I know Frostpunk 2 is currently facing some mixed feedback, but personally, I believe it fits perfectly as a sequel to the original. Looking back at Frostpunk 1, the game was centered on a catastrophe that forced humanity to evolve in order to survive. As the captain, you were responsible for one of the first city generators, where survival was the priority. You were just learning the ropes, and the struggle to keep your citizens alive felt raw and immediate, as you were working with untested technology.

In contrast, Frostpunk 2 is set 30 years later, where you take on the role of a Steward overseeing a more advanced city. After three decades, it's only natural that both the world and technology would have progressed to a point where extinction isn't as imminent. With this in mind, the gameplay shift in Frostpunk 2 makes sense. The focus is now on expansion, no longer on just scraping by. This feels like a true evolution of the original, rather than trying to recreate the same survival horror.

As for the gameplay itself, it’s been greatly expanded:

The tech tree is massive.
Laws now evolve into specific branches, making them more flexible.
Factions with different ideologies add new layers to the decision-making process.
The district system requires close attention and management.
You can now oversee and plan multiple cities, which requires precise strategy.
However, there are some caveats:

With the expanded mechanics, the game requires more reading and self-study, as there’s a noticeable lack of guidance.
The UI can feel overwhelming at first, but it becomes manageable once you get used to it.
They recommend starting on "Citizen" difficulty, which can feel too easy once you get the hang of the game. For those looking for a challenge similar to Frostpunk 1, I'd suggest opting for a higher difficulty setting right away.

While I would have loved to see more individual citizen interactions and inner-city events, Frostpunk 2 still delivers as a true sequel. It’s not trying to mimic the original but instead builds on it in meaningful ways.

I am also definitely super excited to try the Twitch integration in a near future stream as well as seeing what comes out of the FrostKit modding tool.

Excited to see what you do next, 11bit! ^^

Great Metroidvanian-style game with great graphics and animations along with intuitive gameplay.