Guacamelee 2

The Short and Sweet
Guacamelee! 2 is, obviously, the sequel to Guacamelee!, both of which are 2D beat-em-up platforming games with a heavy focus on combos. Unlike some other sequels that can stand on their own, Guacamelee! 2 is heavily attached to the previous game in its story, and it relies on that connection to avoid having to reestablish characters that played prominent roles in the last title. I would recommend any prospective players take a look at the original Guacamelee! before considering this sequel, or even this review.
Guacamelee! 2, as just mentioned, is a platforming game with a beat-em-up style of combat that involves surprisingly technical input to perform combos. The protagonist, Juan Aguacate, is given a number of tools and abilities to help him string together attacks for maximized damage, all of which serve a second purpose in platforming due to their movement benefits. For example, a Rooster Uppercut can launch an enemy high into the air, or help Juan reach a platform just out of reach. Since all combat abilities possess this twin utility purpose, it allows for a fantastic progression system that slowly lets both platforming and combat become more advanced as you unlock more abilities.
The story continues from where the original Guacamelee left off, after the defeat of Calaca. Juan is needed in order to save the Mexiverse from an even greater threat, the rogue Luchador Salvador, who resides in the Darkest Timeline and seeks to claim the Sacred Guacamole to restore his powers. As you can probably imply from that statement, Guacamelee! 2 does not even attempt to take itself seriously. Nearly all the dialogue and plot points in the game are designed to be humorous, and I personally found it to be one of the funniest games I have played in a long time.
Pros
The quality of the writing easily shines through with an interesting story, weird but fascinating characters, and top-tier meta humor that constantly breaks the fourth wall.
Highly technical platforming that requires both skill and focus delivers satisfying gameplay when not in combat, and a deep combo-oriented combat system provides the same qualities when you are.
A great visual design and enjoyable music (Mostly mariachi music) add to the quality of the game as a whole, rather than lacking like some other games would.
Can be played with up to three other players using Remote Play Together, although this can quickly become chaotic, as the platforming was not balanced around more than one player.
Cons
A lot of optional content and 100% completion requires copious backtracking, which can wear down a player over time if they do not enjoy the Metroidvania map style.
Some platforming segments (Thankfully, only the optional ones) can be brutally difficult and precise, bordering on pure masochism.
If the optional content and 100% completion is mostly ignored, the game is only roughly 10 hours long. Any additional time is spent completing the optional platform challenges. Consider if this play time is worth the price, or if you want to wait for a sale.
Short Conclusion: Very Highly Recommended
In-Depth Analysis
Gameplay
Guacamelee! 2’s gameplay is exclusively platforming and combat, both of which harness the special abilities Juan obtains as he progresses through the game. Every combat ability, such as Rooster Uppercut or Dash-Punch, doubles as a movement ability for platforming, since they physically extend the height or length of a player’s jump, although each ability can only be used once during a single jump. These Special Moves also require stamina, of which there is a limited amount. Running out of stamina prevents you from using any Special Moves, but the maximum stamina cap can be extended by finding hidden upgrade chests scattered throughout the world. Maximum health can be increased the same way.
Juan can also enhance his abilities and combat potential using various skills obtained from skill trees. Each of these skills gives a genuinely useful benefit, with some increasing the power of abilities, granting various wrestling moves, giving more money and health on an enemy kill, or increasing the speed of stamina regeneration. The money you get from breaking chests and beating enemies can be a great asset if wisely spent on the upgrades you deem most beneficial.
The gameplay is ultimately very simple, but effective at achieving what it set out to do; provide a rewarding, technical experience that isn’t mind-numbingly difficult, but is also not a cheap walk in the park, whether platforming or fighting.
Story
Guacamelee! 2’s writing is the highlight of the whole experience. While the story itself is pretty good, following Juan’s attempts to foil Salvador’s evil plan to obtain the Sacred Guacamole, the dialogue and interactions found all over the game contain humor. This includes fourth wall breaks, meta jokes, dry wit, video game references, and other comedy subjects that I don’t even know the name of. There’s a decent chance any NPC you talk to can make you chuckle, and some story events have gotten genuine laughs from me. Rarely do I enjoy a game’s dialogue as much as I did for Guacamelee! 2.
The story does rely immensely on a player’s previous knowledge of the events that took place in the original Guacamelee!, so anyone jumping in blind will likely end up more confused than anything else at plot points and character reveals. As said, I would heavily recommend you play the original before considering the sequel.
Visuals
The visual style of Guacamelee! 2 is themed after Day of the Dead designs and Aztec architecture blended with its own unique, smooth style that results in some fantastic environments to explore. At no point did I stop thinking that the game looks great.
Parts of the environment that are involved in platforming are distinct and unmistakable, preventing unnecessary confusion and assisting in smoother gameplay. These stellar design choices make platforming more entertaining than it would be without them.
Audio
The audio design for gameplay is fairly standard, with impact noises that are satisfying enough to serve their purpose. Where the audio shines is in the music, sharing the same blend of Mariachi and other instruments as the original game. This music is omnipresent throughout the game, and is enjoyable the entire time. Despite being a 2D platformer, the music and visual design come together to create a deeper atmosphere than a game this simple should probably have.
Technical
Specs: GeForce 840m 2GB, 8GB Memory, i7 CPU, Windows 8.1
I managed to achieve a stable 40+ FPS while running the game in 1600x900 resolution. My computer isn’t even all that amazing, so any decent rig will run this smoothly with little issue.
Conclusion
Gucamelee! 2 is a stellar game that excels in nearly every department. The humor is top notch, the gameplay is fantastic, and the atmosphere is better than it has any right to be. The only problems that hold it back are the extreme difficulty of the optional content and how short the content involving the main story truly is, capping at 7 – 12 hours. Still, I would highly advise you give it a shot, while maybe waiting for a sale to purchase it.
Follow our curator page Alexander's Club Curations, if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.

