BY LOGAN SCHLOSSER
STAFF WRITER
Hello to all of you lovely people at home! Welcome back to your regularly scheduled programming. I know I basically spent my entire last article talking about hedge funds and all of that jazz, but we are back to the usual. And boy, I got a pretty cool article for you prepared today! My excitement for this article comes from the fact that I’ve actually been playing this game’s predecessor for the past decade. So when the new installment of the series was released, I was hyped! It does indeed own up to its past title; it has everything that you could possibly hope for: from the time you died to a thing you couldn’t control, to more times that you die to unforeseen consequences. Now, without further ado, the game I will be talking about is… Spelunky 2!
Now for starters, this game follows the same genre that I am absolutely in love with. The genre of roguelite makes for truly a wonderful yet painful experience. I probably should actually explain what a roguelite is first, though. A roguelite is a game that resets every time you die. All of your progress is absolutely obliterated, and you are forced to go back to the beginning. This causes you to feel a sense of remorse, yet a sense of enjoyment too, from how far you made it that time.
Anyways, time for the actual gameplay element. You begin every run in the mines, which is your starting point. You then make your way through the caverns discovering treasure and avoiding traps as you go. Basically everything is out to kill you, from the bats to the spikes on the ground. So, it’s important to use the trusty whip that you start off with to protect yourself from your foes! You might think, “hey if these monsters are just out to get me, why don’t I just wait them out?” Doing that would cause even worse things to happen. You see, there’s a time limit on how long you are allowed to hang out on each floor of the caverns. And if you don’t make it out of that area by the time the clock strikes zero, a ghost will spawn. That ghost will follow you and insta-kill you if you make contact with it. So the best strategy is just to keep moving along as fast as you can, no matter how painful the road may be.
Another part of the game is collecting treasure as you go. You dash across the caverns and bash pots and chests open to get gems and such. These all have different monetary values. Once you have enough of that cash saved up, you can head onto any of the shops located on the majority of the levels. These shops will always sell four items and will always follow a distinct genre of merchandise that they are selling. Examples of this include ones that sell specifically weapons or companions to help you along your journey. You could also just rob the stores of their goods, but don’t expect the shopkeepers to be kind to you anymore!!
Once again, this seems to be where the road ends for this article. The last thing I will say is that you should just pick up this game. It’s a wonderful game to sink countless hours into; plus, it’s incredibly easy to start playing. Anyways, that’s my article; if you liked it, read my other stuff! Have a good rest of your day and thank you for reading!