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Swords & Soldiers II |OT| Back to the Grill: When Viking meads Demon

TheMoon

TheMoon

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Developed & Published by: Ronimo Games
Platform: Wii U
Release Dates: May 21, 2015 (NA/EU)
Genre: Sidescrolling Real-Time Strategy & Action
Multiplayer: Local for 2 players with two-screen mp (each with their own screen, gamepad + TV)
Off-TV Play: Yes
Touch Controls: Yes, the whole game can be played with either touch or buttons
Supported controllers: Wii U GamePad, Wii U Pro Controller, Wii Remote+Nunchuk, Classic Controller (Pro)
eShop download file size: space required to download = 1038,9MB; file size after installing = 522MB

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Swords & Soldiers II builds on the original WiiWare game with completely new factions and a new hand-drawn art style. The game is a 2D sidescrolling Action-RTS in which the player selects the build order for units who then march toward the enemy automatically. Since players take on a kind of god-role, they can intervene in the battle via special skills.

After the magnificent chili pepper was acquired and a heavenly barbecue was had at the end of the first game, an army of demons suddenly shows up. Redbeard and Blackbeard may have to put aside their differences to defeat this most annoying annoyance. Thankfully they have a special power. Mead.

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Why should I care?
Swords & Soldiers was very well received on WiiWare. It's both hilarious and very fun to play these hectic battles where you can't pause and have to think on your feet and really optimize build orders as to not get overrun.​
What's new in this one?
Well, there are the two wholly new factions, demons and Persians, the new art style, the revamped multiplayer mode that is now spread across two separate screens for both players and a feature which allows you to pick from any of the units in the game and create your own roster for battles.​
Is this one more balanced than the first game?
Why not hear it straight from one of the devs themselves! :)
Oogst said:
(Joost here, one of the devs.) We spent a lot of time on making the balance in Swords & Soldiers II more interesting than in Swords & Soldiers 1. A change that makes a big difference is that unit cooldowns are much shorter now. This means that if you have a lot of gold, you can do a waive of of only one or two units, while in S&S1 you basically always used it for the exact same all-unit-waive. Hell, you can now even do a crazy kamikaze-only attack! So there are much more options for different tactics now. This may sound like a subtle change but it really makes a big difference. We also added super units, retrievable gold stacks and just more variation in unit and spell design in general. In total we think the balance allows for much more creativity and surprise, while also just being more balanced in general.

As a bonus option you can also create your own Custom Army from all the existing units and spells (including a bunch of neutral bonus units and spells). This is focussed less on balance and more on creativity and crazy fun.
Click to expand...

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Nintendo of Europe interviews Ronimo about S&S II
Official Site
Daily Duel series on Ronimo's YouTube account
Introduction Trailer
Launch Trailer

Screenshots:
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Click to expand...

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http://www.destructoid.com/review-swords-and-soldiers-ii-292182.phtml
http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/swords-and-soldiers-2-review/1900-6416148/
http://www.examiner.com/review/swords-and-soliders-2-review-a-sequel-to-be-proud-of
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/40277/swords-n-soldiers-ii-wii-u-review

*** OP will be updated with more stuff. if you have anything you'd like added, let me know! ***
 
Is the balance between races better than in the original ?
Loved playing it in local multiplayer, but anything than Viking vs Viking wasn't very fun to play.
 
FunkyDealer said:
Never played the original, but this looks pretty cool. Is there cooperative multiplayer or just competitive?
Click to expand...

This isn't really a game you can play in co-op. Just wouldn't work.

You and the enemy are on opposite sides of the map and everyone walks towards each other.
 
