Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django

"How is the sun today?"

Introduction
The first Boktai was one of the most original games ever made. A rpg that made the player stick near the sun and use this same light to solve many puzzles and wek the enemies is surely seen everyday. But is this also a good game? Or only "more of the same"?

Gameplay
As I already told you, the sensor is a really important part of this game's action, as you will need it to solve many puzzles and quests that you will find across the game. However, unfortunately the hero (Django, the same character from the original game, but you can change his name before starting the adventure) looses his Gun del Sol soon after starting the adventure, so you will have to find alternatives to its power.

Even thought, it will be a lot harder to defeat the many times of monsters that you will find across the game (most of them are zombies, which explains why they are affected by sun light) since the weapons that you will be able to use (like hammers or swords, among others) don't even have the original power of your weapon. Also, during the game you will get many magical powers, all of them related to light or darkness, which will surely be very useful during the complete adventure.

Among these, I must refer some transformations which turn the hero in a mouse or a bat, which is kinda useful in order to being able to reach certain places that you will find during thr game. I must also say that this time the entire adventure happens in San Miguel, called "City of the Sun", the hometown of the hero.

Finally, I must say that apart from the 4 or 5 catacombs that you will have to face, there are some optional ones, which will grant you rare items or only experience, which will surely be needed to defeat the powerful foes that you will battle later in the game. Oh, and there are even quests in which you will have the company of the famous Megaman, who is quite nice! Also... you will even have the opportunity to play with an old rival of the hero!

Story
When the hero returns to his hometown after his first adventure, not everything is fine. The city lost their former joy, and they can't even see the sun... Then, many bad things started to happen, like people disappearing and the appearance of a strange vampire who can use the "Gun del Sol". What is really going on? That's up to the player to find out...

Graphics
The graphics in this game are quite like the ones from the firs game, looking like cartoons. However, they can still be considered as quite weak, since older games (like Golden Sun, among others) already presented better graphics.

Sound
The sound, apart from being better than the one from the first game, is still quite boring most of the times... There was a music in the official trailer of the game which I considered quite good, but it turns out being boring if heard as many times as you will have to hear it during the game.

Play Time/Replayability
Since your progress along the game will depend on the time which you will spend in the sun (and no, a simple light won't work), this may take several days to finish. This happens because some actions can only be started or completed under certain conditions, which only depend on the sun light.

Plus, even if you finish the game there are still extra quests for you to perform and some mini-games for you to try. Excluding those things, there aren't many reasons for you to replay this game...

Final Recommendation
Boktai 2 is a nice game which, apart from a good sequel, has some details that turn it into a good game for RPG fans.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/28/05