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Although the genre of survival games is somewhat saturated, there are always some that manage to stand out. One of them was 2018’s Frostpunk, a challenging experience that had players manage a city with harsh survival elements and tough decision-making. But now, thanks to a small hands-off preview of the sequel, there is one important question. “What happens after you survive?” The new game from 11 Bit Studios brings everything that fans of the series love, adds many new features and more difficult decisions that the scale of this game to something much bigger, something I’ll discuss in my Frostpunk 2 hands-off impressions.
Frostpunk 2 Hands-Off Impressions: What Happens After You Survive?
After surviving, what’s next? This was the question that captured my attention from the beginning of the preview and something that will be very relevant in my hands-off impressions of Frostpunk 2. While many games look for ways to make a group of characters or a civilization face the apocalypse and come out ahead, what’s beyond that? Frostpunk 2 answers that question by changing the landscape we were used to and putting you in front of a city that seeks to establish itself years after surviving the events of the first installment.
This time, the scale of the game is much larger. You have a city in which you will be able to build a district. It can be an industrial district, a food processing district, or many other things that have not yet been revealed. Within this, you have communities that start the game with you. These communities are different and have a big impact on the gameplay of this sequel. Some seek to hold on to what they have learned over the years as they survive, and others seek to advance with technological inventions to make life easier. But which one is the right one? That’s for you to know.
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Choice and Consequence
One interesting thing I saw in the preview was how the Frostpunk 2 team has increased the gravity behind your decisions and consequences. They showed a sequence where both communities wanted to make the city grow. One community suggested reusing human waste to improve city areas, while others wanted to make an industrial plant to eliminate human waste more efficiently. For this preview, they chose the former, and it brought consequences to the health of those reusing human waste after a while, which makes every choice important. You’re in charge of deciding which path is the best for your city, but be careful because some won’t make everyone happy.
An important part of the game is that you are not the absolute leader. You are something like a mediator. Through interactions with communities and factions, you will manage to generate votes to make certain laws pass. For some groups to grant you their voices, you must fulfill promises. Some ask you to develop or build certain things, and each community has different needs.
All It Takes is an Idea
As survival is no longer the central element of the game, there are other ways in which you can spend your time. Creating a bigger city needs new things, and that requires new ideas. I have mentioned the communities a lot in my hands-off impressions of Frostpunk 2, but that is due to the large role they play. These communities will come up with ideas, and you will decide whether to develop them. Maybe you need a way to eliminate a harmful resource; one community might suggest reusing it for other things, and another community might look for a modern way to dispose of it. You can decide what to do, and in that way, the city will change dynamically.
As already mentioned, every decision has a consequence. Depending on the ideas you accept, some factions will agree or disagree. Likewise, the city can be affected by certain decisions, but that does not mean the end of your game. What fascinated me is that the game seeks to teach you without punishing you. Even if something bad happens, you will always have the opportunity to solve it and make your city prosper.
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Frostpunk 2 is more than just a sequel where a few things are changed, and something new is added. It’s a completely new beginning that exposes you to new challenges. Although I love survival games, I never thought the premise of this installment would hook me with a small preview. If you believe the apocalypse is the worst you can face, Frostpunk 2 is ready to show you something completely different, and frankly, I can’t wait to get my hands on this new installment in the series.
