UNEXPLORED 2 struggles to hit its stride

By Kerry Brunskill

I’ve wandered into a stranger’s camp in the wilderness when some curious quest text pops up, “Sing a song.” How can I resist? Unexplored 2’s role play systems spring to life, and with them I guide my Wayfarer through a series of minor musical successes until they deliver what I’m told, via flavour text, is a loud rendition of a popular ditty. The applause for my impromptu performance isn’t exactly deafening, but it is enough to secure me a place by the campfire for the night.

When I’m not singing, my roguelite avatar is busy lugging modifier-laden equipment around a hostile, procedurally generated land in the hopes of destroying a magical object to save the world. It’s all a bit Lord of the Rings, but Unexplored 2 is inspired by Tolkien in a way most fantasy games aren’t. Rather than subject me to another round of orc wars, hot elves, and magic swords with funny names, Unexplored 2 instead focuses on my traveller’s long, hard, journey, with combat being something I only resort to when I’ve either run out of waybread and need to hunt, or when I’m forced to defend myself.

I never felt like I was def ending myself against an enemy out for blood

Unfortunately those bits in the books where the characters complain about being tired and hungry aren’t anyone’s favourite passages.

Randomised events along the way offer brief flashes of interest, but ultimately Unexplored 2’s journey is channelling the filler between the good stuff, only I can’t skim-read over the text when my character’s cold/hot/ wet/tired again – and thanks to frequent bugs I can’t be sure my destination will work as intended when I finally arrive, either.