There is a lot to like about the Surge 2...but in the end it asked me to git gud one too many times and hid too many things behind doors I couldn't open.
I've played enough From Software games to know that the difficulty level is high, so any game following in the From model isn't an automatic turn off for me. And the Surge 2 did a lot rigbt!
There was a neat setting, with some excellent level design. I always felt glee when I discovered a new passageway around an area. The shortcuts felt earned, and as if they respected my time: Hey, you did the slog already. Here's a way to avoid that.
The battle system reminds me of Bloodborne in its pacing. A more staccato move-strike-move element to it than many other games of the genre, that rely on a more plodding rhythm. I vastly prefer this style of combat so I felt like I adapted to this well.
But, the first git gud moment-the Little Johnny battle- was almost enough to get me to quit. Given the responses I saw online, I wouldn't've have been the first person to decide that they were done with the Surge 2. Fortunately for the game devs, I was sick that week and what else is there for me to do but dedicate some time and really ace this battle!
Which I did. So well, in fact, that I walked out of it with full health.
OK, that feels good let's-wait. There's another boss fight right now? That I am getting my ass kicked by?
Ah. Yes. The real "git gud" training moment.
Admittedly, it was my fault for not banking my experience: I've played enough Soulslike games to know that if you have the opportunity to save and use your exp, you do it. I got cocky, the game reminded me of that, and I kept at it. I still felt rewarded: more secret passageways, more demonstrable mastery over the combat system. The grind wasn't too bad.
Then I got to the second environment and the game decided to test my blocking skills, which I had none of.
Git Gud, baby.
Except this test was being brought by a basic enemy of that environment. The first one and while I was able to work out how to beat it, every time I fought this enemy it was a slog, not a demonstration of my further skills over the combat. And they were all. Over. The. Place. Because as with any Soulslike, every time I died, they respawned.
I didn't feel good about this and instead of looking at these opponents a something I knew how to beat, I just felt dreary having to do it over and over again. It didn't help that the enemy lock-on feature (one that is incredibly helpful for this particular enemy) was a little too easy to unlock from said enemy. This meant that at critical times, the camera would swing wildly around and I'd get punished for something that didn't feel like my fault.
There was one other thing I found frustrating and that was this: early in the game the player comes across ziplines that are clearly meant for future yse. And while I acknowledge that this is a good way to prevent players from getting into places they shouldn't before they are ready, it started to feel like they were everywhere.
Then I realized that there were two different kind of ziplines! As in: I would need two different kind of hooks to access them. When those lines would go to someplace that I could see-that I had already explored!-it felt really, really bad.
It's a shame, because I was enjoying so many other things about the Surge 2! There is talent on display and knowledge, at least in some ways, of how to reward players in a decent gameplay loop. Heck it might even be for gamers who are, frankly, better than I am at videogames.
But the makers of the Surge 2 do have a new game coming out soon and I'll admit, I'm interested.
