LifeisXbox’s Cave Quest 2 review | Hello everyone, I welcome you to my new review. But first, get your sword and armor because we are going back to the time of knights and mages! Cave Quest 2 is a match-three puzzle game developed and published by MD Studio. But don’t be fooled by that description, there is a good story in there and much more to talk about! So, are you interested in a chill puzzle game with awesome music and much more to offer than I expected? Not sure? Let’s find out together!
âšī¸ | We played Cave Quest 2 for 7 hours on PC. This game is only available on PC.
What we liked!
- Gameplay | Cave Quest 2 surprised me by its diversity in game modes! I thought everything would be the same, match-three, and it is, but some twists make it so much more fun. First of all, let me explain how the game works if it is your first Cave Quest game like it was for me. Cave Quest is a point-and-click puzzle game, which means you walk through the world completing different little quests to continue your main quest. The little quests in the start are mostly simple things like removing spikey bushes. So you click the bushes you want to be removed, which will start a match-three puzzle. But there are multiple kinds of match-three puzzles for different actions you do. For example, there is a particular mode for traveling where there is a road in front of you, and you need to clear it by matching three of the same jewels in front of you or on the way ahead. Or my favorite game mode: the boss encounters! Yes, there are boss fights! I didn’t expect this and loved it. You need to match 3 of a special red gem in a boss fight, but so does the boss. This is exciting and gets harder and harder since they get special buffs and skills. All the game modes together make for a lovely variety that will prevent you from feeling burned out by doing the same thing over and over again. That together with wanting to know more about the characters, and of course, how your quest ends.
- Graphics | Cave Quest 2 looks absolutely beautiful. This is one of the reasons I wanted to review this game, and I was not disappointed. I mean, how can you be dissatisfied with 37 (!?) hand-painted locations! All the locations I’ve seen so far are lovely, but I will show you my favorite in a screenshot below. You start your journey near a house with a well, inside the house is a blacksmith that looks a little like a dwarf from the lord of the rings. It’s a typical medieval setting there, then you go to a forest but not the pretty kind. It’s gloomy and they perfectly know how to give you that on edge feeling combining the visuals and the music. But on the other hand there is (like in the screenshot) also really pretty colourful places with a fairy-like person. She says her wings are just for show though…
- Sound | The background music reminded me of the time I watched Merlin. It’s also a typical medieval time kind of sound that a bard could play at that time. But multiple songs are being played throughout the game. There was an option to loop it, and I did that as soon as I found it. If you don’t and you are too slow to complete the level, the music will end, and it will be silent. I thought I would be muting this game and just putting on my music, like with most puzzle games, but this sounds so lovely I didn’t mute the game at all. And if you are such a fan of this as me, you can download the music if you buy the deluxe edition.
- Story | In Cave Quest 2, you are on a quest to retrieve an artifact stolen by your sister. She ran off, and you are trying to find her. It’s a simple story, but it doesn’t always have to be rocket science to be interesting. Along the way, you meet a lot of interesting characters. (which are also amazingly drawn/painted.) And each of them will give you one or more quests for you to complete so you can get something you need to move on. The quests were fun and didn’t feel repetitive for me, even though you primarily searched for items. Some are easy, like fetch me some water from the river, but others require specific ingredients, like flowers and mushrooms, which you will have to find over multiple destinations. Along the way, there aren’t only friends, however. Some creatures will try to block your way, and that is where the boss fights come in, which I mentioned above. This all together makes for a lovely story. It will make you want to return to the game because you want to know how it ends.
- Leveling and skills | Not only are there a lot of game modes, but there are also skills you can use in your match-three games! You unlock them by earning exp after each round of match three or by finding secrets. These skills seem essential in the game because I don’t think I could have beaten some bosses without them. I think this adds more depth to the game, and I loved it. But like I mentioned before, skills are sometimes crucial, especially in boss battles. I’ll explain. There is this boss that has a regen ability that regens the creature for three rounds. To cancel it, you need to match three red gems as fast as possible. Then there is this ability everyone gets when they acquire their sword. When you click it, your sword takes three random red gems on the board and damages the enemy, removing their buff. If I didn’t use the skill when I had to, I don’t think I would have defeated the boss, which makes it crucial, and I find it outstanding! There are also other skills, like healing and skills that remove gems from the board, but that one in the boss battles is my absolute favorite.
- HELP | Do you often lose your way, just like me? Or do you don’t know what to do next? Not a problem in Cave Quest 2! You have a hint button in the lower right corner that shows you what you need to do next. It has about thirty seconds cooldown when you use it, so you don’t spam it, but I can say it is very useful out of the experience. Sometimes I just lost my way, and this got me back on the right path!
Somewhere between
- There is nothing I think belongs here.
What we disliked
- Dutch | I had to play this game in Dutch because I couldn’t find the ingame setting to change it. It might sound stupid but I am not a Dutch gamer in the sence that I put everything in Dutch. Everthing is English for me and this did trigger me a little. I suspect this game takes the language your Steam is on but I think there should be an option to change this in the game as well.
How long to beat the story | More than 7 hours.
How long to get all achievements | No idea.
Similar with | Candy Crush with a story.
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