Plains Analysis Vol. 2 – the expertise of psychedelic platforms

Flatland Vol. 2 review for Xbox Series X

We started Monday with colors, neon lights and psychedelic jumps. Today I bring you the analysis of Flatland Vol. 2, by Minimoles games Yes QUByte Interactive. A game, like the studio that developed it, is minimalist. However, it has a lot to offer, as well as clear credentials on which it bases its precise and demanding platform. Without further ado, we’ll get to know this week’s first crawl for the Xbox community.

The last days, I was immersed in the precision of the jump. I was drawn to the perfecting pulse, direction and reflexes acquired after repeating the same thing over and over again. No, I didn’t play Souls, but a challenging 2D platform between bright colors. Flatland Vol. 2 is a game that knows how to squeeze every jump, as we complicate things a bit with every new screen we visit. The principle is very simple. A stage, an entry point and an astronomical diamond to reach to move on to the next phase. The trickiest thing is to unite the two points. Fortunately, the charge between the dead is immediate and invites you to try again.

The art of jumping

We say that the shortest distance between two points is the straight line. However, this game requires us to jump from here to there to draw the line that connects the two points. The first bars serve as a tutorial as they explain jumping, running, dashing, and the tools of the scene itself. Por otra parte, el propio escenario irá pasando de secciones de cuadros y vacíos a salas de tortura con pinchos de neón, estalactitas brillantes que tratarán de ensartarnos al pasar por debajo, y todo tipo de seres semi-intelligentes that our perseguirán si pasamos lo suficientemente close.

It’s impossible not to remember Celeste while playing Flatland Vol. 2. It is true that the game that concerns us does not offer a campaign or reflection on life and personal issues, however the whole platform drinks directly from Celeste. Even the format of the screens. The concept of small scenarios where you can jump between walls, collect dash reloads, and snooze on failure is present. Even Celeste’s B-sides can be seen with Tesseract Research, which are additional items that when hit activate a bonus level. While normal screens are just begging to go to the exit, search screens require you to reach the object and then come back with it to the entrance. Likewise, it remains to overcome the screen where we activate the bonus level. A challenge.

Duration and replayability

The duration is a bit relative. If you’re good at it, you can have a run in a matter of hours. However, if your skill is more normal, you can spend hours and hours trying to overcome all the levels in Flatland Vol 2. Whether you have completed all the levels or not, the title offers a series of alternate game modes. These include time trial and stalking bosses. In the time trial mode We can repeat any level that we have already completed, but this time we will have a deadline to complete. In addition, you can increase the difficulty, which means less time to finish. A mode for those who like stress and speed.

On the other hand, the modo “not you yet (yet)”, gives us the possibility to repeat any level already passed, but … with the addition of some of the bosses of the game that harass us. This mode, like the time trial, is also customizable. We can therefore choose any boss to make our life impossible while we connect the jumps. It is interesting to try to solve the simplest levels as an entity from beyond the stars is chasing us and blowing us up with gunshots. It’s definitely a fun way to get the most out of the game.

The whole mountain is not neon

Although Flatland Vol. 2 is a fun and very colorful game, it is still a simplification of Celeste.. It is true that the playable part is fabulous, but it does not have the narrative charisma of the game Matt Makes Games. On the other hand, the artistic section is very well managed. This leaves us with minimalist screens with lots of neon lights, although it seems to lack variety and somewhat repetitive in its design. As for the duration, it is difficult to note it, because it depends directly on each player. So I leave it to your personal choice.

Finally, Flatland Vol. 2 is an interesting 2D platform game with a very striking artistic section. Its low sale price makes it a juicy option for those looking for a challenge with good replayability; thanks to its additional game modes. However, the level design tends to repeat elements and does not offer us a campaign to use, beyond overcoming all the levels and taking the final challenge.