There’s a legend among mortals of the being known as Florida Man, whose shenanigans are an equal combination of epic and ridiculous. While Florida Man may be a cautionary tale told to keep the mortals from inflicting the same type of mistakes on themselves, he’s merely a pale reflection of what the gods get up to. Divinity and wisdom have never gone hand-in-hand, with gods being far more interested in power and emotion than thinking through their actions in advance. Take the case of the Fledgling God/dess, who in the first Asgard’s Wrath took Loki as a mentor. This was never going to end well, and sure enough they ended up trapped in a celestial bar drinking with the gods they faced off with over the course of the first game. Who could have seen this betrayal coming?
On the plus side, the Fledgling God survived, which is by no means guaranteed when working with Loki. When the prison is attacked they make a quick escape, only be to be scooped up by three fates who upgrade the god to Cosmic Guardian, capable of walking between realities and tasked with keeping balance between them. The Norse gods are just one pantheon among many, and the Egyptian gods need a Guardian’s help to restore their order. It’s a major responsibility, but also dovetails nicely with the search for Loki, so the Guardian sets off to Egypt to tear into its divine troubles.
The original Asgard’s Wrath was an action-RPG built for PC VR, and aside from the first-person combat, the big hook was the ability to jump between human and god scales when the situation called for it. It was a major title for what was the Oculus Rift in 2019, but a year later the Quest 2 came out and Meta’s shift to a mostly-standalone environment didn’t do it many favors in the long term. That’s what recaps are for, though, so Asgard’s Wrath 2 opens with the events of the first game summarized while you fly sitting on the back of a giant bird. And then it’s time for the new quest to kick into gear.
Asgard’s Wrath 2 is primarily a game of fighting and exploration featuring a god who fuses with mortals to bring out the strongest aspects of their combat abilities. Abraxas, the first fighter the Guardian fuses with, is a thief wielding a sword and throwing axe, for example, with multiple abilities for each. The sword is obviously good for taking a few slices out of whatever is careless enough to get in range, but with good timing and positioning, it’s used to parry incoming attacks or swat back projectiles where they came from. An early upgrade also gives it whip abilities, allowing a grapple to quickly close the distance to a cautious enemy or swing from points in the environment.
The axe, on the other hand, is mostly a throwing weapon, tossed at enemies or distant triggers and retrieved with a pull-back motion, plus it can be directed to turn in mid-air for corner shots or to approach an enemy on a less-defended side. Enemies don’t fall for the same attack repeated over and over, and will block or grab the axe out of the air after a few hits. Abraxas also comes with a shield that’s got its own combat abilities, like knocking an enemy on its back using the dash ability, and buying upgrades the skill tree not only makes each individual weapon more powerful, but also gives them special combination abilities. It’s a lot to play with, and Abraxas is only one of four characters that all have their own play styles, and that doesn’t even get into the followers and their abilities that back you up in combat.
It’s not all combat, of course, with Asgard’s Wrath 2 having a combination of smaller dungeon-type areas and wide-open environments to explore. Scavenging anything that isn’t nailed down yields everything from crafting materials to gems you’re able to socket into your weapons and armor, providing status or elemental effects and defenses. Meanwhile Ra’s abandoned outpost, which is home base, has a number of people to talk to and a quest board for optional goals. When the main quest needs a break, there’s an entirely separate game mode, the Uncharted Rifts, that could be a full game in its own right as you go through a rogue-lite dungeon powering up and sending as much loot as possible back to use in the main campaign. Finally there’s another set of bonus goals with its own rewards in the form of Cosmic Events, which are a monthly rotating series of challenges that provide fun cosmetic awards.
Asgards Wrath 2 is shaping up to be a huge action-RPG that promises a good hundred hours of gameplay or more for completionists. While I haven’t been able to put in anything like that amount of time during this preview period, it’s been easy to lose a couple of hours in ancient Egypt beating on scorpions, archers, lizardmen, flying beasties and a good number more monsters and enemies that don’t appreciate the hard work of restoring balance to the Egyptian pantheon. Exploring the areas while chasing after side-quests plus dipping into the Uncharted Rifts, that hundred-hour estimate is feeling like a realistic outcome, although for longer play sessions you’ll be wanting a battery pack or even to play wired for charging. Those two-plus hour sessions can go quickly, and Asgard’s Wrath 2 is is going to want as much of your attention as you’ve got the energy to give.