Morokh said:
Is the balance between races better than in the original ?
Loved playing it in local multiplayer, but anything than Viking vs Viking wasn't very fun to play.
Click to expand...
(Joost here, one of the devs.) We spent a lot of time on making the balance in Swords & Soldiers II more interesting than in Swords & Soldiers 1. A change that makes a big difference is that unit cooldowns are much shorter now. This means that if you have a lot of gold, you can do a waive of of only one or two units, while in S&S1 you basically always used it for the exact same all-unit-waive. Hell, you can now even do a crazy kamikaze-only attack! So there are much more options for different tactics now. This may sound like a subtle change but it really makes a big difference. We also added super units, retrievable gold stacks and just more variation in unit and spell design in general. In total we think the balance allows for much more creativity and surprise, while also just being more balanced in general.

As a bonus option you can also create your own Custom Army from all the existing units and spells (including a bunch of neutral bonus units and spells). This is focussed less on balance and more on creativity and crazy fun.
 
Oogst said:
(Joost here, one of the devs.) We spent a lot of time on making the balance in Swords & Soldiers II more interesting than in Swords & Soldiers 1. A change that makes a big difference is that unit cooldowns are much shorter now. This means that if you have a lot of gold, you can do a waive of of only one or two units, while in S&S1 you basically always used it for the exact same all-unit-waive. Hell, you can now even do a crazy kamikaze-only attack! So there are much more options for different tactics now. This may sound like a subtle change but it really makes a big difference. We also added super units, retrievable gold stacks and just more variation in unit and spell design in general. In total we think the balance allows for much more creativity and surprise, while also just being more balanced in general.

As a bonus option you can also create your own Custom Army from all the existing units and spells (including a bunch of neutral bonus units and spells). This is focussed less on balance and more on creativity and crazy fun.
Click to expand...

Oh hi there! I'm gonna go and put this in the OP. People might as well hear it straight from the horses mouth. :D

btw, I hope everything I wrote up there is accurate?

Cheers, keep making awesome games! :)
 
Also the first one is on the Eshop for $3 and also has multiplayer and Wii Remote support.

Great value and gives you a good idea on the gameplay.
 
Some shopping deity looked down at me today when I was able to combine a bunch coupons to grab a $20 eshop card at CVS for $7.

Even better that this came out today, because I had this game in my sights for a while. Finally getting a new Wii U game to play since Smash, woo~
 
I purchased the game as soon as I got home. So far (one hour in) it's really well made and fun to play; I did notice the sound stuttering every now and then though.
 
First impressions after a good 4 hours in the game.

Technicaly, no surprises here: just like expected, the game looks amazing in this hand drawn 2d style, animations are varied and glorious. Voice acting do is a little disapointing, but the music is ok. I must say I have encounter random stuttering here and there.

Gameplay wise, I'm more than satisfied: there sure is a lot of novelties! There are now many new buildings to choose (teleport portals, passiv or explosiv defenses, skeleton sumoning graves, canons...), each faction has a "champion" that can trigger a special ability, mana and gold blocks are randomly droped on the battlefield, forcing you to browse your surroundings and send your miners on dangerous missions...the list goes on.

So it does feel like S&S allright, but more deep, subtle...and violent. The fact that you can now customise your own army adds a lot of depth and fun to the game: Ronimo must have worked hard and used its experience from Amesomenauts to keep the game (hopefully) balanced...wich brings me to my main critic:

I'm normaly all good with a local-only multiplayer game. I own a WII U (4 wiimotes and nunchucks) and a pc with 4 wireless xbox controlers, and have gamers as well as non gamers come party at my place several times a month.
In the case of S&S 2, I feel like it's a waste the game doesn't suport online play, considering the asking price and the obvious effort putt in the developement of this game.
It's definitely not pick-up and play, it's now rather deep and there's no chance you could have fun playing against a friend that hasn't (extensively) play it before.

The good news, I guess, is that the campaign isn't as short as some early reviews reported: after over 4h, I'm at mission 34 out of 75.

Side note: I don't like the new controls, but it's ok: thanks to them I can play the game next to my sleeping wife.
 
