Slayin 2 Review (Nintendo Switch)

Review code provided with many thanks to FDG Entertainment

The Mobile Days

Years ago I used to be quite the fan of mobile games and would play them on my Ipod Touch of all things. I was surprised by the potential for gaming on the device and found a lot of fun in those simple ‘bus stop’ games like Temple Run, Plants Vs Zombies and later Crossy Road. There were even some pleasant surprises like Dead Space (sadly now unavailable) which proved some mobile games can even stand up to handhelds and consoles.

Unfortunately my Ipod touch didn’t last and the prospect of an Iphone would be out of my price range for years to come. So I kinda missed out on some of the more surprise hitters or hidden gems. Which makes me even more curious and interested when developers decide to port games from IOS to Switch. Especially when they do something a little extra with it. With this in mind lets talk about Slayin 2 from the small screen of mobile to the Switch.

Prepare for the Horde

Slayin 2 is all about taking down hordes of monsters in single screen levels. You can choose between either the Story mode or Arcade mode. The later being a kinda endless level where you take down waves and waves of enemies and boss characters. When you take down the boss character there is this quite wonderful screen celebrating your triumph which was very awesome. Which made every level completion feel like an enormous accomplishment. After that you got a breather to upgrade your characters abilities with any gold you may have collected. This mode appears to be the main feature inherited from its mobile roots.

Switch Upgrade

Unlike its mobile roots however, Slayin 2 has had an impressive graphical upgrade. From simple retro pixels to a lot more colour and detail, the enemies are also impressively animated. The highlight by far are the huge boss fights. There are so many boss characters in this game, all with their own strategy to defeat. There are also a wide variety of characters to unlock with different fighting styles so you can pick your preferred slayer to suit your style. The biggest addition by far is couch co op. Throw a joy con at someone and they can jump in and out any time.

Arcade Skills

Your default character is a warrior with his little sword. In each level you can run across a single or double plain and you attack enemies simply by walking into them. But its important your character is in motion with his sword at the ready. Standing still blocks projectiles but not slimes from jumping on you. The strategy is to try and chain together as many attacks as possible without getting hit. Doing so increasing your monetary rewards as well as your score. This all sounds quite simple but the enemies are quite tenacious. They don’t just aimlessly walk around waiting to be touched by your sword. They jump, take multiple hits, fly about and fling stuff at you. It’s a fun frantic arcade experience, simple enough to pick up, but incredibly tricky to put down. Most of the time I had a bit of trouble getting the flow down and was more the monster punching bag, than a skilled warrior. But when I did get into the flow it was pretty rewarding.

Story Mode

Story mode adds a more level based system. The story starts out with you saving a town from being destroyed by monsters. Sadly the town is in tatters after the attack so through the kindness of your warrior heart you spend your hard earned monster slaying money on rebuilding the town and bringing smiles and cheers to the townsfolk. Of course there are rewards for doing this. Rebuilding the town will help you unlock new characters as well as other services the townsfolk can offer at a price. It’s ever so handy that monsters drop so much money in this world.

Co op to the Rescue

There are no difficulty settings in Slayin 2 which feels like a bit of a misstep. When I started story mode I comfortably got through most of the levels at a comfortable pace. Mistakes were OK and I was having fun. Then I got to a castle filled with these weird sheep-goblin looking baddies and the difficulty curve took a dramatic swing upwards on the y axis. Suddenly I was stuck and unable to progress because health dropped rarely or I sucked too much. In fact to be honest I only got through this level because my wife jumped in to help me through it in co op. Thank god for drop in and out co op. Unfortunately my co op hero did not stick around as she found the gameplay hard to pick up and play and not suited to a casual audience.

After that things seemed to settle down but again I hit another wall. I later returned to this castle level to try overcome it. The only way to this seemed to be through sheer persistence, learning the games flow and remembering the boss attack patterns. Many a time I died on the boss fight when they had just a slither of health left. It’s handy I’m not one to throw my controllers, Joy Cons are expensive to replace.

co op is fun but not balanced for casual gamers

Endless Replay ability

Slayin 2 can easily keep you busy, well endlessly. There are various characters to unlock each with individual weapons, you can then upgrade each weapon. Once you unlock a new character they’re playable in arcade mode also and there are plenty of things to unlock in the town to help you on your quest. Not to forget all the secrets there are to unlock in the levels, so there’s plenty to keep busy. I was drawn to have a quick play session here and there.

You Slay Me

Slayin 2 is a very good conversion from mobile to Switch. The graphics are excellent and I appreciated the extra effort the developers put into expanding the game. If you loved the game on mobile I would highly recommend upgrading to this version. This game feels designed for the arcade crowd looking for a good challenge and are willing to replay levels over and over again.

Unfortunately, this design doesn’t suit everyone, particularly in co op. I thought this would be a fun game to prop on a coffee table, throw a joy con at my co op partner and we could have some good casual gaming. However, the difficulty spikes and grindy game play put my partner off. A darn shame. Nevertheless I personally enjoyed the experience alone, even if I did struggle to get into the flow of the game play now and then.

Final Verdict: I like It