cannot recommend it to both of these groups. But if you are a newcomer to the genre or are casually playing shmup games for fun, there's some fun to be had here. [h2]TL;DR[/h2] Old JnG fans and shmup veterans won't find much to enjoy, as the game is very different and much easier compared to the 1st game. Casual players and shmup newcomers can find more fun to be had here.

30 years after Tyrian and nobody can make a decent scrolling shoot 'em up.

I guess this one is more mixed, but it's not that bad. Jet 'n' Guns 2 is a sequel to the oldschool sidescroller that was released back in 2004 for PC. That one is kind of janky, but charming little game with a very high difficulty. I'm not sure that the original required a sequel, but seeing it on Steam, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to check it out. The first game didn't take itseld too seriously, so despite it ending with the entire universe being destroyed, the sequel just ignores that continuity. You are still playing as a bounty hunter on the job of saving world from an overwhelming threat. The story is told by short briefings on the mission screen. The charm of the original with it's minimalistic comic style panels is lost. There are less levels thatn the first game as well. The Gold version on Steam actually has over 40 levels in it. The sequel ends abruplty after somewhat cool big bossfight, but then it just moves on to credits and offers to beat the game again on higher difficulty. The graphics are actually pretty nice. Everything is slick and colourful, and the game runs super well. The soundtrack by the Machinae Supremacy is still the best part of the presentation. That being said, the original had a unique, kind of messy and grungy look to it. Menus featured rust as a prominent motive. The enemies had a variety of designs from weird to outright horrifying. This game kind of lacks in that regard, while saturated, lacking certain character. The gameplay, thankfully, feels great. The ship is fast and snappy and guns are loud. The levels are destructable, the enemies explode, trigerring slo-mo after particularly big explosions. The main loop of buying new stuff for the ship after each level is intact. There is a lot of different upgrades to try out, from guns, rockets and bombs, to the newly implemented antimatter devices and passive items for the ship. However, the menu is a mess. Every item is unlocked from the start and thrown into a giant scrolling list that is hard to make out from what you actually want to get. You get quickly overwhelmed by choices, even though most of them you can really afford. At least stats are massively improved, the first game used this arbitrary icon system to see how much damage weapon did and how much heat it generated, now this information is given in clear numbers and can be compared between each item. Another issue is the readability. While the game looks nice, the amount of stuff on the screen can get messy and it can be hard to make out bullets. A lot of levels feature asteroids in the background, that can be mistaken as being actual objects in the game, and I was trying to shoot them down or avoid them multiple times, only to realise they were just a decoration. It makes dodging attacks kind of hard, especially on the "high speed" levels, where you can't react to the movement at all. Tanking attacks is a viable strategy, considerin how much enemies drop armor bonuses and with upgrades for armor and energy shield your little ship will be really hard to kill. And the game is definitely easire because of this. Original got to the frustrating levels of difficulty, with aromor upgrades having almost no effect in certain situations and even miniscule difference in DPS would cause quick level restart. Here the game is much more forgiving, with me having only one death I could call unfair due to being crushed by the final boss right before halfway checkpoint. The game apparently was originally released as an Early Access title, and I wonder if the original vision of the game was even fulfilled, because at certain points the game just feels unfinished. The menu feels like a placeholder, there is lack of content and the game ends very abruptly. Again, the first one ended with the complete destruction of the universe and a time travel to the beginning of the game. Here it just stops after 12 short levels. The core of the game is fine and shooting was pretty fun. The idea of swapping weapons and upgrades is still tehre, but due to lesser challenge, you don't really need to adjust your arsenal to level layout anymore. But at the same time, it's not like I was super upset. I had a good time overall and don't really want to dunk on the game. It's unlikely that it will be expanded upon any time soon, but it could be ok to kill a couple of hours if you get it at a big discount.

Is it pretty damn good - yes. Is it as good as J'n'G1 - no . 1st game was like 3 times better