Zoological Era II
Creature-battling real-time action-RPG. Battle 2D characters in 3D space. Animal types have even more depth, while retaining the traits that made each type so distinguishable. Experience the challenges of each one, with new battle dynamics to add to the gameplay. (Note: Characters stay facing in the same direction, but can move all around.)
• Real-time gameplay
• Quick Battle mode for selecting characters to join you and to fight against in a single match.
• Animal types to choose from, each with their own dynamics, weaknesses, and resistances.
• Environmental temperature, which affects cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals in different ways.
• Arcade mode for increasingly difficult enemies.
• Hand-drawn character animation
• 1-4 players offline, using the same screen.
• Controller support
• Lore and culture of a fantasy world
Game Discussion
Steam User 1
This game is a cinematic masterpiece of the RPG Genre.
I don't even know where to begin with how good this game feels to play.
The combat is so smooth and well paced and the dialogue options are rewarding depending which route you choose. The single player campaign is both cutting edge with its depiction of current social issues yet makes you feel vindicated after each well crafted chapter. The characters introduced through the game are well crafted with so much thought put into their personalities and designs. The soundtrack always keeps me on the verge of crying or letting out a rebel yell with how it beautifully encapsulates each scene. I won't spoil the ending but it may be the best ending I've ever seen in gaming, it wraps up the Zoological trilogy perfectly.
The ending to arcade mode never fails to bring a tear to my eye. The options menu is well crafted along with the rest of the UI to make the gameplay experience smooth as possible.
Steam User 3
I don't make reviews.
But this fucking game had me on the verge of depression and full melancholy at times and then smiling ear to ear, happy to realise how hopeful and humble life really is.
This game manages to make a masterful and deeply personal story about going through a downward spiral in your life, full of gut-wrenching sorrow and pain. While that's an achievement on it's own, I truly appreciate that this game also encapsulates finding light at the end of the tunnel, getting back on your own feet and finding hope in even the smallest victories.
This is only the emotion and writing behind one aspect of the game and honestly it's enough for me to recommend it.
The haunting art, the incredible emotional range of the soundtrack and the perfectly unique characters tie together with a setting so full of lore and love that the game feels less and less like reading a story but more like experiencing an entire world.
Gushing aside, Zoological Era II offers roughly around 15-18 hours of content to 100% a single playthrough, but also offers great replayability with different content and choices for each of the main four skill sets, I'd say around 2 or 3 playthroughs worth.
Zoological Era II is a game that you can and probably will struggle with. The hopeless atmosphere of the world and events that happen both prior to the game and during it can start to really hurt if you get immersed. But if you can persist, push on, fight against the world and everything it throws at you; then you'll be rewarded with one of the greatest experiences you'll have in fiction.
If you're even remotely considering buying this game, do it.