Basically, if you enjoyed Hero of the Kingdom I, this is more of the same, and when I mean more of the same, I really mean more of the same. The gameplay structure is mostly untouched, as is the UI/map/sound/etc. and that isn't really a bad thing here. This series is a causal resource-management set of games and the familiarity between titles makes it very easy to jump right into this. You'll be collecting x amount of items y and z so the miller's wife can sell you bread without skipping a beat.

The story is super generic fantasy and comes with a stiff English translation. The visuals are very nice and the style really works well. There are no annoying technical issues or gimmick gameplay bits to get in the way of you fetch-questing for the rest of the kingdom.

There are a couple of downsides, though. HotKII is a bit longer than the first game, but this is mainly because item amount requirements can get kind of sizable and repetitive at times. Building the boat is probably the biggest example of this. The other problem I had is that there is some pixel-hunting required at times for items that don't visually "pop" from the rest of the art and don't have an "action" command signposting them. There's only a couple of instances of you having to do this to progress but it can be quite annoying when you can't find the blacksmith's toolbox or whatever since it's super tiny and just blends into the background without doing anything in particular to draw your eye to it.

In short, if you liked the first game, you should probably pick this up. If you've never played the first one and find this in a bundle a year from now, it's a nice, little resource management game where you can't find yourself in a fail state and is oddly relaxing and addicting to play. It'll take about five hours or so to see everything there is to see but it's an enjoyable, light game that is ideal for zoning out and chilling.

One last thing, you can continue playing after beating the game, so unlike the first one, there's no worry about a point of no return.

Basically, if you enjoyed Hero of the Kingdom I, this is more of the same, and when I mean more of the same, I [i]really[/i] mean more of the same. The gameplay structure is mostly untouched, as is the UI/map/sound/etc. and that isn't really a bad thing here. This series is a causal resource-management set of games and the familiarity between titles makes it very easy to jump right into this. You'll be collecting x amount of items y and z so the miller's wife can sell you bread without skipping a beat. The story is super generic fantasy and comes with a stiff English translation. The visuals are very nice and the style really works well. There are no annoying technical issues or gimmick gameplay bits to get in the way of you fetch-questing for the rest of the kingdom. There are a couple of downsides, though. HotKII is a bit longer than the first game, but this is mainly because item amount requirements can get kind of sizable and repetitive at times. Building the boat is probably the biggest example of this. The other problem I had is that there is some pixel-hunting required at times for items that don't visually "pop" from the rest of the art and don't have an "action" command signposting them. There's only a couple of instances of you having to do this to progress but it can be quite annoying when you can't find the blacksmith's toolbox or whatever since it's super tiny and just blends into the background without doing anything in particular to draw your eye to it. In short, if you liked the first game, you should probably pick this up. If you've never played the first one and find this in a bundle a year from now, it's a nice, little resource management game where you can't find yourself in a fail state and is oddly relaxing and addicting to play. It'll take about five hours or so to see everything there is to see but it's an enjoyable, light game that is ideal for zoning out and chilling. One last thing, you can continue playing after beating the game, so unlike the first one, there's no worry about a point of no return.