i liked it very very much. but the chicken temple made me wanna rip my spine out. 10/10 chicken adventure game

If you liked the first Gauacamelee it's just more of it. Really enjoyed the CHICKEN POWAAAA :)

After enjoying the first one I knew this would be a great game. Beat it in about 13 hours or so.
+ :
- Always enjoy the combat - face paced but tactical as well
- Good difficulty in the platforming sections
- Funny story and especially the turn based parody
- :
- Bosses were not very difficult
I found myself challenged and stimulated throughout my Mexiverse adventure. I especially liked the Picolo enemy

Goregeous Art Style and intelligent gameplay!

Guacamelee 2 is essentially more of the same, a very straightforward sequel that reuses the same engine and assets. I absolutely suggest playing the original first if you haven't already, both games are just as good, and essentially look and play the same. The sequel is more of a level pack with some new (but very minor) mechanics, such as more moves in the chicken form.
Just like the first game, this is not really a metroidvania, the progression is gated via story events, and collectibles are hidden behind color coded blocks. There's a quest marker that tells you where to go at all times. And even the levels themselves very rarely branch out. Moreover, this time around there's a way bigger focus on platforming. The game honestly plays like a straight up precision platformer (e.g. Celeste) 80% of the time. You walk into a large room filled with spikes, moving platforms and other gimmicks, and you need to execute a very precise jumping sequence. All the while swapping between living/dead dimensions and human/chicken forms. The amount of buttons you need to press in a very short time window is sometimes so large it feels like playing a musical instrument.
Then there's the combat. It's pretty basic, you've got your 3 hit combo, uppercut (launcher), dodge roll, grab, and 4 specials which are basically just directional power attacks. The combat difficulty has been nerfed compared to the first game (which was already a pushover) and it basically only acts as a filler between the platforming sections. The first game at least had some challenging bosses, but here you will first try every boss including the final battle, which is a huge shame.
Another thing, the original was often criticized for its overuse of internet memes and pop culture references. In response to this feedback the developers decided to... double down on the meme use. They even added an optional area where they mock the people that didn't like the memes in the first game. While the humor was hit or miss for me, I absolutely applaud their decision of sticking to their guns.
Guacamelee 2 is longer than the original and will take about 10 hours to beat on average, less if you rush it, more if you do all of the optional challenges. There's quite a bit of post-game content including some extra difficult challenges.

This game doesn't reinvent the wheel, because the first game already did the legwork. If you liked the first game, this is a logical sequel with even more polished level design/DLC!