Ufouria: The Saga 2 (Nintendo Switch) Review

Ufouria: The Saga 2 could be a great gateway game for children starting to explore Metroidvanias. It has all the elements that make it appealing: an adorable arts and crafts-like visual style, simplistic 2D gameplay for that makes it easy to pick up and play, and it is sure to attract any budding gamer with a controller. The story is light and comedic, focusing on Hebe, a penguin who tries to stop an alien from mind controlling his friends while collecting cans. Silly shenanigans abound, and the narrative clearly prioritises gameplay over introspection or deep exploration of trauma. While a fun excuse for a Metroidvania adventure, the amount of reading in Ufouria: The Saga 2 might be surprising.

Vending machines offer upgrades and new abilities, accompanied by character skits explaining their function. The cast is diverse: Hebe, a mild-mannered penguin with no special skills beyond cuteness; O-chan, a fired-up girl in a catsuit who swims across deep water; Sukezaemon, a cool ghost guy with shades that glides across gaps; and Jennifer, a fishman who dives underwater and has a girl's name for some reason.

The story begins with only Hebe, but it doesn't take long before players are lobbing balloons at the cast to save them from the muck infestation. The combat revolves around throwing popoons at infected objects or enemies to make them vulnerable for a butt stomp. If this sounds drawn out, it's because it is. Ufouria: The Saga 2 is a very slow-paced platformer that makes small things feel stretched out. This is compounded by the slow movement speed, floaty jumps, and the cooldowns for the popoons.

As if the general playability wasn't sluggish enough, Ufouria: The Saga 2's structure is also padded out to make it artificially long. Hebe begins the game at the centre of the map, which branches outward in all directions. For a Metroidvania, this is forward thinking and helps foster familiarity as players traverse back and forth. However, Ufouria: The Saga 2 does not play like a traditional Metroidvania since the starting area is more like a hub that leads to levels with points of no return. Once Hebe and the gang are locked into an area, they have only one way to go. That direction leads them to a boss, and then the bird guy at the end that will whisk the team back to Hebe's house.

This makes exploration require a commitment, and trying to retrieve some collectibles becomes a risk that costs time. Missed a jump while on a minecart? Prepare to walk the rest of the stage to the end to fly back to the hub, and then return to the level to try again. This tedium is optional and will drive completionists out of their minds, but those that choose to focus on completing the main story will find that the levels are still worth replaying because they do change as progress is made.

Certain items in the vending machines are not just upgrades to health, moves, or popoon capacity. Some of the items will have the stages undergo significant changes that can lead to new areas or add bonus levels for some extra cash and cans. It does add some novelty, but it is hard to shake the feeling that this was done due to a limited budget so as to lighten the workload for the number of levels.