
Welcome to weird. I can't say I have ever played a game quite like Samorost 2 before — both in form and style. Unique games are something I love to play, no matter the genre. I just love to observe and explore creativity; Samorost is nowhere close to generic.
Samorost 2 is a very casual flash-based adventure game. If you haven't played the first Samorost, you don't have to worry about missing much of the story, since it is quite unrelated and is free to play at any time on the developer's Web site. Once upon a time, there was a little dude (who always seems to wear white pajamas) living on an asteroid, the type of asteroid we'd all like to call home one day. On that one day, he received some unexpected visitors out to steal fruit from his green blob ... tree ... thing. His faithful dog, a dog that from here on in we will call the dog and not mention anymore, is dog-napped. How pissed would you be at that? It's time to track down the aliens and rescue the thing we already said we aren't going to mention. The story is just fun, wacky and everything you won't really expect, all in one package.
The gameplay in Samorost is pretty simple — just point and click to interact. Any objects that can be interacted with will result in your pointer icon being changed, and a simple left click will enable the action. Since Samorost 2 lacks an inventory system, there is little complication to most of the puzzles, you tend to figure them out quickly. However, there are some actions that you'll find requires timing or some sequences that need some experimentation to get right. The fun parts of the game come when you enter a new area and say to yourself "What the ... " You need to get your bearings, start to figure out exactly what your goal is supposed to be, then accomplish it. The lack of text or speech in the game actually adds to the wackiness and forces you to use your imagination.
Samarost 2 is run in Flash, and I wasn't expecting much in terms of quality of visuals and sound; I was wrong. Even though the graphics are fantastic, I am not crazy about the passwords to access levels, instead of a save-game feature. The characters and world are exceptionally designed and bring an extremely unique style of art to the game. The world looks as if it blends "Nightmare Before Christmas" with Dr. Seuss in style, putting cartoon and machina side by side. The game sound and music is light and goofy but at the same time has a quality tone to it, which fits perfectly with the game's bizarre style.
While Samorost 2 doesn't have a very long play time, it also is not very expensive. If you play both Samorost and Samorost 2, you can think of the low $6.90 price more as an incentive for the developer, Amanita Design, to keep on making these quality games. Samorost 2 has about an hour of play time to it, and both games together close to an hour and a half. This fun, wild and strangely immersive game is really a quality title — it is a shame there isn't more to play.






