"Remember: Technology can be punched."

Costume Quest 2 is a role-playing video game developed by Double Fine Productions and published by Midnight City.

Story
CQ 2 is a straight sequel to CQ 1 so I say playing first game is a must.

Costume Quest 2 picks up where Grubbins on Ice DLC from first game left off. Continue the adventure of siblings Wren and Reynold, with chosen one turning into playable character, who jump through the mysterious portal and return to their home at Halloween night.
Joy lasts short however, as local dentist Dr. White thanks to a time wizard goes back to the past, changing future into dental dystopia where Halloween is banned. Our siblings will have to go back and forth through time to save their holiday once again!

Gameplay
Costume Quest 2 offers same gameplay core as first title, as our little heroes complete quests and battle it out using their costumes when necessary. Explore areas in past and future to gather candy, do trick-or-treat and unlock costumes by gathering parts plus schematics, required to get into new areas. So you will either knock on doors, knock down everything not nailed shut to get extra pieces of candy, or knock down your enemies!

Combat is still turn based, with parties taking turns in controlling their characters to perform an action. Goal should be obvious, reduce their healthbars to zero before they do so with yours. During your turn you can attack, run away if things get dicey, or use Treaty Cards, a system replacing Battle Stamps from first title- 3 special cards offering different bonuses, with roster of cards expanding as you make your way through a game. You can use them to deal some damage to enemies, give your party extra buffs, perhaps to reap better rewards once you come out victorious. Every card after use becomes unavailable for few combat turns, so you have to constantly shuffle through them if you use this mechanic often. When it is not your turn, you have to defend yourself from incoming attack to decrease damage received. Attacking and defending slowly allows you to build up your special, a unique for each costume move that can shift tides of the fight. Just like in first title, you have to hit specific timing to squeeze out the most out of your moves. Worth mentioning that as you make your way through Costume Quest 2, you will be able to unlock more moves used in combat by your party, helpful as enemies will be constantly getting tougher.

After done combat you gather experience and candy. First- also collected from completed quests- allows you to level up, increasing health and damage your party deals.
Latter is used as games currency, so visit local shady merchant to expand your Treaty Cards collection, buy maps of areas, or upgrade your costumes.

Playtime and replayability
Completing everything Costume Quest 2 had to offer took me 5 hours!
It's short and sweet, but doesn't provide any reasoning behind another playthrough.

Pros and cons
Costume Quest 2, to stick with overall candy climate, offers sweeter filling in better looking wrapper than predecessor.
Main improvement lies within combat, as new moves and treaty cards mechanic create extra depth it previously lacked, adding necessary elements to keep your interest, making combat more fun.
Visually game looks slightly better while still keeping artstyle and Halloween's charm of first title. There is also solid humor with decent story in Costume Quest 2, especially sweet as you will only have to spend an evening (or two) to reach its conclusion!

Perhaps only real issue is navigation, as game likes to play around with elevation changes that can confuse in a certain moment or two.

Similar situation as first Costume Quest: it's short, sweet and with better combat, but nothing outstanding. Does what it should, which is making sure you spend few hours in an enjoyable way! And sometimes, that is all you need.

Conclusion!
Costume Quest 2 with solid story, humor and most of all improved combat is a good treat (not trick) worth checking out!

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