Freedom Planet 2 Review – Out of the Shadow of Sonic

When the first Freedom Planet released nearly a decade ago, it was subject to the familiar roadblocks of many 2D platformers since the introduction of 3D. That’s not to say it wasn’t enjoyable, but as a game that originated as a love letter to the Sonic the Hedgehog series, it had an uphill battle to match the respect its predecessors garnered over so many years. The developer made the wise decision to establish a new IP with the original, and with Freedom Planet 2, the series has started to come into its own. Released originally on PC back in 2022, the sequel now comes to consoles, and with it comes a more fully fleshed out experience, filled to the brim with expansive, intertwining levels and repeatedly fun and varied boss fights. The story, now beginning to branch from its Sonic­-heavy influence, leaves a bit to be desired with its cartoony take on surprisingly heavy topics, but everything surrounding the story makes Freedom Planet 2 a wildly fun ride from start to finish.

The story of Freedom Planet 2 continues the plot of the original, picking up a few years after Brevon was defeated and driven out of the home planet of Avalice. When another attack occurs on Avalice, the four playable characters, led by returning key protagonists Sash Lilac and Carol Tea, are summoned to investigate the attacks. One thing leads to another, and suddenly you’ll be faced with the sudden return of water dragons and having to stop the potential use of a world-ending superweapon.

"The story, now beginning to branch from its Sonic­-heavy influence, leaves a bit to be desired with its cartoony take on surprisingly heavy topics, but everything surrounding the story makes Freedom Planet 2 a wildly fun ride from start to finish."

The story itself is unremarkable. It’s told primarily through the six different episodes, structured as two sets of three episodes you can play in any order, and the nature of how the story is told makes it more about the exploration of the world and characters than a truly linear plot. Much of the storytelling is done through long-winded cutscenes involving the four main playable characters and the episode’s main villain, and while they are meant to feed into the final main villain, they feel more like one-off events that happen to occur in the meantime. Without wishing to spoil, when you do reach the finale, much of the story feels inevitable, like it could have been wrapped up earlier, but having seen the characters grow and interact throughout the story does make for an enjoyable final sequence and a satisfying ending.

Tonally, though, Freedom Planet 2 makes up for much of its narrative shortcomings due to its much cartoonier feel and general self-awareness. Characters often quip nonchalantly about Avalice’s goings-on, while villains frequently take a more Saturday morning cartoon attitude. It can be a jarring tonal shift when switching back and forth between quippy dialogue and the fate of the world, but in conjunction with the art style and color palette, the lighter tone fits the sequel well.

The art style, too, is notably gorgeous. The pixel art remains from the original, but it’s taken a leap in variety and quality. Characters are more distinct and visually expressive, particularly in cutscenes, while levels are varied both in setting and aesthetic. Level designs can range from intricate lava-filled caves to high-flying airships or unique villainous castles. Especially between episodes, every level feels distinct from the last, and I never stopped enjoying seeing where the game would take me next. Within those unique levels, too, is a vast array of differentiated gameplay opportunities that build on one another and keep anything from feeling stale. Indeed, the gameplay is where Freedom Planet 2 shines the brightest, concocting an addictive blend of platforming, boss battles, and exploration that make it feel fresh around every corner.

To some extent, gameplay in Freedom Planet 2 feels like the first game with a bigger budget. A fourth playable character, Neera Li, has been introduced alongside the original three to tackle the 24 main levels across nine main episodes including the intro and finale, as well as a handful of hub areas where you can talk to characters and purchase collectibles, and each level feels visually and mechanically distinct. At one point you can be fighting in a colosseum-esque battle arena, while in the next you can be in a frozen, snowy graveyard or a lightning-heavy skyscraping tower. Many of the levels touch on the genre’s tropes of desert, grasslands, water, and snow, but even within these levels the game still feels like it’s not recycling ideas or treading old ground.

"The art style is notably gorgeous. The pixel art remains from the original, but it’s taken a leap in variety and quality."

The levels themselves are remarkable, too. Most of the 24 levels are wildly open-ended and frequently much bigger than they first appear. When you reach the second half of the game, these levels can often take upwards of 15-to-20 minutes to complete, spanning multiple phases and gameplay mechanics. It’s still a 2D platformer at heart, so the ultimate goal is generally to get to the far right end of the map, but these levels find a way to make going from left to right interesting and rewarding. Most of the gameplay remains the same from the first game, though a new guard mechanic makes it a bit easier to avoid damage, but traversal is truly the star of the show, with each character having a unique way of getting to the next destination quickly. It’s easy to get lost in levels, as their sheer size can make it difficult to tell how far you’ve gotten or where you’re supposed to go next, but somehow I always naturally found my way to the next checkpoint, regardless of if it was a simple run to the right or a twisting and turning path through puzzles and enemies.

The way you traverse and interact with each level can change, too, often in interesting ways. One standout, the Globe Opera, is a musical sequence whose stage moves in tandem with the excellent music. In this stage, and a few others, constant movement is key, and it will at points effectively take control of your character to send them through a series of pipes and jumps in line with the music. When you are in control, too, you can choose to engage with the impressively varied slate of standard enemies, each of which has a unique move set tailored to the stage. It definitely feels at points like you can just speed your way through the level, ignoring enemies and pushing to the end, especially since there are no major upgrades that make you stronger or unlock new moves, but I found it enjoyable to play both ways across multiple different levels.

Virtually every stage ends with a boss as well, and these are some of the individual highlights of Freedom Planet 2’s combat. Boss designs take the varied enemy design to the next level, and no two bosses feel or fight the same. Sometimes you’ll be tasked with avoiding sideswiping damage against massive villains, while others will be a one-on-one fight against other story-based enemies. Not every boss is a classic battle to the death, either, as a few bosses avoid the traditional combat entirely. One standout is a race through a level against a key villain, while another has you piloting a giant mech against a previously untouchable boss. Some bosses can pose a jarring difficulty spike, and I was privy to using some of the game-altering accessibility items that help you in battle, but I was always looking forward to the next boss fight and how the game was going to find new ways to change up the gameplay.

One disappointment about Freedom Planet 2 is its continued inability to switch between playable characters within the story. You choose one of the four characters to play as for the Adventure Mode, which cannot be changed. I chose to play as Lilac for the main campaign, and while each of the four playable characters appear consistently throughout the story, including appearing in battle at certain points, you can never change between them until completing the game. It’s unfortunate because the play styles of each character are unique and would provide a breath of fresh air between different levels across the 20-or-so hours it took me to beat the game, and the story itself doesn’t change much depending on which character you choose. While I found Milla the Explorer to ultimately be my favorite of the four, I would have loved to have an opportunity to play as each of them outside of the endgame Classic Mode or starting a new campaign.

"Most of the 24 levels are wildly open-ended and frequently much bigger than they first appear. When you reach the second half of the game, these levels can often take upwards of 15-to-20 minutes to complete, spanning multiple phases and gameplay mechanics."

Despite originating as a Sonic clone, the Freedom Planet series has made remarkable strides with its second entry. As it makes its way to console, the sequel has expanded upon virtually every aspect of the first game to great success. The levels feel larger and more visually and mechanically distinct, making every step forward a surprising addition to an already-packed experience, and the bosses at the end of each stage are highlights that provide a tough challenge and force you to master the combat and traversal mechanics of each character. The story is more of an avenue to explore these wonderful characters through a delightfully cartoony tone, and while it isn’t as emotionally resonant as it would like to be, the gameplay it leads to more than makes up for it. Freedom Planet 2 still hovers in the shadow of its predecessors, but it’s well on its way to making the series one of the premier 2D platformers in recent memory.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.