“The last couple of years have been particularly difficult as we shifted towards the development of new IPs and a new course for the company. We were ambitious about what we wanted to achieve as a studio, but sadly, although we made good progress, the economic context was not favorable, and we ran out of time.” The work it had done for the past year will go unfinished, which “breaks out hearts.”

The developer confirmed that Aragami and Aragami 2 would remain available on storefronts. Online co-op will also remain accessible for all players. After thanking fans and its development team members, Lince Works said it would “do its best” to find the “best place” for latter to continue their careers.

“Although we may be closing our doors, the memories and experiences shared with the team and you, our fans, will remain forever.”

Lince Works made an impact in 2016 with Aragami, a stealth title where players must remain in the shadows. Aragami 2 launched in 2021 and improved on the mechanics, presentation and combat while adding support for up to three players in co-op. While it didn’t receive the most critical praise, there’s still plenty to enjoy, as noted in our review.

Thank you for this journey. A message from Lince Works. pic.twitter.com/hr72RIur2o

— Lince Works (@LinceWorks) March 7, 2023

Right out the gate, Aragami 2 knows what it wants to be in terms of its gameplay to enhance the positives of what the genre is known for.  A stealth game lives or dies by the quality of the gameplay systems and thankfully, this is done right. Something I always find very important in stealth games is the UI, and what the player is allowed to see. Enemy awareness markers are always visible when they suspect you and are either above their heads or on the end of the screen when off camera. Holding the left trigger activates a limited sight that allows you to see through walls and mark enemies as well as get a general idea of where the objective of the mission is. Another important element of the interface is linked to one of the first traversal tools to learn that is the bread and butter of movement. Teleporting by pressing the right trigger allows you to teleport from ledge to ledge, but only if you’re close enough to that ledge or platform. The circle is small, but will turn blue which allows a jump. From there, enemies can be killed or knocked out from ledges as well, adding just a bit more depth to how to interact with the environment.

"Aragami 2 knows what it wants to be in terms of its gameplay to enhance the positives of what the genre is known for."

Traversal is vastly improved from the first Aragami. Teleportation and dashing are done with ease, and hanging from ledges or fences is a very simple but welcome addition. All of this comes together to make this stealth game a breeze to control, albeit within the limitations of a stamina bar. There is never enough stamina to repeatedly teleport over and over but the regeneration is very fair so you’re never out for too long.

The overall art aesthetic is very clean. The palette is very muted and appealing to the eye.  Even though the artwork has a very smooth look, there is a good balance in texture detail to where it doesn’t seem bland like Lince Works’ previous venture. Your own Aragami avatar can be customized with cosmetic armor that provides a needed splash to create a unique flair. One of my favorite aspects of Aragami’s visual language is how the game shows if you are detectible or not. Crouching in a shadow, on a high ledge or in the stereotypical tall grass, you are undetectable. This is indicated by the character model turning black with white outlines. It’s a nice visual cue in case shadows aren’t clear; especially in nighttime settings like what’s commonly seen in Aragami. The PC version runs very well and has a good amount of graphical customizability. Lighting and shadows can be tweaked as well as resolution scaling and a reasonable amount of anti-aliasing customization.

Early on when starting to learn the game, one of the most aggravating ways I got surrounded was when whispering to lure enemies. The range is so large to where I often lure two or more enemies at once which prompted me to leave the scene. Singling out enemies is very difficult in most stealth titles and having a button to lure enemies is a great basic tool. It just feels like it’s use is very discouraged here. This issue aside, there is an ability that is able to be learned very early into the game that allows enemy search patterns to be seen. Even still, in a game that stations multiple enemies with their own overlapping patrol paths and sight lines, I just wish dividing enemies was easier.

"The overall art aesthetic is very clean. The palette is very muted and appealing to the eye.  Even though the artwork has a very smooth look, there is a good balance in texture detail to where it doesn’t seem bland like Lince Works’ previous venture."

Unfortunately, the melee combat falls short. This is really hard to nail due to the fact that giving the player more tools for combat means that fighting becomes more comfortable and encouraged. This is something really hard to work around but the sequel is still an improvement over the first title since the tutorials make it clear that combat should not be a focus; but only as a last resort. The health bar isn’t very high and doesn’t refill automatically to enforce this statement. In the previous game, one hit meant death so here there is a chance to escape and come back, or narrowly achieve victory. Attacking and dodging is fluid and the camera does well to track the target being locked on to, but I had trouble adjusting to the timing for blocking and especially parrying.

