Game Review: Lifeline 2 (Mobile)

Lifeline was a nice surprise amongst a mobile market dominated by free to play, restrictive & uninspired games most filled to the brim with in-app purchases.

A text based adventure game where you offer advice to a stranded space man on an unknown moon. I found it compelling to play & praised the creators, 3 Minute Games. You can read a review of Lifeline here.

A sequel was inevitable…

Rather than treading the same path as the first game, Lifeline 2 instead goes for a story steeped in magical lore. Entirely text-based, fans of the original will instantly notice the difference in aesthetics with it looking like an ancient scroll.

The story this time is based around a young mage, Arika who was attempting to communicate with her long-lost brother but instead found you. Desperate to find him she has to revisit many areas of her past while collecting magical items that will help her. You are along for the ride offering advice when it’s needed. These range from moments when she can use magic, talking with strangers or travelling.

Your advice (in the form of options that appear amongst the text) will make the difference in how the story pans out & is hugely important to Arika’s survival.

Like before the game plays out in real-time…if Arika needs to sleep or is busy doing something you’ll have to wait but the game will notify you when she is ready to go again.

Lifeline 2 is a much longer game than its predecessor, there are a lot more conversations & a lot more decisions for you to make. It’s almost everything a sequel should be…

Sadly where it fails is with Arika mostly…she just isn’t that likable. I found her irritating at times & puzzled how she had ever managed to survive before I came along. Her story isn’t that gripping & the world doesn’t seem as alive as it could. I found that I didn’t really care about her let alone care if she was ever reunited with her brother.

The music doesn’t grip me in quite the same way as the original but it fits with the magical fantasy story it is played over. More than its predecessor this feels like one of those ‘choose your own’ adventures from your childhood.