Monument Valley 2 in the Apptest

A TEST REPORT from David Haydl on November 27, 2017, 17:14 p.m. | Write a comment

Image: ustwo

The predecessor Monument Valley was a puzzle game with nice graphics, well-made levels and sometimes quite challenging obstacles that are not in this form in any other game. Monument Valley was also quite expensive with a fairly small number of levels. I took a closer look at the new Monument Valley 2 and checked whether the criticisms of the predecessor were resolved. My test report.

Jump to section

1 What did you have to do in Monument Valley 1?
2 The story and the goal in Monument Valley 2
3 The number of levels in the second part
4 The level design and game mechanics
5 Conclusion
6 Download links

What did you have to do in Monument Valley 1?

The goal in Monument Valley was to guide the princess named Ida through the monuments to her destination. Hence the name of the game. Well, the game wasn't that easy after all. This is because the path to the goal was not always the easiest. To get to the end of a level you always had to change the monuments slightly using push buttons or turning wheels. But my favorite obstacles have always been the optical illusions, if you will. By that I mean quite simply that in some levels it was necessary to turn this in such a way that new connections arise in the paths that were actually not visible before.

: Example of one of the optical illusions: There is no further way here ... (Screenshot: © 2017 TechnikNews)

: ... but by turning the bridge there is a new way (screenshot: © 2017 TechnikNews)

The story and the goal in Monument Valley 2

A new main character called Princess Ro has been introduced in Monument Valley 2. The daughter of Princess Ro was introduced as a secondary character, who also acted as the main character in the game for a long time. During the game, she even experiences a transformation into a grown-up princess. The two figures have to complete the monuments either together or part of the way separately. At the end of the game, they both come back together.

The number of levels in the second part

The number of levels wasn't really great in the first part. A total of ten levels were available when the game was released. You have to give the developers credit for having increased the number of levels from ten to 19 with two updates, of which you could even pay extra for eight. For my part, I was busy for about two hours at these 19 levels. Not very much.

Well and what should I say. In the second part of Monument Valley there are only 14 levels. That's not really a lot either. But you have to say that the game has just been published and that more levels can come with updates, and that I was busy with the 14 existing levels for a surprisingly long time.

The level design and game mechanics

As I expected in advance, the levels are perfectly designed again. The graphics are back to the top of the line and the monuments look amazing again in general. In addition, I never really had the feeling that any levels were simply copied from the previous one. You can only really say good things here.

When it comes to game mechanics, I have a split opinion. If I hadn't already played the first part, I would say that everything is very good and how great the obstacles were not designed. Unfortunately, I played Monument Valley 1 and I can say that there is hardly anything new in terms of game mechanics. Most of the obstacles just stayed the same. In all levels there are again the previously mentioned rotary wheels for changing the level and the push buttons that can also do that.

There is only a new aid for completing the monument in one level. And that's just a plant that you can climb on, which can also change depending on how you regulate the sun's rays. But that's just this one aid. It's a shame they didn't do more here.

Conclusion

I'm not sure what to think of the game. Sure, the story and the levels are all completely new. And the levels are perfectly designed again. No question about it. But quite a lot was simply taken over from the predecessor or simply not improved at all.

The number of available levels is still limited. Well, that can change with updates, but I just refer to the current state of affairs. And the game mechanics and the obstacles have not changed except for the new aid in the one level mentioned above.

The price has also remained the same, and is still quite high. At the time of writing the article, the game was $ 5,49 for Android. This purchase then includes these 14 mentioned levels. For iOS you get the fun a little cheaper, here the game costs only 2,29 €, but it has been available here for around four months. The levels in the iOS version are the same as in the Android version.

Monument Valley 2 in the Apptest

What did you have to do in Monument Valley 1?