Alright. A full campaign run of **Curious Expedition 2** is done and dusted. You might think that is *curious* phrasing, but I say it that way because there is a ton of replay value and for the cheevo focused gamer, there are a lot of challenges to complete beyond the variety of characters available to play through the campaign with. I initially chose our favorite *SteamWorld* captain, but eventually switched over to the *Naturalist* for a full run. Anyway, **Curious Expedition 2** was even *curiouser* than **Curious Expedition**, and well suits a proper sequel. If you haven't played the first, I'd recommend doing so even if it's not specifically necessary for playing the sequel.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3006606537

I mentioned that I switched from the Robot to the Naturalist. Why? Because you start out with a Yeti companion, lol. And because I found the animal companions to be more reliable, and since it's ideal to try to adventure with a full party, and animals are less prone to negative quirks, it seemed advantageous. I ended up actually firing the yeti and sticking with a party consisting of an elephant, a red elk, and a ridable land jellyfish. That was an excellent combo. The occasional addition of a mercenary or story companion and we were good to go.

Companions do have passive abilities and their own unique combat abilities. For example, people live the red elk, and so it passively boosts your relationship with the various islander tribes. In combat, the jellyfish could electrocute and set enemies on fire. Having some party skill diversity is important.

Although RPGish, the RPG elements are mostly in how you spend fame cards and cash, how you organize your inventory, and a few story/side quest choices. Fame helps you unlock new companions, items, and opportunities. Cash is what you use to purchase your expedition goods. Once you're on an expedition, however, bartering replaces cash. Any goods you return to Paris (your hub) with is converted to cash and fame. However, if you are forced to retreat from an expedition before completing your objective, you get nothing. You do select a sponsor, and they will always at least partially fund every expedition.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3004705351

Expedition objectives range from mapping new islands to finding lost missionaries to validating the existence of legendary monsters, raiding fabled pyramids, and so on. There isn't a huge variety, but they have variable difficulties and size to keep them interesting. Finish enough of these and you'll go on a main story expedition, which are much longer and with several chapters each. Completing a final main story expedition completes an Act and moves the story forward.

This game takes its inspiration from adventure classics like Indiana Jones, The Goonies, Tomb Raider; and mixes in aspects of classic CRPGs to spruce up the experience. It never takes itself very seriously on one hand, and yet always manages to respect itself as a game.

The artistic design is in every way quite perfect for how the game represents itself. There are several different types of biomes and a vast amount of races, animals, and so on, all created with detail and a loving hand, so to speak. This is a very eye catching and yet completely indie looking game. The audio is all sound effects and music. I thought it was quite well down, never intrusive, but always present. A warm blanket of sorts.

I will note that you can change difficulty before every expedition, and after having my ass handed to me on the very final story missions, I dropped the difficulty down. Combat itself is pretty fun but easy on all difficulties, but where the different difficulties truly factor in is with exploration and situational RNG. All if which is resolved with action dice which is a cool system you'll learn to become very familiar and comfortable with. The interplay of dice and buffs ends up being quite a compelling system. Also...if you do end up dying, you're basically rescued and brought back to Paris where you can then choose to do it all over again, probably with new tactics lol.

I played on the *Steam Deck*. There were zero issues and I didn't have to make any adjustments at all. Additionally, it's generous with battery life. I was able to play for about four hours on one charge.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3004705464

All in all, I had a very *curious* time with **Curious Expedition 2**, and this is one of the few games where the DLC is all practical and can impact the base game experience in a completely positive way (by increasing the biome and character variety and expanding QoL options). I'd consider getting the entire package if you intend to play through it. Very highly recommended at the asking price.

Alright. A full campaign run of **Curious Expedition 2** is done and dusted. You might think that is *curious* phrasing, but I say it that way because there is a ton of replay value and for the cheevo focused gamer, there are a lot of challenges to complete beyond the variety of characters available to play through the campaign with. I initially chose our favorite *SteamWorld* captain, but eventually switched over to the *Naturalist* for a full run. Anyway, **Curious Expedition 2** was even *curiouser* than **Curious Expedition**, and well suits a proper sequel. If you haven't played the first, I'd recommend doing so even if it's not specifically necessary for playing the sequel. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3006606537 I mentioned that I switched from the Robot to the Naturalist. Why? Because you start out with a Yeti companion, lol. And because I found the animal companions to be more reliable, and since it's ideal to try to adventure with a full party, and animals are less prone to negative quirks, it seemed advantageous. I ended up actually firing the yeti and sticking with a party consisting of an elephant, a red elk, and a ridable land jellyfish. That was an excellent combo. The occasional addition of a mercenary or story companion and we were good to go. Companions do have passive abilities and their own unique combat abilities. For example, people live the red elk, and so it passively boosts your relationship with the various islander tribes. In combat, the jellyfish could electrocute and set enemies on fire. Having some party skill diversity is important. Although RPGish, the RPG elements are mostly in how you spend fame cards and cash, how you organize your inventory, and a few story/side quest choices. Fame helps you unlock new companions, items, and opportunities. Cash is what you use to purchase your expedition goods. Once you're on an expedition, however, bartering replaces cash. Any goods you return to Paris (your hub) with is converted to cash and fame. However, if you are forced to retreat from an expedition before completing your objective, you get nothing. You do select a sponsor, and they will always at least partially fund every expedition. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3004705351 Expedition objectives range from mapping new islands to finding lost missionaries to validating the existence of legendary monsters, raiding fabled pyramids, and so on. There isn't a huge variety, but they have variable difficulties and size to keep them interesting. Finish enough of these and you'll go on a main story expedition, which are much longer and with several chapters each. Completing a final main story expedition completes an Act and moves the story forward. This game takes its inspiration from adventure classics like Indiana Jones, The Goonies, Tomb Raider; and mixes in aspects of classic CRPGs to spruce up the experience. It never takes itself very seriously on one hand, and yet always manages to respect itself as a game. The artistic design is in every way quite perfect for how the game represents itself. There are several different types of biomes and a vast amount of races, animals, and so on, all created with detail and a loving hand, so to speak. This is a very eye catching and yet completely indie looking game. The audio is all sound effects and music. I thought it was quite well down, never intrusive, but always present. A warm blanket of sorts. I will note that you can change difficulty before every expedition, and after having my ass handed to me on the very final story missions, I dropped the difficulty down. Combat itself is pretty fun but easy on all difficulties, but where the different difficulties truly factor in is with exploration and situational RNG. All if which is resolved with action dice which is a cool system you'll learn to become very familiar and comfortable with. The interplay of dice and buffs ends up being quite a compelling system. Also...if you do end up dying, you're basically rescued and brought back to Paris where you can then choose to do it all over again, probably with new tactics lol. I played on the *Steam Deck*. There were zero issues and I didn't have to make any adjustments at all. Additionally, it's generous with battery life. I was able to play for about four hours on one charge. https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3004705464 All in all, I had a very *curious* time with **Curious Expedition 2**, and this is one of the few games where the DLC is all practical and can impact the base game experience in a completely positive way (by increasing the biome and character variety and expanding QoL options). I'd consider getting the entire package if you intend to play through it. Very highly recommended at the asking price. [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, it would be appreciated. Cheers. https://steamproxy.net/steamstore/curator/32549618/[/code]