Aggelos 2 is a sequel that understands that a good Metroidvania does not necessarily need an elaborate story to keep us moving forward. Set long after the events of the first game, it once again puts the angel Aggelos in the middle of a conflict between light and darkness, with an old evil threatening to return. The setup is deliberately straightforward, and the game does little to flesh out its mythology beyond the essentials. Dialogue is sparse, characters mostly exist to push the adventure along, and the narrative rarely gives us much reason to become invested in the world itself. That simplicity can be charming when it gets out of the way and lets the gameplay take centre stage, although there are moments when we would have liked a little more substance behind the colorful kingdoms we are exploring.
Fortunately, the world itself provides most of the motivation we need. Aggelos 2’s biggest improvement is the way it builds its Metroidvania structure around two interconnected realms rather than simply giving us one increasingly complicated map. The light and dark worlds overlap, with portals allowing Aggelos to move between them and revisit locations from a different perspective. New abilities gradually turn previously inaccessible areas into potential destinations, and that feeling of recognising a gap, platform or obstacle from hours earlier before finally having the means to overcome it remains one of the game’s strongest qualities. The campaign takes roughly ten to eleven hours to reach its conclusion, but the density of secrets, upgrades and optional discoveries makes it feel considerably more substantial than that number might suggest.
The freedom to explore is also where Aggelos 2’s progression works best. Instead of constantly pointing us towards the next objective, the game is quite happy to let us wander, experiment and occasionally get completely lost. There is a genuine sense of discovery in finding a new movement ability and immediately realising how many earlier obstacles it can overcome, while collectibles and equipment upgrades provide enough incentive to investigate suspicious-looking corners. The downside is that the game sometimes confuses exploration with simply making us remember where we have been. Its map and marker system are not particularly helpful, and the limited number of markers makes keeping track of unfinished business unnecessarily cumbersome. The later stages can therefore turn a satisfying search for secrets into a rather tedious exercise in retracing our steps, particularly when working towards the true ending.
Combat is more of a mixed bag. Aggelos has a ranged attack alongside his sword, and once the angel and demon forms become available, switching between them introduces meaningful differences in attacks, abilities and defensive options. The light and dark forms can also interact with corresponding projectiles, giving the system a particularly useful role when the screen becomes crowded. On paper, there is a surprisingly broad toolkit here, and the controls generally make movement, flying and gliding feel responsive. In practice, however, the combat does not always make the most of those mechanics. Enemy encounters frequently lean towards an arcade-style barrage of opponents and projectiles, encouraging us to attack aggressively rather than carefully consider our options. The same problem affects some of the bosses: they can look impressive and make clever use of the two forms, but several encounters ultimately become exercises in dealing damage and healing quickly enough to survive.
There are also a few rough edges in the control scheme and overall usability. As the ability set expands, having access to attacks, spells, movement abilities, transformations and healing can occasionally make inputs feel less intuitive than they should, particularly when an action is triggered accidentally during movement. The game also expects us to remember a considerable amount of information about its interconnected world, and although that is part of the old-school appeal, some better quality-of-life tools would have made the experience less frustrating without undermining its exploratory character. The progression itself is nicely tied to exploration, with upgrades and currency encouraging us to search rather than simply grind enemies, but some collectibles offer underwhelming rewards and there is little assistance when trying to track down the final missing pieces.
Visually, Aggelos 2 delivers exactly the kind of colorful 16-bit-inspired pixel art that its retro design promises. Character and enemy sprites are detailed, the different environments have plenty of variety, and the contrast between the light and dark realms gives the two maps their own visual identities. It is attractive without trying to reinvent pixel art, as the sequel does not present a substantial visual leap from its predecessor. There are also occasional readability issues, with busy color palettes making some platforms and interactive elements harder to distinguish from the background. The soundtrack fits the retro aesthetic well and some tracks are catchy, but it is less consistent than the visuals, with repetitive or short loops occasionally becoming noticeable. On PS5, however, the game is generally smooth, with only minor technical oddities rather than any major problems.
Aggelos 2 ultimately succeeds because its exploration is stronger than most of its weaker elements. It is not a Metroidvania that is going to redefine the genre, nor does its combat or narrative consistently match the ambition of its two-world structure, but there is something genuinely satisfying about learning the layout of these interconnected realms and gradually gaining the tools to make sense of them. The opening can feel surprisingly basic before the broader mechanics arrive, and the lack of guidance can occasionally become frustrating, but once the exploration starts opening up, the game develops a momentum of its own. For fans of old-school action-platformers and Metroidvanias, especially those who appreciate the Wonder Boy lineage, Aggelos 2 offers a pleasant modern interpretation of that formula. Its rough edges are difficult to ignore, but the underlying adventure is strong enough that we kept wanting to see what was waiting around the next corner.
Score: 7.5/10