Figment 2: Creed Valley

Genre: Puzzle / Top-Down Action

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Figment 1 + 2, along with Figment.)

Figment 2, released in 2023 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox one, and Nintendo Switch, is a family-friendly game that follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, the original Figment, with similar gameplay but with a shift in focus away from Graphic Adventure games to be closer to a character-based Puzzle game, with players once again playing Rusty, a personification of courage inside a person’s mind trying to take on the latest threat wreaking havoc on the mind, a two-headed jester trying to shift the person’s priorities. Meanwhile, in our world said person struggles with work-life balance as he stresses about the needs of providing for his family while also being present for them.

This makes for a decent enough story for this sequel, especially after the first game eventually shook Dusty out of his reluctant hero role and this game required a different sort of psychological issue for him to contend with. This new conflict aside, Figment 2 once again features a wildly imaginative abstract world inside the mind constructed with a jumble of objects and ideas that don’t always make logical sense but don’t have to because they’re all metaphorical in nature.

This is all shown through a presentation with some lovely 2D hand-painted artwork with some 3D elements, with Rusty and other major characters in the game fully-voiced with a good amount of personality. I also need to specifically highlight the music in this game, because I feel like it’s a step above the original, with both dreamy relaxed tunes and bombastic musical theater-style voiced boss themes (at times with some hilarious lyrics), with standouts including Creed Valley Suite, Creed Valley Open Minded, Opinion Chill Out, Dance Like An Idiot, The Discarded Opinion Song, and Piper’s Moment. This is a much better soundtrack than the first game, in my opinion.

It’s a good thing too, because the soundtrack is more strongly woven into the gameplay this time, with enemies and environmental obstacles both moving and acting in time with the music. This adds an extra element to the gameplay to keep things interesting, and combines with overall better puzzle design to make for a much better experience than the original Figment.

That said, one of the biggest issues from the first game returns here – the combat still feels uninspired. It’s not bad, but there’s nothing especially interesting about it, and I really do wish the game just focused solely on the puzzles and story, its strongest areas.

Still, even with its underwhelming combat, Figment 2: Creed Valley is a marked improvement over the original game, with better puzzles, better music, and an engaging story that makes it well worth a trip back into this musical, metaphorical world inside a troubled mind.

tl;dr – Figment 2 is a family-friendly Puzzle game with Top-Down Action elements set in a metaphorical world inside a man’s mind, that improves on the original Figment in multiple ways, particularly in its puzzle design and music, though the combat is still uninspired. Still, despite this issue this is a great sequel that’s well worth playing for Puzzle fans looking for a trip back into this series’ creative world.

Grade: B+

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