Figment 2: Creed Valley by Bedtime Digital Games
If you enjoyed the action puzzles and psychology puns of 2017’s Figment, there’s little doubt you’ll enjoy its sequel. In the five and a half years or so since the original game’s release, Bedtime Digital Games could have gone off in any number of directions, but what’s actually on display here is essentially more of the same.
That’s actually not a bad thing. Figment was pretty fun and exceedingly clever, a mixture of earnest explorations about the mind, gentle humor, and playful psychedelia around a core of active (but not twitch-focused) environmental puzzles. Figment 2: Creed Valley improves on nearly all of that.
Seamless Sequel
The environmental humor, mostly delivered via literalist absurdism, works particularly well. The Moral Compass is an actual compass! Perspective Switches aren’t just a metaphor for a change in outlook but actual railyard-style switches that alter the environment!
It’s a bit prettier, too. Protagonist Dusty, an animated childhood toy representing courage, and sidekick Piper look the same, and the overall style is similar – think Alice in Wonderland with a touch of psychedelic circus and maybe a tiny bit on the “cozy” end of the cozy/creepy spectrum – but it feels a little more vivid this time around, even though it seems to work from a slightly darker and more muted color palette.
The Ethics Maze levels are particularly wonderful: a series of floating discs like old-fashioned observatories traversed on flying books. I liked it so much I didn’t even mind when a patch update reset my progress to the beginning of the level!
Figments, Fights, and Fireworks
Mechanically speaking, there are also some improvements. Despite a limited selection of enemies, the combat feels less cumbersome in Figment 2.
I enjoyed the puzzles a bit more this time around, too. I don’t know if that’s because they were better designed this time around or if it’s because the puzzle types themselves were of a style that suits me better – I tend to get bogged down and stalled out by block-pushing mazes or gear puzzles – but I never felt frustrated or stuck with this one.
The mix of inventory-based fetch quests, environmental puzzles, dialogue sequences, and combat works well, propelling things along and keeping my attention.
Second Verse, Same as the First
Boss fights were a favorite element from the original Figment, for the cleverly designed action sequences and the elaborate Disney movie musical numbers that accompanied each. If there’s one spot where the sequel hasn’t quite improved upon the original, that might be the one.
But while the fights and songs are less bombastic and memorable in Figment 2, there’s still plenty of musical fun to be had. My favorite musical moment: a choir of discarded opinions singing about everything from conspiracies to the harmlessness of driving drunk which was enough to make up for any perceived lack of Broadway-level numbers.
Overall, Figment 2 improves upon its predecessor just enough that fans of the original will love this one. On the other hand, if you still need to play the first one, start with this one! It gives enough contextual clues that you’ll be able to pick up the story quickly enough, and you can always go back and play the first one later.
Figment 2: Creed Valley is available via the Nintendo Game Store, Sony Playstation Store, Microsoft Store, and Steam.
Watch the trailer for Figment 2: Creed Valley below:
