THE JOURNEY DOWN CHAPTER 2

Before I start the review, I have something pleasant and something unpleasant to bring you: The first is that those of you who decided to follow our recommendation during the presentation of Part 1 and buy the two episodes of "The Journey Down" from official site at the pre-order price of $5.99, you have done very well and by completing this second chapter you will feel completely justified in your choice. The second has to do with the reduction of the game's episodes, from the four that the original design called for to three.

Considering that the time between the two episodes of the game was more than two years (four years if we include the first, AGS version of Chapter 1) during which unfortunately no major publisher decided to support Skygoblin's project financially, the above decision is not particularly surprising. One could even argue that in any episodic game it is possible for the remaining planned parts to be reduced in number but increased in content, without the overall length of the title being greatly reduced. But is that the case in this instance, or was the... axing a necessary evil, so that on the one hand the game would eventually make it to completion, and on the other hand it wouldn't take several more years for that to happen? The answer will be given below.

AS IF NOT A DAY HAS PASSED

What I mentioned a few days ago in the review of the first episode regarding the graphics and sound, I don't need to repeat. This is because Chapter 2 not only keeps the bar set high with its excellent voice acting, great music and beautiful graphics, but especially in the latter it manages to be even better. The Gobby engine, which it is worth pointing out is a creation of the small studio from scratch and, in my opinion, could easily be used in other games in the category, gives us a superior result compared to that of the first part, both in the various in-game locations and in the cut scenes we watch.

Bwana and Kito, jailbirds.

It even manages in an almost unique way to combine the simplicity that characterizes the design of all the spaces with the presence of eye-candy elements that stand out at once, such as special lighting, the presence of rain and the movement of the sea water. And the cut scenes are visibly more elaborate and, combined with the cinematic look of the opening credits, give a much more "professional" air to this second episode.

Of course, the trump card of the graphics and the trademark of "The Journey Down" is the way the characters are portrayed, which certainly had no reason to change. On the contrary, it goes one step further, following the successful formula faithfully. Waern and company, realizing the success of their inspiration, invest in it and continue to give us performances that bear the distinctive Skygoblin stamp and have the potential to be remembered in the future as something completely different and special.

When it comes to music and voice overs, you can rest assured that your ears will feel extremely familiar with what they'll hear once you start playing. New orchestrations, in the style of those that captivated us when we were first introduced to "The Journey Down" dress up the adventure sonically. This feature even has an additional reason that makes it of particular value. During the making of this second part, the man originally responsible for the music, Simon D'Souza, sadly passed away due to illness. Before he ended up, he had nominated his friend Jamie Salisbury to the development team as the ideal successor to his work. The latter not only had no reason to make changes, but invested on what he found, combining his instrumental music with D'Souza's jazz creations brilliantly.     

Okay, I admit that at first I didn't think she was such a fascinating woman.

Leaving behind this unpleasant news and returning to the good things the game has to offer, it goes without saying that Dixon and Sardinha are present again, with the former being the one who has been assigned to lend his voice, besides Kito, to two other appearances. Alongside them, however, they are joined by Martin Billany, who does a terrific job of playing one of the newcomers and also the most sympathetic character in this episode, Port Artue's lighthouse keeper Morten, and Joshua Tomar as the port's taxi driver Reynolds. Both are delightful and it is no wonder that they play, with equal success, one and two additional characters respectively.

In terms of handling and interface, the two elements that we would have liked to have slightly changed, namely the existence of a hotpot indicator and more of the three save slots, didn't do us any favours in the end (ed: the latter, by the way, among other things, makes writing a review a bit more difficult). But they are not so important that they make us grumble, especially since the rest of the result more than compensates us.

 Morten is the best!

CONTINUING THE QUEST

As those of you who were involved with it will remember, the first part ended with the three protagonists, Bwana, Kito and Lina, leaving Kingsport Bay, having set sail for the Underland, after dodging the fire of the big boss Armando's goons. But because their adventure is going to be long and difficult, they don't quite manage to get there, as they land at sea due to a lack of fuel in the seaplane.

At the beginning of this second episode we meet the crew of the M.S Biko, who are fishing for the modded seaplane in their nets, thus saving our heroes. This ship is stranded within the dense fog that covers the entire area, due to the shutdown of the Artue harbor lighthouse and the simultaneous lack of the proper orientation equipment to head in that direction. Our first concern, therefore, is to be able to get ashore again and continue our attempt to approach the Underland. Our plans, however, do not seem to agree with those of Barlow, chief of the local Artue police. Upon our arrival in port he arrests and jails Bwana and Kito, taking Lina with him to a strange VIP club called Temba. His aim is on the one hand to extract Kaonandodo's book, and on the other hand to prevent the continuation of our quest.

