Bulb Boy 2: Jar of Despair

I enjoyed this game and would definitely recommend it. There were a couple of bugs in the initial release, but I believe they have been fixed. Also, there were a couple of spots where I wasn’t at all sure what needed to be done, or spots where I was sure of what to do, but unsure of how to do it…but I never got stuck for too long. And I will say that I actually liked the decision to add more colors as opposed to the first game which was monochromatic—though I liked that about the first game, it was nice to see the unique and adorable art style in full color for this sequel.

Quite a unique point and click game, both the vibes and the art style. Loved the first one, loved this one. It has character. Well thought achievements and interactions.

[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/31067175///] If you enjoy this review please consider following my Curator page here. [/url] What an unlikely sequel! A few days shy of a decade between releases, Bulb Boy 2: Jar of Despair was a pleasant surprise to see pop up. Much like the first, Bulb Boy 2 is a breezy point-and-click adventure with minimal inventory management and puzzles that shouldn’t make you rack your brain too much save one or two that I found a bit odd. Given the nearly 10 years between releases, it’s no surprise that this sequel is better looking with a much more vibrant color palette and some more inventive one off gags. I personally enjoy the artistic direction as well, but I can see some people being adverse to some of the grosser imagery. I found it to be a good bit shorter than its predecessor - not a bad thing, but worth noting. There were some moments when the game asks quick movements or reactions by you which I think flies in the face of its slower-paced controls. Luckily, there are not many of these asks. Overall, I enjoyed my single-session time with Bulb Boy 2 and I do love a game that does not overstay its welcome. Hopefully the wait is much …

Bulb Boy 2: Jar Of Despair utilises a surreal dream logic that prioritises inventive environmental manipulation over standard point-and-click conventions. By tasking players with experimenting through unconventional item combinations, the experience rewards lateral thinking while maintaining a consistently bizarre atmosphere characterised by unsettling creature designs and remarkably odd anatomical features. Vibrant and detailed hand-drawn visuals showcase a significant improvement in presentation compared to the previous entry. Whilst the aesthetic remains distinctively eerie, the shift towards a more whimsical tone feels like a natural evolution that keeps the world feeling fresh even when it leans into the grosser side of its identity. Controller support facilitates a far more fluid navigation of the interface, effectively modernising the genre's typical reliance on mouse-only inputs. This quality-of-life adjustment makes the process of inspecting objects feel considerably more precise, although the persistent emphasis on character anatomy during movement creates a bizarre, slightly distracting visual recurring motif. Mini-game segments occasionally introduce artificial frict…

It has the same great sureal grotesque horror but I think the plot and general atmosphere was better in the previous title. The artstyle is still as good but I felt the lighting in particular was much better in the first game. The puzzle design is still engaging; again similar to the first title its mostly a traditional point and click with inventory based puzzles but it does have moments where it feels like those amanita style games where you just need to click everything in the right sequence. There is also a boss battle which was tricky enough if your reaction speeds aren't what they used to be but thankfully the game saves after each bit of progression so you can brute force it eventually. Arguably maybe a bit on the short side but then again doesn't over stay its welcome. Overall on its own its a very decent game but I don't think it quite reaches the mantle of the previous title.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first one. It was silly, but had it's own kind of sense and was fun to puzzle out. This one just took the whacky, creepy and did nothing else. The story does not flow like the first one. There is also a mechanic with the mouse that I would argue was not playtested enough. It is just frustrating because you have to almost triple click for it to finally accept the input. It is not a terrible game, but any the puzzle gamer friends I have, I can not imagine recommending this game or even talking about it to them, so therefore not recommended by me.