Amanda the Adventurerwas a pleasant little surprise last year. Coming from developers MANGLEDmaw Games, it initially seemed like your typical “mascot horror” indie game that subverts a piece of kids' entertainment, in this case education programs such asDora the Explorer.It ended up giving way to a more puzzle-oriented title, however, similar toThe 7th Guest,which not only impressed someone like me who wants something more calm and cerebral in the gameplay department, but also managed to somehow deliver quite the engrossing tale with Amanda and her twisted creation. And again, given how many similar games deliver such stories (down to the evil corporation behind it all), that meant standing out was an impressive feat. So I was eagerly awaitingAmanda the Adventurer 2,but does it deliver now that it’s here?
Jumping Right In
Right off the bat, it should be stated thatAmanda the Adventurer 2isn’t exactly a game for newcomers, as it starts off right where the previous game’s good ending leaves off. Our protagonist Riley finishes examining the tapes ofAmanda the Adventurer,a popular cartoon for young kids in the 2000s that ended up getting tied to a bunch of missing children, and then she’s immediately whisked away by a masked stranger in order to help continue the investigation, leading them to the town’s library, while Riley’s aunt Kate worked. As seen in the previous game, Kate was also investigating Amanda and Hameln, the company behind the show, and so there may be more info there. And alongside that, there’s also more tapes. And unfortunately, with the tapes, comes Amanda again…and the beast from before…
Right off the bat, it should be stated thatAmanda the Adventurer 2isn’t exactly a game for newcomers
Amanda the Adventurer 2follows a similar setup to the original, that being finding tapes of Amanda’s show, and watching them to try and figure out solutions for puzzles that mysteriously appear in the real world. The big changes now are that you aren’t confined to an attic and now have a larger library to explore (though functionally, it serves the same purpose as the attic), and unlike the first game, the pause button for the VCR is unlocked from the get-go, allowing you to pause at any time and walk around to explore if needed, sometimes having to find Amanda an item in the real world, adding at least one extra touch.
It is indeed a nice touch, once again nicely playing into the type of interactivity shows likeDora the Explorertried to present. Presentation-wise, Amanda’s show once again remains nicely low-budget, and all of the voice actors returning are still giving it one hundred percent. Every character, from Amanda to Wooly, is perfectly able to switch from innocent to menacing to even menacing in an innocent way so naturally, helping the game find a perfect balance between genuine scares and creepiness and humor as well (especially when you deliberately give Amanda the wrong answers).
The puzzle design inAmanda the Adventurer 2that comes from these interactions is also nicely well-done as well, with some well-crafted pits involving the likes of having to properly pause and move a piggy bank in the real world at the right time in order to have coins inserted, or mess with certain objects in the real world in order to have the characters in the video mimic the classic “three wise monkey” poses. It’s nice, brain-teasing stuff, and as a bonus, the printers in the library even serve as a way to deliver you hints, even if the game doesn’t explicitly point this out.
That Freaking Bike Lock…
That being said, there are a few duds in the puzzles as well, such as a tic-tac-toe puzzle that somehow left me stumped for a while due to a twist, and even more frustratingly, there’s the fact that the very first puzzle in the game is possibly one for the all-time lists of worst puzzles. You have to figure out a four-digit number for a bike lock, but thanks to the hints that lead towards the solution being over-designed and filled with too much information, it can be a nightmare. True story: I was watching a stream ofAmanda the Adventurer 2with thousands of people, and I swear,no one,from the streamer to the people in chat, knew how to figure out how to get the solution. Several knew thesolution,sure, but not the method of obtaining it. Heck, this writer basically just stumbled into it via brute force.
Amanda the Adventurer 2 Set to Arrive Later This Month
Just when you thought it was safe to watch educational cartoons, Amanda the Adventurer 2 arrives in less than two weeks, in time for Halloween.
But one of the big reasons you’re here for a game such asAmanda the Adventurer 2is the story, to see if there’s any new lore that helps explain just what the heck is going on. And while the game does have some nice and scary moments, it can be a slow burn getting there, as the only big answers (including hints to a mysterious new character, a possum) come from finding all of the secret tapes and getting 100% completion. If not, you’ll likely walk away from the game after completing it once thinking “…that’s it?” And while the final ending delivers, it does seem aggravating that without having to jump through hoops, what you do find is a lot of what players have already seen and expected in the first game. Basically, another good story, but it needs to work on its presentation.
Overall, if you just want moreAmanda the Adventurerand/or more puzzle-focused horror games,Amanda the Adventurer 2still delivers nicely, especially in the areas of creepy atmosphere and dark humor. But it feels a tad rushed in some spaces, just delivering more of the same, so hopefully our third outing with Amanda delivers more satisfaction.
Closing Comments:
Amanda the Adventurer 2is a fun adventure title that delivers solid puzzles, great performances and a nice mixture of dread and humor, but a few sloppy decisions and a lack of anything substantial in either the gameplay or story areas hold it back. Still, if you can get past those issues (and the first puzzle), there’s a nice, quick romp through an eerie library here that’s worth checking out. If nothing else, at least the true ending will leave fans properly hooked for more games to come…
Amanda the Adventurer 2
Version Reviewed: PC
The sequel to last year’s horror hit, Amanda the Adventurer 2 sees protagonist Riley now investigating a local library containing more video tapes to find further information on the twisted history behind Amanda’s show. Things get more complex when Amanda becomes more aware of Riley, though…
