Runefall 2

Ugh! Just sooooo tedious. Exactly the same as runefall 1 with boring and stupid dialog and just match match match with the same goals over and over and over again. I just finished it, so I could get all the achievements. I would not buy the next in the series which I see is coming out soon.

This sequel is a slight improvement to the first. Both are lengthy and excellent match 3 games.

Honestly, this is an example of what not to do with a sequel. The first Runefall was the classic Match-3 game with a basic resource system added on top, the same idea that has been a thing since Cradle of Rome/Egypt/Persia, back in the late 2000s. The only meaningfully different thing was the mildly interest gimmick of having a large map that can be traversed. Overall, it was alright, even if it outstayed its welcome a bit towards the end. This sequel, rather than introducing any new mechanics, goes for the "The exact same thing, but more of it" approach. The maps (Particularly from the second half onwards) are gigantic, requiring 30, 45 or even more than 60 minutes to clear, and there's barely any difference across them. It's the exact same puzzles, the exact same powerups, the exact same objectives. But doing the same thing, with a map that's twice or three times as large, it's just not fun, it's straight up tedious. This is made even worse because resource management is effectively non-existent compared to the first game (Which was already fairly basic to begin with). Gold is by far the most used resource, since it's used to bypass every puzzle, and to buy more time if you're…

The chief improvement in this game over the first one is that you can save your progress and not lose it if you want to leave the game and come back at another time. The dynamics are very similar, Unlike the first game, one doesn't build anything with one's winnings, so it's pretty much trying to find everything and clear all of the colored tiles, crates, and find the hidden objects. I find it very relaxing and one gets a LOT of play out of one game (lots of levels and quests). I enjoyed the voiceovers, dialog, story line and characters. The icons are easy to see, the graphics are clear and colorful. If you are match-3 fan, this is an excellent game, well worth buying, IMO. I originally bought both of them on BigFish, and much prefer playing rhem on Steam. I enjoy getting the achievements when they come from my normal playing, but I don't chase them. I play games for relaxation, and this does that for me.

Sound: 7 Graphics: 8 Story: 5 Gameplay: 5 Commands: 9 Fun: 5 Time to load / lag: 9 Bugs / Problems: 9 Final score: 6

A great match 3 game -- I love how an announcer would read the story instead of you reading each page before starting next level. There a lot of achievements to be earned but I stopped early as I started to lose interest. It was the same story line set in times of castles, kings, queens etc. Totally fun but enough is enough.