In my last post, I mentioned that I had the opportunity to play Slime Rancher 2 with my $1 trial of Xbox Game Pass. I was super excited about this and started playing while waiting for Microsoft Flight Simulator to download. I absolutely loved playing Slime Rancher on my PS4. I still play it because, well, the game is just fun, and that’s what gaming is about: having fun and enjoying whatever you are playing.
The first thing I noticed in Slime Rancher 2 was all the colors! Those who know me will agree that I am attracted by bright colors—it’s part of living with ADD. The blend of colors in the game are graphically fantastic, making you explore in awe of the beauty of the virtual world. Early in the game, you come across your first new slime—a pale yellow blob with rabbit ears. I soon had the beginnings of my new slime ranch.
I continued exploring and catching slimes, each time debating how I wanted to layout my pens, chicken coups, and gardens. I usually keep largo slimes to save space, and it was tough to decide which slimes combined best with the new batty slimes and, my new personal favorite, ringtail slimes. I eventually found my way across the Ember Valley and the Starlight Strand, catching the new slimes and busting gordos. When I caught the flutter slimes, I realized that there was only one slime missing from my Slimepedia: the saber slime. This slime isn’t really new since you can get plorts in the first game and create largo saber slimes.
So, that was it. I had all the new slimes, and aside from the area where you get the saber slimes, I had explored everything. Or at least, I had explored enough to get all the slimes, minus that one. I was extremely demotivated by this—there were so many areas in the first game, and yet the sequel felt so… empty.
I know the game is still in early access, a concept which generally irritates me anyway, but I’ll save that for another post. This early access means that the story isn’t finished and there are still things missing from the game, such as helper drones, which I missed VERY much! I used those all the time in the first game, and yet they are still missing from the second one. The game feels more like DLC for the first game, aside from the change to how you collect resources. I kind of like the change, but also kind of don’t—I was never able to get another strange diamond, which just frustrated me. There’s strategy and difficulty, and then there’s just annoyance due to random spawns that are designed to make items scarce.
I definitely will return to this game when it is finally finished, that is, if they ever add the drones in. At $30, it’s still reasonable, or at least it will be once it’s finished. I would prefer to play it on my PlayStation 5, so I hope that it releases on console when it is finished…assuming that they do finish it someday. Ugh… again, another post for another day.