Bleed 2, how can I even BEGIN?!

This is one of my favorite games of all time, if not my favorite game ever. Sure, some may say the game is super short, but who ever said that's a bad thing? This game is AMAZING for speedrunning and replayability! It's as if the game was created for the singular purpose of speedrunning (but can also be played casually for those who would like to, of course).

Difficulty scales from pretty easy to EXTREMELY challenging (Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, Too Hard Mutator ). For starting out the game, I'd recommend going straight into the story mode on hard difficulty. It gives the game a fair challenge to start the game out with. When you mess up, it's almost never the game's fault. You may get hit too many times taking silly and easily avoidable hits or you're simply running/dashing into bullets, but you know you can do it if you keep going at it. Yes, sometimes RNG can screw up runs, but that's expected, since it's random, but it also adds differences to every playthrough. In some runs, you may not see all of a certain boss' possible attacks so that adds replayability, along with the unlockable characters, weapons, and abilities for tons of different play styles. For example, while some may use the bullet-time to better react to enemies' attacks, others might use it as little as possible to get a faster time. If I recall correctly, the story has some subtle and some funny changes for all of the different characters.

The bosses are the main portion of the game, as many can tell you, (though the platforming sections can be just as intense) and each one of them has a great amount of detail worked into their movement patterns, attack patterns, and designs. If you are familiar with Cuphead, then you should be familiar with bosses giving off special warnings before their attacks. Bleed 2 has the same kind of system. The difference however, is that as the difficulty is risen, boss patterns become quicker, giving you less time to react before they dish out their attacks or move across the screen. Projectiles on screen also become much more common and move faster in the higher difficulties.

The soundtrack is outstanding! All of the tracks are extremely catchy and they're fun to jam to while you play or even on the go. The art style is a perfect balance between retro and modern styles.

The controls are much more fluent, customizable, and generally better than they were in the first game. Mobility is fast, easy to get the hang of (even with a controller), and incredibly smooth. Something that I wish I had known during my second run of the game is that you can equip up to 5 different weapons at a time (some characters do not apply because of their unique weapons).

With 70 hours, and counting, I am still finding new little things to appreciate in Bleed 2, including references or throwbacks to the first game, secrets, and other Easter eggs. In order to get everything out of Bleed 2, yes, I would recommend you play through the first game, but it isn't completely necessary to understand the story. Bleed (1) can go as low as $1.24 during Steam sales, so keep an eye out for it.

I would recommend Bleed 2 without a single doubt! 10/10

(Technically I did get this game for free on its release date, thanks to a wonderful online friend of mine)

Bleed 2, how can I even BEGIN?! This is one of my favorite games of all time, if not my favorite game ever. Sure, some may say the game is super short, but who ever said that's a bad thing? This game is AMAZING for speedrunning and replayability! It's as if the game was created for the singular purpose of speedrunning (but can also be played casually for those who would like to, of course). Difficulty scales from pretty easy to EXTREMELY challenging (Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard, [spoiler] Too Hard Mutator [/spoiler]). For starting out the game, I'd recommend going straight into the story mode on hard difficulty. It gives the game a fair challenge to start the game out with. When you mess up, it's almost never the game's fault. You may get hit too many times taking silly and easily avoidable hits or you're simply running/dashing into bullets, but you know you can do it if you keep going at it. Yes, sometimes RNG can screw up runs, but that's expected, since it's random, but it also adds differences to every playthrough. In some runs, you may not see all of a certain boss' possible attacks so that adds replayability, along with the unlockable characters, weapons, and abilities for tons of different play styles. For example, while some may use the bullet-time to better react to enemies' attacks, others might use it as little as possible to get a faster time. If I recall correctly, the story has some subtle and some funny changes for all of the different characters. The bosses are the main portion of the game, as many can tell you, (though the platforming sections can be just as intense) and each one of them has a great amount of detail worked into their movement patterns, attack patterns, and designs. If you are familiar with Cuphead, then you should be familiar with bosses giving off special warnings before their attacks. Bleed 2 has the same kind of system. The difference however, is that as the difficulty is risen, boss patterns become quicker, giving you less time to react before they dish out their attacks or move across the screen. Projectiles on screen also become much more common and move faster in the higher difficulties. The soundtrack is outstanding! All of the tracks are extremely catchy and they're fun to jam to while you play or even on the go. The art style is a perfect balance between retro and modern styles. The controls are much more fluent, customizable, and generally better than they were in the first game. Mobility is fast, easy to get the hang of (even with a controller), and incredibly smooth. Something that I wish I had known during my second run of the game is that you can equip up to 5 different weapons at a time (some characters do not apply because of their unique weapons). With 70 hours, and counting, I am still finding new little things to appreciate in Bleed 2, including references or throwbacks to the first game, secrets, and other Easter eggs. In order to get everything out of Bleed 2, yes, I would recommend you play through the first game, but it isn't completely necessary to understand the story. Bleed (1) can go as low as $1.24 during Steam sales, so keep an eye out for it. I would recommend Bleed 2 without a single doubt! 10/10 (Technically I did get this game for free on its release date, thanks to a wonderful online friend of mine)