Aragami 2 like its predecessor isn’t really meant to be played for the story, especially since the missions are “go here and collect the thing or kill the target” as you’d expect. As a newly introduced member of the Aragami. Taking place one hundred years after the first game, the goal is to protect a village and fight alongside the remaining members of the clan. So while the light narrative and motivations end up being a cut above set dressing, multiplayer, or at least the prospect of multiplayer is. Each mission is selectable from a board, and each mission requires all players to ready up before departure akin to other mission based multiplayer titles. We were not able to test this for review, so server stability or ease of use cannot be commented on. There is no server selection from what can be seen, but you may join or create public and private lobbies. For now, whether or not the netcode is worthwhile is up in the air.

Something to note is while the map size in missions compliments a co-op mentality nicely this time around, I never felt like I absolutely needed someone else with me to complete objectives, but the help would’ve been nice since the level layouts incentivize cooperative play. Having more players makes the missions more manageable since the maps are designed with multiple pathways to an objective, but the design of each sometimes felt too daunting of a task for one person. However, after some trial and error in the earlier hours, it’s easy to understand how to navigate each mission with enough patience.

"The PC version runs very well and has a good amount of graphical customizability."

At the end of a mission, XP and Gold are rewarded. Performance is graded with metrics like time, and how the hostiles were or were not dealt with, and collectibles gathered. Replaying missions is optional and it’s good to go back in to find secrets, equipment blueprints and grab some extra coin, but rewards for finishing a level more than once are drastically reduced. One other benefit to multiplayer is that since there is gold scattered around, it takes less time to sweep the area with multiple players. Gold and skill points gained from leveling up are spent in a village hub. There, you can acquire passive and active skills and equipment like Kunai. Blueprints are also available to collect, allowing for more equipment.

Aragami 2 has some satisfying stealth challenges available to take on solo or with other players. The visuals are a major step above the original. Enemy placement and AI make it hard to separate them, but the suite of visual cues help to better understand how many foes there are, and what their path is to plan a route. Movement is very brisk and with a skill tree that has a lot of variety, there’s no denying there is a feeling of gratification clearing a mission where you escape by the skin of your teeth.

This game was reviewed on PC.

In an interview with Wccftech, Aragami 2 game director and co-founder of developer Lince Works, David León, spoke about the ambition level of the second game. He said there was a lot left out of the first game due to the lack of multiple things, including resource and budget. With the second game, those issues are less of a worry. Now with things like customization, wider and more replayable levels, co-op and an improved combat system, the game is much closer to the vision of the original title the developer had hope to make.

“For the first Aragami game, we had to leave out a great deal of features and other more grandiose ideas, simply because we lacked the experience, resources, and budget. So, Aragami 2 represents everything we wanted Aragami to be.

“The technical leap in this sequel is evident. Aragami 2 has significantly larger levels with a wider spread of vertically at the core, which means more freedom and replayability for players. Paired with highly polished and agile gameplay, you will truly feel like a ninja in the shoes of Kurai.

“Since Aragami 2 can be played by 3 players in online co-op, we placed special attention to the composition of clans and clan identity. It must feel like your clan carries its own style and, within it, each player has a singular appearance. We included a greater variety of character customization features for personalizing your looks and equipment.

“Finally, the team set out to develop a new combat system from the ground up. This was indeed one of the most ambitious and challenging tests for us. In Aragami 2, you decide how to engage enemies, whether you stay hidden or fight them straight on. You choose your own playstyle. All in all, we feel we achieved a good balance, making the combat optional, yet hard to master, so it wouldn’t be overused by players.”

Aragami 2 will release on September 17th for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. You can read an interview we did with the game’s developer around this time last year about other aspects of the game through here.

From the outset, there are 11 different armor sets, divided into head, chest, pants and weapon. This allows for mixing and matching different sets to create a unique look. Players can also dye each part with a “wide variety” of colors. Since there are no stats or gameplay advantages to these sets on their own, one is free to create the look they want.

But armor isn’t simply cosmetic – it can also be outfitted with Runes, the blueprints of which are acquired from the blacksmith Sakura. Each armor piece can hold one Rune and once again, there’s plenty of freedom for customizing one’s loadout of powers. Aragami 2 is out on September 17th for Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. It will also be releasing day one on Xbox Game Pass.

