Aragami 2

With improved traversal, map design, and an option for multiplayer, Aragami 2 stands tall as a stealth title that brings the genre’s strengths to the forefront.

Aragami 2 is a great sequel from a gameplay standpoint, but it lacks the freshness of the original.

Aragami 2, in addition to some of its minor flaws, has covered all the shortcomings of the first game and got a great sequel game.

With Aragami 2, the development team changes artistic direction, replenishes the gameplay with everything that has been released in recent years and add content to content, preferring quantity to quality. With a little more care and a better finish, Aragami 2 could have been a jewel: as it is, it remains an effective product, but still leaves a little bitterness in the mouth.

Aragami 2 is another enjoyable sneak ‘em up and a solid improvement over its predecessor, but an overfamiliar world and mechanics make it hard to get too excited about the game. Aragami 2 gets the job done cleanly and efficiently, and is worth a shot if you’re into old-school stealth, but its memory may quickly fade into the shadowy recesses of your mind.

Aragami 2 is a huge departure from the original game. In exchanging the linear narrative-driven stealth experience for an open-ended co-op mission adventure, Lince Works has created a game that feels just as flawed as the original, but has a lot more charm in it's small moments and simplicity. Repetitive missions and enemies make it hard to get engrossed with the game for long periods of time, but as a stealth action game to hop into for quick little bursts, Aragami 2 can be pretty fun.

Even if I know that my relationship with stealth titles is kind of 'toxic', Aragami 2 is but one more symptom of that link: I know that it has flaws, but I cannot avoid ignoring them in pursuit of their benefits. In the end, any criticism about its plot, its design or its technology succumbs to the simple but fundamental fact that it is satisfying and fun, leaving behind an experience that, without a doubt, I will fondly remember and recommend to any fan of the genre.

For all my complaints, Aragami 2 does pull off making you feel like a ninja rather well. Planning just the perfect route to ambush everyone one by one or slip in and out without disturbing anyone felt really satisfying. It manages to tread that fine line of letting you get away with more than is realistic while still making a perfect run challenging that makes a great stealth game. I just can’t help but feel they took a few gambles with changing things up from the original, and took a step backwards as a result.

With its simple and nervous gameplay, Aragami 2 offers a classic infiltration experience but of formidable efficiency. Add to this the many skills available to players, and the levels can be crossed with great ease for an exhilarating sensation. Unfortunately, the title suffers alongside a lack of variety which gives the feeling of always repeating the same levels over and over despite their large size and barely different objectives. We also regret the change of artistic direction for a result less captivating than in the first part and which reveals a fairly simple technique. Nonetheless, it remains a nice and effective infiltration game that will surely gain in depth thanks to its multiplayer mode.

Bottom line: Aragami 2 is a fun stealth-action game armed with an abundant variety of ninja killing skills and tools which are sure to please fans of the genre, especially in co-op. However, the monotonous missions, low-production quality cutscenes, and slightly clunky combat system may cause a modicum of annoyance for some.

Aragami 2 has its good moments, its old-fashioned take on stealth games occasionally is fun, but ultimately, the taste it leaves is that it's a mediocre game. To its credit, Lince Works decided not to take the easy route of simply improving on cons of the first Aragami and promote it as a sequel, but the result doesn't fully justify that decision.

I do truly wish I could call this a diamond in the rough or some classic in the making, but that’s just not the case. Aragami 2 is fine and while I am likely to revisit it one day, I wouldn’t say you need to rush out and play it right now.

Aragami 2 has lots of potential but falls into repetition, some odd story choices, and frustrating online play.

While there’s intrigue to discover amongst the structure and layout of locales in Aragami 2, the sequel’s turn away from the distilled charm of its one-man stealth prior leaves more perplexed questions than convincing answers.

A disappointing sequel that sacrifices stealth mechanics in favour of tedious co-op missions.

Aragami 2 might be appealing to some stealth fans, but the final package ultimately fails to meet the current standards of the video games industry.

Padded, mediocre, and tripped up by horribly dated AI and unreliable game mechanics, Aragami 2 is the kind of stealth game that you may want to just sneak past.

While Aragami 2’s serpentine levels are fun to stealth around in, especially in co-op, a needlessly drawn-out campaign rife with frustrating combat and game-ending glitches prevent it from becoming a tale worthy of song.