So Chapter 2 takes place almost entirely in the Artue region, with completely new locations, fresh characters and lots of intrigue and backstory. The sense of corruption that we perceived to exist from the very first episode is amplified to the max, as both the mayor and the Artue police chief seem to have bowed their heads and serve the interests of the Armando company. Something that the intrepid pirates Sisulus, who also wish, for their own reasons, to get their hands on Kaonandodo's book, are not willing to do. With this and that, it doesn't take long for a crazy game to be set up around the famous book, with a totally unpredictable outcome. At the same time, the time has come to get more information about Kaonandodo's fate, which is still a great mystery.

We'll need to type the right words into the city hall computer

PICKING UP SPEED

Already in the description of the scenario I have revealed some of the great advantages of the second part of the game. The completely new places we move through, the multitude of characters we meet for the first time and the action that takes place in the port of Artue make for an ideal continuation of the first chapter.

The port of Artue is an exquisitely designed location, without empty, decorative spaces. Instead, each spot and building it includes has its own reason for being that will make us want to visit and interact with the characters we encounter. And what characters really! From old man Morten, who has lived almost his entire life in the Artue lighthouse and remembers everyone who has passed through the area, to the crazy cab driver Reynolds and the mayor's special lady, Andiswa, who is looking for that one thing that will change her boring daily life, they are all one and the same! And the small-time crooks Moe and Vince, who reside on the pier, waiting to sell their wares to anyone who arrives at the port, are the classic presences found in such places.

A clever and not difficult puzzle

You obviously noticed that above I mentioned "plenty of action", thus answering the question I posed in the introduction of this review. Thankfully the Skygoblin executives don't let us down and provide us with a roughly 7-hour experience, almost double that of Chapter 1, which significantly mitigates our disappointment at the loss of the fourth episode.

Apart from increasing what we are asked to do, the creators, listening to the requests of the players and taking into account the reviews received for the introductory part of their game, have fortunately raised the level of difficulty of the puzzles. Without in any way reaching the point of making it particularly difficult for us, or falling into the trap of making us suffer because of our inability to understand what we should do next, they manage to give us an undoubtedly better and more "intelligent" chapter, which will test our perception in two or three points.

Outside the cinema we'll meet crazy Reynolds

The experienced player of the genre will not get stuck for a long time at any point, but certainly the less experienced ones will encounter puzzles that will require something more from their side. We'll need to restore the lighthouse to working order, find a way to access the city hall computer, fix Reynolds' taxi, get rid of the goons at Armando's company, and more. In addition to inventory-based puzzles, there are also some puzzles, consisting of typing the necessary codes to break into a safe and a door afterwards, and finding the right combination of symbols that will signal our entrance to the Underland, right before the finale.  

Another positive feature is the attention to detail that has been paid by the developers. Indicatively, I will mention the navigation book that we get at some point in the adventure. Apart from its detailed reference to everything concerning the area we are moving through and the people we might encounter, its 18 pages include maps and symbols that, at least in this second episode, are of no use to us. Our dialogues with the various inhabitants of the harbour will give us detailed information about the background of the place where they live, but also about persons we do not finally meet, for example the former mayor. They may go unnoticed by some, but I personally appreciate the care a developer takes in making his game as rich and caring as possible.

Well said, if it doesn't ring a bell, you haven't played a classic Lucasarts game

Finally, because we sometimes forget to dwell on the crucial area of beta testing and the proper condition of a title from the very first day of its release, I shouldn't overlook to mention that with the arrival of Chapter 2 on Steam and before its official release to the public today, two "full" updates, of about 200 and 100MB respectively, took care of eliminating the slightest element that could tarnish the overall excellent impression it leaves. In plain words, neither bugs, nor glitches, nor anything else related makes an appearance. Apart from the desktop machine, the game also ran flawlessly on my Fujitsu-Siemens laptop, which comes with 2GB RAM and Intel 945 graphics chipset. The Gobby engine really does prove to be a crackerjack!

4 + 7 + ?

With the arrival of the second chapter, "The Journey Down" reaches 11 hours of total duration, enriching its world with complete success, while at the same time fulfilling the story it tells us. All this through the work of a small, independent, studio, without the financial support of any publisher, but with endless passion on the part of the developers. In fact, in the admittedly huge gap of two years, not only did they not rush to resort to Kickstarter or similar type of campaign, but by putting their heads down and working with passion and faith in their vision, they managed to school other big names in the field, regarding how it is possible to create something of high quality with a very small budget at your disposal, instead of wasting the millions you have received from the public.

I'm really glad that this unique game is on its way to establishing itself as one of the modern titles that will be remembered as a classic and important representative of point 'n' click adventure games in the years to come. Because, in case you haven't figured it out yet, if something doesn't go completely wrong with its third and final installment, that's exactly what it will achieve!

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