The first Slime Rancher is in my memory as one of the games I had the most fun (and addiction) playing, so when the second was announced, my anticipation couldn't have been higher. As with the first game, Slime Rancher 2 would be released in early access, initially only for Xbox and PC.
Well, I have a new generation Xbox and a very powerful PC, but despite this, I admit that my main platform is PlayStation. So I made the decision to wait for the game to come out on the Sony console, in my mind, in its future full version, which is how I played the first game.
But to my surprise, when I took a look at the games announced for the PS5 on the PlayStation channel, I came across this game that I had been waiting for so long. And another surprise was that the game was still in early access, which is not very common on PS. Although my intention was to wait for the full game to come out, this was the push I needed to get into this game.
What is the franchise about?
For those of you who have fallen for it, Slime Rancher is a kind of farm game, but with some interesting survival elements. We live in a world dominated by creatures called slimeAnd yes, they are those gelecas that become a fever among children from time to time (aka amoeba).
And it's from these slimes that we get our sustenance, because when they feed, they release an item called plortwhich can be exchanged for money in the game. Yes, the slimes' poop is what puts our food on the table (figuratively).
Well, the game has a whole economic system, which is quite interesting. It works as follows: you can find different types of slime all over the world, and each of these slimes, when fed, releases a unique type of plort. Each plort has a certain value on the game's "stock exchange".
You can then go out and explore the world in search of new items, but above all in search of new slimes. By capturing them, we can take care of them, similar to how we raise cattle, and thus acquire the plorts they produce, consequently becoming richer and richer.
But the value of each plort varies greatly from day to day, taking into account various factors such as the quantity available, the difficulty of creating the slimes, the rarity of the slime itself, among other things. And then, taking all this into account, one day the value of a particular plort is x, but the next day the value may be y, and at the end of the day all this makes quite a difference.
However, for me, the strong point of the game is its exploration, which allows us not only to discover new slimes, but also to solve the various puzzles available on the map, which allow us to finish the game. It's a lot of fun to explore the game, but you also have to keep going back to check that everything is right.
Evolution
At one point, I watched some content related to the game and in my view, the game didn't seem to have evolved that much from the first one. Well, after playing for a few hours, fortunately I was wrong and the game has evolved a lot compared to its predecessor.
The first evolution is obviously in the slimes we find in the game. Slime Rancher 2 introduces a considerable number of new slimes, all of them very creative and with a lot of personality. What's more, some of the slimes from the first game return with some new features that make the experience much more interesting.
We have an entirely new map, with three islands full of content so far. Each of the islands has some very different biomes, and on each one we can find some very characteristic fauna and flora. There is also a much greater verticality than in the previous game and an equally greater sense of exploration.
As in the first Slime Rancher, we have a day and night cycle in the game, but now the game has gone one step further and introduced dynamic weather. So it's common to see the weather start to close in on the game, causing some rain and even lightning storms, which can even hit you and cause considerable damage.
What about the gameplay?
In terms of gameplay, much of what we saw in the first game is back, only this time with a little more complexity. Our slime-sucking "weapon" is back, with some visual improvements, but in terms of how it works, it's exactly the same.
As the game progresses, we can upgrade it, as well as the other equipment we've acquired, but now things have become more complicated. Previously, we were able to acquire and improve the most basic items using our money, but now we also need to collect certain items that are used in constructions and improvements, and this requires more exploration.
The fat slimes are back in the game, and for those who aren't familiar, they're literally bigger slimes, but always similar to the ones you find in the game. They have the same diet as their smaller counterparts, so you have to fill them up with food until they burst. Popping them is essential because it's through them that we gain access to other maps and important items in the game.
I didn't explain it before, but each of the slimes has a well-defined diet, usually varying between vegetables, fruit and meat, and other more specific types. But they go beyond that, because each slime has a favorite type of food. For example, you can feed a slime that likes vegetables with any type of vegetable, but if you give it its favorite type, it will generate twice as many plorts, and therefore more money.
We initially have a life bar, an energy bar and four "tanks" that we can fill with items and slimes that we find during the course of the game. All these items can be upgraded as you progress through the game. Energy is drained when you run and when you use the jetpack that you acquire later in the game.
The life bar, on the other hand, can be drained in various ways, the most basic of which, oddly enough, is by slimes. Some slimes can cause damage to your character because of their phenotype, for example, there are slimes that have spikes, and if they hit you, they cause damage.
There are also slimes that emit radiation, slimes that explode, among other things. Some slimes can also get so angry that they literally bite you. These angry slimes are usually the wide ones, which are slightly larger slimes. They get bigger by eating plorts of other types of slime, creating a fusion between the two types.
There are also the Tarr, which are evil slimes, usually spawned by ordinary, furious, hungry slimes. The Tarr attack both us and the slimes scattered around the map. But it's also possible to die when you leave the map, and this is the most common way for this to happen, and when it does, you lose all the items you've acquired up to that point.
In Slime Rancher 2, as in the first one, we can refine and create various items that make our journey easier, but this second one includes some new crafting items, both useful and decorative. We can place these crafted items anywhere on the map, whether inside or outside our farm.
Is there any visual/performance evolution?
The first Slime Rancher had a very charismatic look, nothing too impressive, but it was a very pretty world. That said, the second game follows the same line, but it does evolve in some respects.
A first point that is very noticeable is that in this second game there is an even greater presence of color, which is quite impressive given that the first game already had a lot of it. And that's also taking into account the slimes, which are even more varied here.
The game has grown considerably in terms of proportion, and playing it you can see how the maps are more open than in the previous game. But they still work in much the same way structurally, with very confusing paths connecting them and portals that take you to other islands. But in the course of the game, we manage to create some shortcuts that make all the difference.
One thing that really impresses is the number of slimes and things happening on screen at the same time. This has come a long way from the previous game, so expect lots of on-screen effects. The graphics are also slightly better than the first one, with new animations and better textures, which is always welcome.
But among the impressive things, what really stands out is that the game manages to stay at 60 frames with all these elements on screen. The game has nice graphics, but nothing impressive compared to the AAA games we have on the market, but even so, there are few multiplatform games that manage to remain stable at this frame rate. However, there are always drops when the game is saving.
Is it worth it or is it better to wait for the full game?
Well, my anxiety prevented me from waiting for the game to come out in its entirety, but at no time was this a cause for regret. Quite the opposite. The game, although still incomplete, has a lot of content that, in my opinion, is greater and of higher quality than the previous game.
I'm a few hours into the game and I've quickly cleared all the available islands, but I haven't had time to explore all of them yet because the amount of content is so great that I've been stuck on the initial maps. It's also noticeable that some areas are empty and will have content in the future, but they're not really needed that much.
One annoying thing is that, because the game isn't complete, we don't have the trophies yet, but it's already been confirmed that when the trophies are released, everything we've already done will be taken into account. For me, it was very worthwhile, and even though I've finished this review (or preview), my desire to play remains strong.
One last thing I want to mention is that the game is in English by default, but you can change it to Portuguese in the game menu. And if you're curious to see how the game starts, we've made a video for our YouTube channel, which you can watch here. by clicking here.
See also:
- South of Midnight gets gameplay and release window
- Assassin's Creed Shadows gets gameplay trailer
- Avowed arrives on November 12th for Xbox Series and PC
- Gears of War E-Day announced by The Coalition
- Fable gets gameplay trailer and release window
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