Mangavania 2 | PS5 Review

The black, white, and red manga inspired minimalist metroidvania returns in a segmented speed run oriented sequel. Returning to the fight is the infamous sword wielding Yuhiko who is bound and determined to find a cure for his brother who was poisoned by a cursed sword. To achieve this goal he must pass trial based platforming puzzles that require his unique set of skills to traverse in a timely fashion. All while avoiding pitfalls, hazards, enemy creatures, and bosses. 

At his disposal Yuhiko has a few tricks up his sleeves. He can attack enemies with his sword, jump, wall jump, sword jump on white torches, grapple onto walls, pull himself towards enemies with the grapple mechanic, and use bombs. These tools come into play in order and will require you making it to the milestone markers to obtain them. Each stage that follows the acquisition of a skill/s grows more difficult, in that respect, in that all currently obtained skills will be required to platform your way through the increasingly difficult metroidvania layouts. 

Your goals in each stage are to survive with only five hearts of health, and make it from the starting red torch to the finishing green torch without dying. Dealing with everything between in the quickest way possible. At every 10 stages there is a boss fight, and the boss fight will segue into the next series of ten timed trials. Rinse and repeat. The timer does count up on a per second basis, and will only stop when you run into the green torch or defeat the final boss. 

The Presentation ...

Mangavania follows the same 2D pixel made design as it's predecessor, and includes pixel character/creature art that is nicely animated. All of which is set to a basic platforming backdrop of rubble and ruins painted mostly black with white and red highlights or outlines. It is this pen and ink approach that has Mangavania 2 living up to it's manga namesake.

The Verdict ...

Mangavania 2 seems to stray from the beaten path as the sequel, and becomes more of a mini-game focused metroidvania experience when compared to the original. It is very minimalistic in design, but also designed in a challenging manner as to adhere to the new speed run nature of the game. Sadly, story is also minimalized because of this, and only through limited chance encounters with NPCs will you get short snippits of Yuhiko's story. 

While Mangavania 2 delivers on the challenges twofold it feels less like a traditional metroidvania style adventure, and definitely more like a mobile gaming experience. Personally I liked the original game's take on the formula, and don't see it necessary for the sequel to exist. That being said, it's not a bad budget priced indie at all. For those of you into the speed run challenge, and who love the metroidvania genre look out for this one later in the month!!!