Solasta 2 Is A Huge Improvement Over The Original - Next Fest Preview

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I remember when I first saw Solasta a couple of years ago as I was looking for new games to get on my Steam Deck, and I was surprised I hadn't heard of it before. It's exactly the kind of game I like: a co-op, story-heavy tactical RPG. While it was a lot of fun, there was definitely room for improvement, and with the second game, I was hoping to see that. However, from what I have seen so far, they have completely surpassed my expectations, and it looks incredible.

Solasta 2 is built on a new engine (UE5 instead of Unity), which gave them the chance to improve all aspects of the game. The visual differences are clear as day, with more vibrant and complex worlds, but there is even more they were able to do. There has been a huge improvement to the characters, models, and animations to make the game feel much more immersive. It gives a next-gen feel from the camera shots, the facial animations, and even the way the hair moves along with their head. Even something as simple as going to a store and talking to the shopkeeper has its own camera angle and unique feel to it.

To add to this immersion, you can find areas to check out interesting locations around the world, which can change the camera angle. There may also be random actions around the world to jump, drop, swim, crawl, or cross terrain, with the team trying to make the game feel as smooth as possible. This includes the near flawless transitions from going in and out of buildings. I also appreciate that we can swap between indirect control (moving a cursor on the screen and choosing where your party goes) and direct control (controlling the party directly with the joystick).

The game still has a very DND-esque feel to it, with different interactions having skill checks. It feels similar to Baldur's Gate 3's skill checks. The team really wanted to dive into the open-ended progression that they introduced in Solasta 1 as DLC, which I think is a fantastic decision to make. There's also a combination of classic DND items and originals from the dev team.

The turn-based combat has also been enhanced. Solasta 2 has an organic, floating point movement system to help the battle feel more natural and a new reaction system. There's a console to see what actions were taken, including skill checks with details. There's an option to hide any dice rolls for those who don't want them, but overall, the combat is very tabletop-inspired.

The demo itself is a good representation of what's to come. It shows a glimpse of the new continent created for the game, which has an emphasis on strange, unique, and surprising sights. There is about 2-3 hours of gameplay for the full playthrough, but you can check out 4 different classes and ancestries, be put in situations where you have to make story-altering choices, and of course, try out the combat.

While the demo is not great to play on the Steam Deck, the developers do want it to be compatible. During a preview event, they mentioned that they are going to work on optimization at either the early access launch or during its time in early access. It will have support by the time it fully launches, and the team is very motivated to get it into a playable state on the go.

You can try out Solasta 2's demo right now before it heads into early access this year. There's a lot of potential with this one, though, and I think if it's optimized right, it could be a perfect game for our Steam Deck libraries.

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