Figment 2: Creed Valley Review – Fun Times That Aren’t a Figment of Your Imagination

Figment 2: Creed Valley is an action adventure game set in the complex space of the human mind, where you’ll need to face off against bosses in musical showdowns.

Developed by Bedtime Digital Games and co-published with 4Divinity, it’s time to make your way through puzzles and explore some unique environments.

Piano Bridges and Dancing Plants

Figment 2 follows the story of two characters – Dusty and the owner of the Mind. The owner of the Mind is a Father of a family of three, and lives the life of an average household. The owner wanted to buy a house, but due to being in financial stress, he often worked late and sometimes fought with his wife.

Dusty on the other hand, represents the courage of the Mind, who is the main character that we control. At the start of the game, Dusty is your average straightforward guy, but throughout the journey he grows up a lot. As Dusty learns about all sorts of stuff, the owner of the Mind feels better and turn around to focus more on his family and passion.

Dusty is always accompanied by a little bird named Piper, which represents the optimism of the Mind. Piper is another character that can be controlled if you want to co-op with your friends or family.

The story of Figment 2 is pretty simple, but charming in its own way. It’s got a very family friendly vibe to it, which is honestly pretty refreshing to experience. And as a connoisseur of puns, this game has plenty, and some of them land well; even getting a few chuckles out of me.

Into Creed Valley

While some people would consider the artstyle to be “childish”, I personally love it. The environmental design looks vibrant and colourful, and it often fits the theme of the levels in the game. One minor thing I can appreciate is how most of the objects in the environment, although doesn’t serve much of a purpose, can be interacted while attacking to produce musical notes. Again, it doesn’t do anything but I’m still appreciative that the devs put in the effort even for something so minuscule.

I also fairly enjoy the designs for the supporting characters. An example being Opinion, who is one of the residents in Creed Valley which I personally find them cute looking. Some of them have quite a personality, so to speak. Especially the one in the Ditch, well, those are some interesting opinions to say the least.

Aside from having a clean and unique art direction, the music in Figment 2 is a total banger too. I didn’t have much expectations when going in, and I was thoroughly surprised at how well-made it is for a game this size.  One of the most memorable was the first song sung by Black Hog, which I think gives off the same vibes similar to the concert stage music in Left 4 Dead 2.

One that painted a big smile across my face was the one song by Choir of Discarded Opinions, which took so many jabs at modern beliefs that make no sense (to the writer). It’s so funny and beautifully arranged. I also want to bring up the final battle music which was also a blast to listen too.

Rock the Human Mind

When it comes to gameplay, Figment 2 has a very lineat style of gameplay, where there isn’t much for players to explore. You don’t need to grind to level up, unlock new weapons, skill trees, or any of the sort. All you need to do is just for the main quest, and that’s totally fine.

Along the way, you can find these stones with a pink spiral pattern on it. Attacking it will drop these pink orbs, which if you collect enough of, will unlock special memories that you can view in the menu. It unlocks some background to the story and provide you with some context.

The game also takes a sudden shift, turning into a mystery solving plot where you need to act like a detective by collecting clues and solving a crime. I appreciate the effort the devs put in by integrating a mini-game into the main gameplay and story.

In terms of multiplayer, you’ll just need to go into the game, change a setting and you’re good to go. However, it only supports local co-op, and no split screen option either. But it still makes for a good party game where you can invite either friends or family to play with. Player 2 will have them control Piper, who can interact with objects that help you solve puzzles faster.

Musical Showdowns

It doesn’t take a soulslike expert to play Figment 2. Combat is fairly easy, all you need to do is move around, press a button to attack, and press another button to dodge. The depth to combat extends to two combos you can perform: one where you continuously attack five times and do a spin attack; and the other being attacking after you dodge.

There are some varieties for enemy designs though, but not too much. There’s like seven unique enemy types (not including bosses), and two of them are exclusive to the prologue. Once you complete the prologue, you don’t see them ever again.

While there isn’t much variety in terms of enemy encounters, some of the arrangement of battles is done in a creative way where you can utilitse enemies’ attack to help you in the fight. Like the cannon balls being able to damage enemies, and the one holding a giant pillar can instantly defeat any other enemies.

Although the game only has two bosses, there are multiple boss battles, and it has some varieties with them. You’ll need to do different things in different boss fights, and each of them are pretty well designed. The most memorable one was definitely the final fight which was essentially a bullet hell.

Racking Your Brain

The puzzles in the game are pretty intuitive. Every puzzle in the game can be easily understood and be solved pretty quickly. Well, aside from the one at the end of The Ethics Maze, which I originally thought was just matching the patterns. But it turns out I just needed to connect every line. Regardless, I still find the puzzle solving elements to be pretty enjoyable.

Verdict

Figment 2: Creed Valley is a short and sweet game that gives off a whimsical vibe, much like a Disney animated movie. The story is easy to follow and ends on a high note where the main characters got development throughout their journey that they embarked on.

While the gameplay in terms of both combat and puzzle sections are nothing too crazy, it still feels very smooth and polished, which felt really fun.

Although, some might find the game’s price tag (MYR 61) to be somewhat steep considering you can finish it in one sitting. around 4 hours max. However, I still can genuinely recommend getting the game so that you can experience this gem for yourselves. And who knows, you might be happy to dance like an idiot.

Figment 2: Creed Valley was reviewed on Steam. Review code was provided by Bedtime Digital Games and 4Divinity.

Figment 2: Creed Valley

Release Date: 2023-03-10

Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox

Figment 2: Creed Valley is an action-adventure game set in the human mind. Nightmares are spreading chaos and have overrun once-peaceful lands. Join Dusty, The Mind’s courage, as you make your way through puzzles, musical boss fights and unique environments. Face your fears head-on. Nightmares have shattered the Moral Compass, making The Mind unable to function properly. Dusty and his ever-optimistic sidekick, Piper, must travel to Creed Valley, where The Mind’s ideals are formed to restore peace. A journey filled with musical showdowns and mind-bending puzzles awaits.  

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