The real appeal to Nidhogg 2 is being able to go online and partake in private matches with friends or matchmake with other people (either unranked or unranked). "As a party game or one that sees you engaging in complex yet rip-roaring battles online, Nidhogg 2 excels." This kind of skews some matches and takes away from the utter simplicity and skill of the first game, at least while playing Arcade. Similarly, the sword doesn’t seem to have the speed of either the rapier or knife at times. Though the addition of new weapons does lead to more variety in matches, it can be frustrating trying to deal with the bow and arrow while only wielding a melee weapon. If nothing else, Arcade mode provides a nice introduction to Nidhogg 2‘s arenas and four weapons, which include the returning rapier, bow and arrow (with arrows that can be hilariously deflected if you orient your weapon at the same level), knife and sword. Though it sounds easy, it’s best not to underestimate your foes. The default single-player mode is Arcade and it challenges you to run through all of its arenas by battling AI opponents. Fancy battling through the inside of a giant wurm? How about on an airship which doubles up as a meat grinder for wurms? There’s also a an active volcano, a winter landscape, a weird forest and so on that provide different hazards, further mixing up the battles. Whether it’s your average or hardcore player, no one will quite know what to make of Nidhogg 2‘s environments. And though there’s a fair bit of luck involved, like not falling off the edge or piercing an opponent who screws up a dive kick or slide, Nidhogg 2‘s combat is a great mix of strategy and reflexes. It’s fast-paced, frantic and hilariously fun.
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Even if you execute a stunning kill on your foe and make it a few feet, they’ll spawn in front of you with a weapon to continue the duel. Nidhogg 2 also makes battles intense with its quick respawns. "Though the addition of new weapons does lead to more variety in matches, it can be frustrating trying to deal with the bow and arrow while only wielding a melee weapon." You could deflect each other’s attacks, disarm each other, roll over your respective weapons, throw them, find more weapons and continue jockeying for supremacy. You could be jockeying for an advantage against your opponent, attempting to find an opening…or you could throw your weapon, slide underneath to trip and stamp his brains out. The crazy thing is how Nidhogg 2, like the original, takes all of these fundamentals and provides such intense, fast-paced matches. The objective is to reach the final screen before your opponent and leap straight into a disgusting wurm’s mouth. They’re still plenty lethal with their bare fists and jump kicks can also disarm if you’re not careful. With some quick flicks, you can change the orientation of your weapon before a strike hits and disarm your opponent. If both fighters have their weapons at the same level, they’ll deflect each other’s attacks. This allows you to get the upper hand on an opponent. You can change the orientation of your weapon, holding it at head, chest or knee level. Of course, there’s a lot more nuance involved than that. The controls are simple – you can jump, strike with your weapon and execute more complex moves like sliding (while running, simply hit down), dive kicking (strike while in the air) and throwing your weapon (hold up and the attack button). If you don’t know the drill by now, Nidhogg 2 encourages you to customize your character with some potentially horrifying possibilities, pick up your starting weapon and fight to the death against an opponent across a side-scrolling environment. "The crazy thing is how Nidhogg 2, like the original, takes all of these fundamentals and provides such intense, fast-paced matches." Brutality and the psychedelic have never been married as lovingly and yet uncomfortably as they are in Nidhogg 2.
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Nidhogg 2 signals the return of that insanity but with a brand new highly-detailed visual style, even more mind-warping arenas and some new weapons to spice up the proceedings. It was fun learning the nuances of the combat system, attempting to one-up your opponent. Pixelated figures battled across trippy arenas, competing to see who would be fed to a giant wurm first. Messhof’s Nidhogg was as baffling as it was addictive when it released in 2014.