Oogst said:
(Joost here, one of the devs.) We spent a lot of time on making the balance in Swords & Soldiers II more interesting than in Swords & Soldiers 1. A change that makes a big difference is that unit cooldowns are much shorter now. This means that if you have a lot of gold, you can do a waive of of only one or two units, while in S&S1 you basically always used it for the exact same all-unit-waive. Hell, you can now even do a crazy kamikaze-only attack! So there are much more options for different tactics now. This may sound like a subtle change but it really makes a big difference. We also added super units, retrievable gold stacks and just more variation in unit and spell design in general. In total we think the balance allows for much more creativity and surprise, while also just being more balanced in general.

As a bonus option you can also create your own Custom Army from all the existing units and spells (including a bunch of neutral bonus units and spells). This is focussed less on balance and more on creativity and crazy fun.
Click to expand...

Damn ! Thank you for the answer :D
 
Didn't play the first one but I'm wondering why they decided to cut the chinese and aztec faction.
Maybe balancing? Would be fun to have more than 3 factions in 2 player mode
 
This game is damn good. Nice job Romino.

Remember, Awesomenauts would be fucking great with local two players, one the gamepad and one using the pro controler.
 
Soul Lab said:
Didn't play the first one but I'm wondering why they decided to cut the chinese and aztec faction.
Maybe balancing? Would be fun to have more than 3 factions in 2 player mode
Click to expand...
We wanted to make a new game, not just more of the same. Keeping the same factions would have been much less fresh, so we only kept the Vikings and designed two completely new factions. The Vikings have also changed quite a lot, by the way. Also, an RTS with too many factions is impossible to balance, there is a reason very few RTS games have more than three truly unique factions.
 
HOLY SHIT!

I had no idea this existed until I saw this thread, and I'm downloading it right now. I haven't even watched any videos, and the game is TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS here in Australia.

Fuck, the first game was amazing. My brother and I played the crap out of the first one on WiiWare, and I double-dipped on the iPad version and still play it when travelling.

This is the best surprise ever.
 
Oogst said:
We wanted to make a new game, not just more of the same. Keeping the same factions would have been much less fresh, so we only kept the Vikings and designed two completely new factions. The Vikings have also changed quite a lot, by the way. Also, an RTS with too many factions is impossible to balance, there is a reason very few RTS games have more than three truly unique factions.
Click to expand...

First game was incredible! Except it was impossible to play as the Chinese on small maps in multiplayer.
 
SatoAilDarko said:
Also the first one is on the Eshop for $3 and also has multiplayer and Wii Remote support.

Great value and gives you a good idea on the gameplay.
Click to expand...

I still need to get to it!

That's one of my ideas of a genius port:

You got the original which was a Wii exclusive, tailor-made for the system (but it's also on PS3 and iOS I believe).

The succeeding console (Wii U) gets the sequel exclusively.

Romino decides to let a very well-known Wii U dev (Two Tribes, who did the iOS version) not only port the original in preparation, but also at a extremely cheap price ($3), the original on Wii is $10!

So it's a GREAT idea; letting people interested in the sequel play the original with Wii controls in HD, and for a sweet price, but also it's a great way for newcomers to try out the series, as obviously $3 is far more appealing than $20 off the bat.

Bayonetta also falls into this, and that's a 2-for-1 deal!

Only downside is that right now there's no DLC in the Wii U version of the original Swords & Soldiers, but for the price, who cares?!
 
Bernbaum said:
HOLY SHIT!

I had no idea this existed until I saw this thread, and I'm downloading it right now. I haven't even watched any videos, and the game is TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS here in Australia.

Fuck, the first game was amazing. My brother and I played the crap out of the first one on WiiWare, and I double-dipped on the iPad version and still play it when travelling.

This is the best surprise ever.
Click to expand...

Its a really great game so far.
 
Oogst said:
We wanted to make a new game, not just more of the same. Keeping the same factions would have been much less fresh, so we only kept the Vikings and designed two completely new factions. The Vikings have also changed quite a lot, by the way. Also, an RTS with too many factions is impossible to balance, there is a reason very few RTS games have more than three truly unique factions.
Click to expand...

Oh, thanks a lot for the response. The game is great. Can't wait to try out the 2 player mode
 
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