It’s secure to say that I actually loved Shalnor Legends: Sacred Lands – the primary sport within the sequence – again in 2018. And which means the sequel ought to properly attraction.
It’s from the identical developer, Johny Ostad, as Shalnor Legends 2: Trials of Thunder guarantees extra of the identical form of Zelda impressed motion, however with all the pieces turned as much as 11. In actual fact, my spouse and son (who’re each large Nintendo players) requested me what the sport was, because it reminded them so strongly of the Legend of Zelda sequence – and that ought to actually be taken as a praise to the developer.
Can lightning strike twice?
The story is somewhat completely different this time round, and Shalnor Legends 2: Trials of Thunder focuses on a younger Orc who goes by the identify of Mogren. Mogren is on his approach to a trial of some variety to show he is able to be an grownup, however as a substitute will get caught in a storm and finally ends up shipwrecked on Thunder Island. Right here it seems that his crashing was no accident – the deity of the island has determined he wants a champion, and Mogren has been chosen because the one. The deity bestows on Mogren an axe that he can use to defend himself, in addition to clear up puzzles as soon as it’s powered up, all earlier than being challenged with discovering 5 scrolls to unlock the true energy of the axe.
And right here our story opens – can we discover out the place the scrolls reside, in addition to tips on how to get there? Nicely, the one method ahead is to discover, and so the scene is about for an enormous journey.
Presentation of Shalnor Legends 2: Trials of Thunder has moved on from the primary sport, however continues to be considered from the identical top-down perspective. It’s simply that this time all the pieces appears a bit extra rounded, a bit extra 3D. The island itself is a superb place to discover, with varied completely different biomes to search out and wander round, to not point out all of the dungeons and caves (mini dungeons) scattered.
Fixing puzzles could be a problem this time round, as a number of the solutions are fairly obtuse, however given the time that has elapsed, there are a variety of walkthroughs out there for the more durable bits; or not less than, so I’ve been instructed! The one slight subject I’ve with the sport is that it’s onerous to place your self to hit the enemies typically, particularly within the boss fights. They appear to hit you when perspective would counsel they had been nonetheless at far, however the adjustment doesn’t take lengthy.
Sound can be properly carried out, with beautiful music and tremendous fight sound results. Even the answer to puzzles sounds a bit Zelda-y, so there’s nothing to moan about there.
Gameplay might be acquainted to anybody who performed the final Shalnor Legends sport, or who has ever performed a Zelda sport for that matter! We’re given a tough concept of the place we have to go (for the second scroll, for instance, we’re instructed to go to the west facet of the island), however determining tips on how to get there may be fully as much as us. Normally, the way in which is cleared by making our method by way of an underground space, after which coming out on the opposite facet with a purpose to open a shortcut again to the place we began. As we discover, we may also unlock quick journey factors which makes getting across the island loads simpler.
After all, these underground passages aren’t simply easy straight A to B tunnels – there may be inevitably a sequence of puzzles to determine alongside the way in which. The puzzles are an actual spotlight this time round, a pleasant combination of cerebral, corresponding to determining the proper order of symbols to unlock a door, to ones which are extra bodily. The bodily puzzles are very ingenious, from summoning a clone Mogren (that disappears after one hit) and strolling him by way of a maze to hit two buttons directly, by way of to redirecting crystals with the axe to get the door to open to the following space. There’s plenty of head scratching – or Googling – required to get to the place you need to be.
For the great, the fight in Shalnor Legends 2: Trials of Thunder is a bit lacklustre and smacking foes with the axe by no means feels notably good. Even if you stage up and spend the ability factors you achieve, the axe doesn’t appear to get noticeably stronger. Different bits do get higher, such because the well being pool and stamina regen, however the axe nonetheless feels a bit wimpy.
Nonetheless, there may be a lot extra on supply, from cooking meals to a fishing mini sport (price half a star by itself) that it feels churlish to complain an excessive amount of. All in all, Shalnor Legends 2: Trials of Thunder is a testomony to the onerous work of the dev, coming collectively as a fairly nice sport with just a few minor niggles.
Shalnor Legends 2: Trials of Thunder adventures onto the world of Xbox – https://www.thexboxhub.com/shalnor-legends-2-trials-of-thunder-adventures-onto-the-world-of-xbox/
Purchase Shalnor Legends 2 from the Xbox Retailer – https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/video games/retailer/shalnor-legends-2-trials-of-thunder/9N1T1ZVNJHTR
