Force of Nature 2: Ghost Keeper

I read a bunch of reviews, and here is what I think in my first 13 hours of play.

Some top issues:
* It is true the game is "grindy", but mostly because of the time it takes to do anything. Scavenging resources, construction, crafting etc.
* the game is sort of basic so far, and not all in a bad way. But, maps could have been designed better, but instead take a mostly linear route that all traversible parts are on the same level while hills and mountains are inaccessible, leading to a flat and limiting feeling to the game while artificially making it seem larger by winding paths on a small map.
* minimal options and settings... OK. But this game needs a brightness slider. Cmon devs, a brightness slider is basic. Especially useful for the vision impaired who already have a hard time seeing. At night, particularly in certain biomes, i cannot see. Please add a brightness/gamma slider

As for the better stuff:
* i like the graphics a lot. The depth of 3d objects makes trees and rocks pop, which is pretty rare in games, where even 3d games often dont feel 3d. But this one does an exceptional job at it. thanks
* the artwork all matches, the feel of the game is really good, other than the flat feeling to maps and inability to see at night.
* the introduction could have gone just a bit further in emphasizing the poignance of the situation, i feel. But we get the idea. I just wish it had a bit more mysterious feel to it that draws me in.
* occasional music instead of continual droning on of the same basic tune till it drives me crazy enough to take the time to go into the menus and turn it off. I like it!!!
* the basic gameloop is good. I like the crafting and all, just wish it wasnt quite so time consuming to make up for the shallow map layouts. Would have much rather had the natural flora barriers be used to limit travel than a simple S-shape with mountains that are untraversable. Many places the mountains look like you should be able to travel up them, and that would have added a lot to the game if going over mountains helped change the layout of the map travel.
* western wear and music!!!!! thanks for adding this.
* for me, I kind of like the fighting mechanics, tho a lot of people in the negative reviews seem to differ.

Overall I say buy. But I feel the greatest shame for this title is the lack of a brightness slider. I think even without my visual problems I would find nights unbearably annoying and difficult to see. With my visual issues, it becomes a point of playability, or lack thereof.

If developers are listening and care at all, please add a brightness slider to the menu. You arent losing anything by allowing us to actually see while we play.

Great if you like very grindy games and you're in the mood for a second monitor type game. Certainly a vast improvement over the first game.
Enjoyed:
- Building and creating your base is satisfying
- Bosses were the one good thing about combat since each one had varied mechanics
Disliked:
- Combat is monotonous with every biome having more or less the same type of enemy - Range, Melee and Fast
- More on the combat, the game is really easy even with "Stronger Enemies" game mode, just don't let yourself get mobbed by the hordes of enemies and you'd be fine
- Same as the first game, I don't know why the devs don't add enough keyboard keys or shortcuts to actions, it makes gameplay feel clunky having to click everywhere instead of a simple key to craft or interact with the inventory
Minor Bug/Gameplay Flaw:
- When you ask the Wanderer to send you back, he sends you to the beach you first arrived in, making this useless if you've moved your base elsewhere. It's far more efficient to "Save & Exit", then load back into your character
- Enemy pathing sometimes bugs out and they just stop and stare at you for a couple of seconds
Achievements:
- I only finished the game with the True End but didn't stay longer to complete the achievements since the rest were tedious. You would have to do another playthrough as well because there isn't enough skill points earned or else you'd be spending more time grinding levels after Level 18

I would recommend the game but with a lot of reservations,
The game is improved from the Force of Nature 1 in many ways but it still requires a huge amount of grinding. The ideas for crafting various implements is good but the demand on resources means having to go out regularly only to fetch stuff. Also having to grow food for your farm animals and waiting for them to produce is long and discouraging.
Then you get to the story which is interesting for sure. The maps are varied and have good graphics. However, you have to kill hundreds of enemies on each map, The puzzle on the canyon map is fun although not well explained. Then you get to the boss. The first boss was tricky and i died about a dozen time until I was able to win.
But when I got to the second boss it turned out to be impossible to win. I read comments from other players and many had given up, I truly tried but I eventually quit the game, I doubt the developers themselves were able to win the game.
So playing the first 2 levels and crafting so many different things was generally fun, I used a cheat to go see what the other levels were and the swamp level is just ludicrous. There are thousands of snakes, poisonous frogs and killer salamanders, but on top of that when you step into the water it sends a cloud of poison. I gave up for good when I saw this and read that the 3rd boss is absolutely impossible to kill. Poorly balanced fighting even when playing on easy mode,
If you are ok with playing only the first couple of levels and don't mind the extensive grinding, then this game has fun moments. Otherwise find something else to play that won't frustrate you.

Great for it's price point, a much more casual crafty experience than most games in this genre. Playing solo can get a bit tedious until you start unlocking extra Ghosts. Very much like V-rising, once you get the hang of it, it's fairly simple. Highly enjoyable co-op but could definitely use some customization sliders for world generation. A couple fun little puzzles so far and lots of mob bashing, teleporting makes the whole system fairly efficient.

I really like the game. Its a top down, survival, crafting game. Combat included. Nice graphics too. You will have to fight boar, fox, wolves, goblins etc. To gain resources, which there is plenty of and replenish. There is also a built of a story as well. I personally find this game fun, at least for a few hours, and it can be challenging at the beginning. However, The combat could use some work. You can only block for half a second then you cant block again for like 6 seconds. So you will have to stand there and get hit a few times.
There are abilities you unlock, like dashing, increase Hp, etc. but its a bit, wonky. Some mechanics are very smooth and fluid while others not so much. So the game definitely does need improvement(especially when it comes to QoL stuff)

- The QoL aspects are lacking. For example you cant pull items from storage to use in crafting or building. Doesn't make sense, especially since you have racks and boxes just to store certain items such as wood and stone. These items should automatically be pulled from those storage containers and used in crafting and building. Its been a year since I've played and this still isn't a thing..yet?

- You can choose between WASD movement and mouse, which I absolutely appreciate. I prefer WASD personally, so this is a nice option to have for games like this.

- Press CTRL to pick up all items on the ground that are around you! It took me a minute to figure that out lol

- It has a system of progression through unlocks as well, when it comes to crafting and building. You cant just craft everything right away, even if you find all the materials. First you unlock one thing, build/craft that stuff, then unlock the next thing, rinse and repeat.

- I do recommend the game. It could use some work still but its a nice game that is playable, has some content and hours of things for you to so so it is worth it in that regard.

Well-balanced and entertaining. Mobs were not a total cake-walk but not terribly stressful. Each of the bosses required a little extra prep to take on, but without too much grinding. Crafting was interesting and complex without being very frustrating. On the whole just challenging enough to be interesting without being stressful. Excellent co-op where we both benefited from all XP and achievements. With only one magic orb to share, only one of us could do spells (or have light without carrying a torch) but that suited us just fine.

I know I don't have very many hours in the game but this was the perfect buy. I really enjoy survival crafts. Is the game grindy? Yes. Does it bother me? No. Why? This is the perfect game to relax to imo. It feels rewarding to me to complete discoveries or to finally be able to craft what I need. I also really enjoy the art style. The combat isn't the greatest but can be looked past because that's not the games sole experience. I hope there will be a FoN 3 in the future