Oh yeah. It’s good stuff.
It’s no secret I really dug Bookworm Adventures, so when a sequel was announced, I started twitching in anticipation. I’m currently looking at every word I type to consider how much damage it can inflict upon my foes. Granted, this isn’t particularly different from the previous game, but Bookworm Adventures 2 features the same fun gameplay, new enemies, a new story, new settings that are tons of fun, and an adventure replay mode, which was, frankly, the only thing I thought was really missing from the first.
Maybe I should assume people don’t know what the game is, and explain as such.
Bookworm Adventures 2: Lexiconographical Boogaloo (okay, not really, but come on) combines elements of two genres, RPGs and word puzzles. Players face off against enemies with pre-defined attacks that can inflict raw damage, status effects, and have various strength and defensive stats. Meanwhile, the players get 16 word tiles of varied values to put together the best words they can. Better words do more damage (better being longer and with letters used less often), and award gems. Gems are letters with special effects they inflict when used in a word. It’s easy enough to consider them the magic/overdrive/limit breaks and what have you, the reward you get for good performance. And once you get one, it’s easier to get another in the next word. You’ll never get more than two in a turn (one for a word, one for overkill), but you can use as many as fit into a word. Skilled wordsmiths will be able to stack together three or four in a word, dealing out fire and poison damage over time (yep, DOTs!) as well as a %400 bonus to the initial attack. Even a single word can fell the end boss, done properly.
In addition to that, there’s items to use and carry, as well as companions to aid you. Defeating enemies can result in potion drops, health restoration potions, strength enhancements, and status effect nullifiers. Those alone are quite useful, but then after most levels players gain an item which confers a constant effect, with two carried at any time. A few examples are that types of words do more damage, status effects last one less turn, potions drop more, etc. And then, companions, of which you bring one per level and who activate every four turns. Some drop potions, some stun enemies, some purify, and the list goes on. There’s quite a combination of items and companions to be had, and most are quite useful. It’s also, while easy to do, not necessary to horde the potions one gets. Plenty drop, and if players lose, they can easily get a few more via the mini-games presented.
There are now six of them, the original three and a new one included with each book. As much as I enjoyed the originals, I’d say these three are superior and rarely went back except for a bit of fun. Minus, naturally, Word Master, a mini-game where getting the best reward required guessing a 5 letter word on the first try. It’s fun in the mini-game section, but not as a way to earn prizes due to too much random luck being involved. That aside, the other five games are a lot of fun and good for earning extra potions and gems.
The three new books are tons of fun, and the last book is far less frustrating than the last time around. No more over-armored enemies, just moderately, which results in a lot less playing the same chapter twenty times in a row to stockpile potions. And the settings, well, excellent. Bookworm Adventures took players to some fun places, no doubt, with Greece, Arabian Knights themed tales, and of course a journey into classic horror. Bookworm Adventures 2 takes a more modern approach, starting off with Mother Goose, and moving into (highlight for slightly spoilery bits) Journey to the West, followed by Sci-fi elements with a big dose of cyberpunk.(all clear!)
The presentation of these elements, as well as Lex and friends, remains as charming as ever. There’s a touch of childrens’ storybook, a bright, crisp palette on top of paper doll style designs, indeed looking as if the enemy just came right off the page. They do suffer a little from the game’s low resolution (it’s not bad, by any means, windowed, but becomes obvious fullscreen), but the animations are amusing and the way they’re drawn is great. Sounds and music fit right in too, with simple effects and a bit of voice from Lex. All very friendly, with flavor text and amusing attack names. It’s got that PopCap charm, no doubt.
That charm is a part of what pulls you in over and over, too. You just can’t quit this damn game. Even when it frustrates the hell out of you with tile warps (a truly vicious attack that changes your letters, and if you’ve been slaving away, preparing a truly devastating word, only to have a key letter ripped away and turned into a q…it’s hard to describe that pain after unleashing ten 3-4 letter words so you could drop 14). But, that’s just part of the game. It wants you to think on your feet and dig deep, especially in the later stages, and it damn well forces you.
I didn’t mind.
Bookworm Adventures 2 gets 5 out of 5. It’s pure, simple tremendous fun, well polished and in my experience, bug free. A little low res, but that’s the only real complaint I have.
