Probably not many still playing this game, but I looked at @Kaamos_Llama 's post about Wasteland 3, and there were several posts about WL2 so I'm sure some of you have played it in the past. This isn't really a review as such, more of a summation of my experience from playing the game. I'll try to keep this post as spoiler free as possible for those who might yet want to play it, or for those who might want to go back and complete it.
I finally finished last night, after 331.5 hours (according to Steam), but that's starting from the beginning 3 times so it's hard to say how long a single play through for me would have lasted. You get a lot of "slide screens" at the end that summarize your successes, or failures, or how you completed certain quests.
What was surprising to me, was how few players actually finished the game. You get an achievement at the end (which is actually for reaching the final area, so I won't show it for spoiler reasons) which shows that only 10.3% of the players reached the end game. I was shocked by how low that percentage is. WL2 can be a difficult game, primarily I think because it's so dependent upon stats, skills, and perks; and how you build your characters (which is why I started 3 times). All those elements are intertwined and affect everything you do, from combat to conversation choices. It's very detailed, old-school approach, that I personally love, but may have been frustrating to some players.
WL2 is very open-ended in how you complete the major quests, as there are multiple ways to do them. It's not just a "good or evil", it's more of a gray area, where you have to guide your rangers by your own moral compass, and even if you try to do the best, or good, thing, you can't save everyone. There are some tough choices to make, and how you complete one quest, can potentially affect others. Very well done and very involved, one of the best "choices matter" RPGs I've played in a long time.
Combat is just great, turn-based and very tactical. Positioning, before & during combat, can mean living or dying. You don't always have the option, or chance to get to position your rangers before combat, but if you can get that first strike against a known enemy, it's a huge advantage. Another thing about combat is that there is a huge jump in difficulty once you leave Arizona for California. In fact, everything becomes more challenging, from combat to skill checks, and it will probably make or break your party of rangers.
I did look at some of the character build guides available, and while helpful to a degree, none of them really fit my play style. I could go on & on here talking about skills, stats, and perks, but I'll keep this post brief (for a change), but if someone wanted to know about my final party construction, I could give more detail.
Anyway, now it's on to Wasteland 3 for me, which I downloaded this morning, so I'll see how that compares to WL2. I know there were a lot of skill and stat changes, hopefully it's not too "dumbed down", and more of a refinement.
I finally finished last night, after 331.5 hours (according to Steam), but that's starting from the beginning 3 times so it's hard to say how long a single play through for me would have lasted. You get a lot of "slide screens" at the end that summarize your successes, or failures, or how you completed certain quests.

What was surprising to me, was how few players actually finished the game. You get an achievement at the end (which is actually for reaching the final area, so I won't show it for spoiler reasons) which shows that only 10.3% of the players reached the end game. I was shocked by how low that percentage is. WL2 can be a difficult game, primarily I think because it's so dependent upon stats, skills, and perks; and how you build your characters (which is why I started 3 times). All those elements are intertwined and affect everything you do, from combat to conversation choices. It's very detailed, old-school approach, that I personally love, but may have been frustrating to some players.
WL2 is very open-ended in how you complete the major quests, as there are multiple ways to do them. It's not just a "good or evil", it's more of a gray area, where you have to guide your rangers by your own moral compass, and even if you try to do the best, or good, thing, you can't save everyone. There are some tough choices to make, and how you complete one quest, can potentially affect others. Very well done and very involved, one of the best "choices matter" RPGs I've played in a long time.
Combat is just great, turn-based and very tactical. Positioning, before & during combat, can mean living or dying. You don't always have the option, or chance to get to position your rangers before combat, but if you can get that first strike against a known enemy, it's a huge advantage. Another thing about combat is that there is a huge jump in difficulty once you leave Arizona for California. In fact, everything becomes more challenging, from combat to skill checks, and it will probably make or break your party of rangers.
I did look at some of the character build guides available, and while helpful to a degree, none of them really fit my play style. I could go on & on here talking about skills, stats, and perks, but I'll keep this post brief (for a change), but if someone wanted to know about my final party construction, I could give more detail.
Anyway, now it's on to Wasteland 3 for me, which I downloaded this morning, so I'll see how that compares to WL2. I know there were a lot of skill and stat changes, hopefully it's not too "dumbed down", and more of a refinement.