The story trailer, which you can see in full below, teases the narrative for the sequel. It seems you will once again play the role of a wrathful spirit, this time one who was once a slave and through death was allowed to come back to deliver some stealthy revenge. The protagonist also looks to free others of his clan from the same slavery in what seems to be a more involved plot this go around.

Aragami 2 will release on September 17th for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. You can see some extended gameplay footage on what to expect through here.

Given that stealth is your greatest ally, it’s important to observe the environment and use whatever tools are available, like special props for contextual kills. Shadow Powers from the first game return while some new ones have also been added. Whenever combat is necessary, the player will rely on agile movement and quickness to gain the advantage.

It also seems that players can deplete the stamina meter for enemies and set up executions a la Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Overall, the Aragami 2 is looking solid and a big improvement over the original in numerous ways. It’s currently slated to release on September 17th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC.

Lince Works’ Aragami 2 has received its first gameplay trailer along with a new release date. The stealth action title is releasing on September 17th for Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Xbox One. Along with solo play, it’s possible to co-op with other players throughout the campaign. Check it out below.

Aragami 2 offers quite a number of improvements over the original. Movement has been opened up significantly while levels are larger and have more paths to traverse. Making progress means investing in different abilities (like tossing a weapon at an enemy and teleporting to it to execute them). You may even have to fight foes in one-on-one combat.

Aragami 2 sees the player as a warrior fighting to reclaim the memories of Kakurega Village’s denizens who suffer from a strange curse. How the player will go about rebuilding the village and who they’ll encounter on their journey makes up a core part of the story. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

Last year, out of nowhere, it was announced that Aragami 2 would come to most major consoles. It was an appropriate stealthy announcement for the sequel to the underrated stealth action title. It was planned for early 2021, but as you can no doubt see on your own calendar, early 2021 is ticking away rather quickly. Well, the devs have noticed as well, and it seems we’ll have to wait just a bit longer for the follow up.

On the game’s official Twitter, which you can see below, Lince Works has announced that the game will be delayed. It’ll still slated for Q3 of this year, and apparently the game is playable from start to finish, but it simply needs more time for polish and bug fixing before it’s ready for the public.

Aragami 2 is now set to release in Q3 2021 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. We got a chance to talk about various aspects of the game with its developers not that long ago, which you can read in full through here.

An important update regarding Aragami 2. pic.twitter.com/yfEBY9tyWV

— Lince Works (@LinceWorks) March 9, 2021

"In Aragami 2, your character can perform all sorts of acrobatic feats, which opens up the level tremendously."

While the first game had a much more linear, focused structure, Aragami 2 looks to be approaching levels in a much more open-ended fashion. How does this new approach impact the game in terms of things such as progression or level design?

In the original game, player movement was extremely limited since you could only teleport to areas in darkness. In Aragami 2, your character can perform all sorts of acrobatic feats, which opens up the level tremendously. To support this freedom of movement we have designed large and open scenarios with a lot of thought put into verticality and multiple paths to traverse the environment. Since scenarios in Aragami 2 are so large, missions usually focus just on a portion of the level, which means each time you revisit a location you will discover new areas, secret paths and other details.

What can players expect from the semi-open world areas of Aragami 2 in terms of size and their variety?

All chapters in Aragami 1 happened at night, mostly outdoors. In Aragami 2, each location has a distinct mood to it, from the warm light of a mountain temple at dawn, to the dim moonlight shining on the city rooftops. These different moods also change the way you move through these environments, as the darkness of a mining complex will offer more opportunities to stay hidden than being exposed to the sun on some rice fields. Enemy patrols will also take advantage from scenario elements, since guards can now climb buildings and chase after you through different obstacles.

What can you tell us about the hub area, and what it will bring to the table?

Kakurega Village is the soul of Aragami 2’s story. It’s the home to a broken nation, cursed by strange affliction – a group of people clinging to what’s left of their humanity. Your job as one of the remaining village warriors will be to help its citizens reclaim their memories and rebuild the village. Kakurega Village acts as a resting place for players, and a way to meet and talk with the varied and strange characters inhabiting the world of Aragami 2.

Aragami 2 seems to be putting a greater focus on combat than the first game. Can you tell us about how that’s being done in context of it being a stealth experience, and what are the biggest improvements being made to the combat?

In Aragami 1 if you got spotted by an enemy guard it usually meant game over and restart, which took you out of the game and frustrated a lot of players. It also felt unrealistic for a shadow assassin skilled with the sword to just be unable to fight back.

