Knight Bewitched 2

I really enjoyed this sequel to Knight Bewitched. It definitely has a very different vibe from the first one. It occurs completely in the Underworld, this world's equivalent of D&D's "Underdark". I played the enhanced edition of the first game and hope this game eventually gets an enhanced edition. There has clearly been an uptick in Joshua Keith's game design that has happened since these games originally came out. I hope to see more entries from Joshua Keith! I want more time in this world!

There are many aspects from the first game missing in this one (I suppose the devs didn't like them?? But they were better than what we have here). I do appreciate the quest option though. Saves having to make notes. Overall, despite the missing aspects (no party gold total when buying stuff from merchants), the game is good. Not better than the first, but good :) I still recommend it, but play Knight Bewitched first for the whole story.

This was a fun, challenging game, a nice sequel to Knight Bewitched. Well-written. I picked out the infiltrator immediately during the expedition-on-the-boat cutscene, the infiltrator gave "compromised" tells. This game is flexibly programmed, which I appreciate. I beat the main story in under 6 hours, on Easy Mode, using a pointed strategy involving the EXP charms, which I found and bought early in their availability. Beat the final boss at levels 30 and 31, took several attempts and some research online to work out the appropriate strategy for winning in a slightly underlevelled state. Reminded me a bit of beating Final Fantasy VI the first time when I was a kid. Much like Final Fantasy VI, there are some bugs. Namely, poison didn't seem to affect enemies: you could attack with poison, you could get them to be poisoned, but the damage calculation step wasn't performed, so even poisoned enemies with a handful of HP would survive to their next turn and require being struck with additional damage. I found one graphical bug in the hidden passageway into [spoiler]Zamaste[/spoiler]: the character sprite can be clipped by the top of a pot on the ground, if the character stands in the space below. The battle bug required an adjustment of strategy to beat some group battles effectively and efficiently, I found Sleep to be a useful status to inflict, useful for beating some with-posse boss encounters in an underlevelled state. SPOILERS: The story involves an investigation into the [spoiler]Underworld and the[/spoiler] activities of organized criminals linked to [spoiler]the 'frozen, inactive' competing nation of Zamaste, who established their base of operations in the Underworld hundreds of years prior. The organized criminal activity is run by a cult who worship dragons: the leader of the cult is someone who was "possessed" using illegal technology and controlled by the "competing, evil god", mirroring the MO of [/spoiler] a similar religious-themed organized crime ring operating on Earth. [spoiler]Some characters report having been deprived of access to body control, their bodies controlled remotely in the service of committing violent crime, essentially being used as a criminal instrument: a former member of organized crime who often assists the nation of Halonia hears that testimony from one character, a reviled member of organized crime, and describes that character as innocent.[/spoiler]

nice game with quest but wish the map could have name

[h1]Journey to the Center of Ambrose[/h1] [h2]Story[/h2] This game is apparently part of a different timeline from the other sequels to KB1, so I have no idea how much context I'm missing. The premise is that the expedition team hires the protagonists of the previous game along with new protagonists to explore the underworld, but this leads to them discovering the very artifact that turned Typhus evil to begin with. We learn a tiny bit more about Lilith's master and how they can brainwash people into serving them with or without the vulcan stone, and we get some worldbuilding for the Ambrose Underworld and dragons. Overall, this feels like a Gaiden game that is trying to set things up for Absinthia, which will probably focus more on Lilith. One thing I liked is that there are actual logistical concerns for the expedition, as well as new challenges for traversing a world full of magma. Though the expedition team ends up meeting its goals fairly early into the game, leaving just the conflict over the Vulcan Stone. IMO, it's strange to continue using the title "Knight Bewitched" for this game, since there really isn't any new lore for the witches and all the discrimination against them seemed to be abolished by the end of the first game. [h2]Gameplay[/h2] The game introduces some new mechanics like the barrier buff, which absorbs a certain amount of damage, but is also weak to certain skills. Some enemies can regenerate their barrier every turn, which can make battles drag on if you don't optimize your DPS. Characters mostly use the same skills as the previous game, but their skillsets are now split between characters with similar fighting styles, such as how many of Ruth's counter-attack skills went to Rae. However, Malady does get some additional skills to differentiate her from other mages, in exchange for having overall weaker healing ability. This can lead to more varied party compositions than the first game, though towards the end, I preferred having two tanks and two mages to make it easier to outheal the enemy. The game does give EXP to reserve party members, but strangely, it doesn't scale up new party members. Still, sufficient leveling and EXP accessories should help close the gap. However, while the EXP situation is fine, it can be very expensive to upgrade gear for all party members, even if you're only focusing on the active party. The battle system allows equipment changing in the middle of combat, but there's a cooldown to prevent it from being spammable. This can be helpful for dealing with unpredicatable situations or if you think you geared someone wrong. This can also be a way to remove ailments without using up a turn, since ailments disappear if you equip the equipment that resists them. Unfortunately, the sequel doesn't have the bestiary that the first game had, which means it can be harder to keep track of which enemies one should prioritize for farming rare drops. The weird part is that Myrle the dwarf is keeping his own bestiary, yet the party no longer maintains their own. As for boss balance, they have a lot more puzzle gimmicks compared to the previous game, especially when they have access to the barrier mechanic. Of note is Tiamat, who has a clone mechanic to force the player to pay attention to who the real one is. Overall, I'd say the game is harder and more complex than the prequel on equivalent difficulty settings, since not all bosses can be as easily defeated with brute force. [h2]Verdict[/h2] 7.5/10 The sequel is definitely more creative with boss mechanics, though I have mixed feelings about splitting the old characters' movesets. The story doesn't feel quite as epic or high stakes as the previous one, since the party is preventing Typhus's ressurection rather than fighting him and little progress is made in learning the truth behind Lilith's master, and it feels like it was written mainly to serve as a bridge between KB1 and Absinthia.

Another great game of this developer. This game is nearly bug free (you really have to search for bugs) and even with the highest difficulty not impossible to play. Especially the inclusive handbook helps with all those boss battles. For anything else I recommend my guide.