Game Review #080: Nidhogg II (Nintendo Switch)
Reviewer: Chad M.
Developer: Messhof Games
Publisher: Messhof Games
Category: Fighting, Arcade, Action, Party
Release Date: 11.22.2018
Buy Nidhogg II from the Nintendo eShop here.
Put Your Dukes Up
Fighting games used to be a favorite of mine as a child. Street Fighter 2 and Tekken used to get worn out in my house or at the arcade if I saw them in the wild. But as I grew older my interests had changed and I looked for more attention to story lines and deeper gameplay. But in the last few years I’ve started to get back into fighters with the resurgence I’ve seen in certain series. But sometimes you see a fighting game that’s completely different and flipped on top of its head. That’s what I experienced with Nidhogg 2; it’s a PvP Fighting game that is a party game at its core with a lot of fun under the hood.
Let’s Duel With This Now
If you came here for a deep and enthralling story you won’t find it here. There is no story at all, even with the arcade mode that plays like a story mode has none at all. You basically just start off face to face dueling each other at a middle stage with three behind you and three behind your opponent. Your objective is to keep killing your opponent and reach the goal or finish line on your opponent’s side. Once you do a giant worm monster drops from the sky and gobbles you up like you’re wagyu steak. I feel like the lack of story is a missed opportunity as they changed the look of the game from the first installment and gave it a cartoonish look with funny looking characters and well thought out environments. So even if it was something small as to why you are fighting just to sacrifice yourself, it’d at least add to the overall experience. So without a story the game has to stand on its gameplay.
Gameplay & Fun Factor
This is the major selling point for this game. The controls felt very sharp and spot on; never did I feel like it wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do which is so important in fighting games. You get your choice of 4 weapons; a dueling sword, a heavy broad sword, a small dagger and a bow and arrow. Even when you’re disarmed you are still deadly. You can kick, jump kick, and then finish it off by curb stomping their brains all over the place. The fighting feels great as you’re dueling back and forth but at any time you can choose to throw your weapon. The best time to throw your weapon is when your opponent is running from you or if they’re unarmed and defenseless.
Playing arcade mode was fun and the CPU was somewhat challenging, but never really what I would consider hard. I never had an issue running straight through to the goal and winning. The multiplayer is where the game shines brightest and there are two options for this. Online multiplayer is an option but every time I tried to get into a match it just kept searching. I tried this several times so I’m guessing we need the community to grow before the online is a viable option.
The local multiplayer is where I spent most of my time playing. There is the choice to just jump into a match or start a tournament. Just the straight up matches is what worked best as I got friends together and we just kept passing the controller around and never once was there a dull moment. Everyone was laughing and enjoying it from start to finish and asking when we were meeting to play again, which speaks volumes for a good party game.
Audio & Visuals
The music in Nidhogg 2 is very catchy. It's a trippy sound soundtrack that could have passed for the lost tapes of Modest Mouse mixed with some more up tempo progressive rock. I kept finding myself stopping and listening to the music. The sounds are perfectly placed and they sound spot on as you hear the swords clinging and clashing or hearing your head get stomped into paste. The game’s art style and visuals are a huge improvement over the first game. You have choices to design your characters with different colors, haircuts, and clothes. They’re cartoony looking and make hilarious expressions during the fights. What I noticed the most visually was the environments; they’re magical though funny looking. They first made me think of Adventure Time the TV show.
Final Thoughts
The time I spent playing Nidhogg 2 alone was okay, though it didn’t seem to hold my attention. But when I was playing with friends it became one of my top party games, and I had friends asking its name and wanting to play it again. So if you’re a loner and don’t see yourself having friends over to play I’d pass until the community builds up. If you’re like myself and have friends over often or can talk your significant other into playing then you should definitely pick this up as with friends it’s a blast.
Final Score: 7.5/10
Buy Nidhogg II from the Nintendo eShop here.
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*Review Code Provided By Terminals.IO