For Aragami 2, we took inspiration from games like Tenchu, Dishonored or Metal Gear Solid. These are games which focus on stealth gameplay, but give the player an option to fight and defend yourself in order to get away from a bad situation or just to make the final push towards your objective. Like in those game, in Aragami 2 you’ve got the option to fight in melee, but you are usually outnumbered and overpowered, so our intention is for the player to use combat as a last resort, or in specific situations where a quick fight would be more effective than the alternatives.

"Kakurega Village is the soul of Aragami 2’s story. It’s the home to a broken nation, cursed by strange affliction – a group of people clinging to what’s left of their humanity. Your job as one of the remaining village warriors will be to help its citizens reclaim their memories and rebuild the village."

Aragami drew a lot of praise from players for its stealth gameplay and movement mechanics. What kinds of improvements can players expect from Aragami 2 in that area?

In Aragami 2 the player has a wide array of options to traverse the environment and feel like a shadow assassin. The ‘Shadow Leap’ is back, but improved. You can now instantly teleport to any ledge around you, doesn’t matter if it’s in darkness or not. You can now jump – and teleport while jumping – climb walls, move along ledges, rope walk, hide in tall grass, cling to walls, sprint, dash, roll… Let’s just say that your character feels extremely agile.

With crafting, upgrading, and skill trees, Aragami 2 looks to be moving deeper into RPG territory. What can you tell us about how extensive these options are, and what sort of an impact they have on progression and gameplay?

Customization is very important for us and this sequel will significantly expand on that aspect. When it comes to RPG elements in Aragami 2, players will be able to customize their own assassin, and we are now giving options to modify all sorts of visual aspects like the different armor and cloth pieces your character wears. Players can also customize their playstyles, craft and upgrade their equipment. That’s all I can say for now.

What does the ability to play the entire campaign in co-op with other players bring to the table? Was it a challenge to develop the entire game while ensuring that it was optimized well for both solo and co-op play?

While working on Aragami 1 we added the ability to play the full game on co-op, and felt that online coop in a stealth game works extremely well even with very few changes to gameplay. When playing with another player you need to communicate a lot to establish a strategy when moving through the level. Just one mistake can alert any hostile in the area, and complicate the progress of your partners, so teams that don’t work together make the game more difficult than if you were playing by yourself, but teams with good coordination can be really effective, and it’s extremely satisfying to pull off a cooperative mission without making mistakes.

Do you have any plans to bring Aragami 2 to the Switch?

At the moment we are focusing on the announced platforms. We would love to bring Aragami 2 to as many players as possible, so we will announce new platforms as soon as they are confirmed.

What frame rates and resolution will Aragami 2 be targeting on the PS5 and Xbox Series X?

We are targeting stable 60 FPS and 4K.

What about the current-gen consoles? What frame-rates and resolutions is the game targeting on the PS4 and Xbox One, as well as the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X?

Like in Aragami 1, we are targeting at least stable 30 FPS at 1080p, with an option for 4k on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X.

"In Aragami 2 the player has a wide array of options to traverse the environment and feel like a shadow assassin."

Since the reveal of the PS5 and Xbox Series X’s specs, a lot of comparisons have been made between the GPU speeds of the two consoles’ GPUs, with the PS5 at 10.28 TFLOPS and the Xbox Series X at 12 TFLOPS- but how much of an impact on development do you think that difference will have?

The specs of both consoles are so much better compared to the current console generation that even minor differences between Series X and PS5 won’t matter that much. We are mainly excited to have such raw power on both consoles, which provides us with better flexibility to add various improvements and graphical enhancements to the game without having to think about the console’s limitations.

The PS5 features an incredibly fast SSD with 5.5GB/s raw bandwidth. This is faster than anything that is available out there. How can developers take advantage of this and what will it result to, and how does this compare to Series X’s 2.4GB/s raw bandwidth?

Again, the takeaway here is the contrast with current gen. You can expect almost instant loading screens in both devices, which will make the process of moving through different in-game locations much smoother.

There is a difference in the Zen 2 CPUs of both consoles. The Xbox series X features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.8GHz, whereas the PS5 features 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz. Your thoughts on this difference?

Usually games – and developers – can take better advantage of a system if the tools are up to it. Since these systems are still extremely new, tools have to catch up, and that means we won’t see the limitations of those specs until a few months from now when development tools are robust enough to take advantage of those specs.