Now to Continue my review of the Mardek RPG series...

Chapter two came out a few months after the debut of the series that was the first game. This time it would offer a good 4 – 10 hours of game-play making up for the teasingly short amount that the original had. It should also be worth noting that in 2010 Psuedolonewolf also updated his system giving this chapter new items.

Synopsis (Spoilers. duh!)

It has been eight years since the end of the last game and much has happened. Social Fox, the greatest hero known, or at least the most popular, has perished; and Mardek and Duegan have taken it upon themselves to sign up for the Gonzor royal guard as their first steps towards becoming true heroes like their now-dead idle. With this the game begins having our two protagonists at the end of their training with the excitement of the final test upon them.

Of course their final test would turn out to be a true mission as a group of bandits have taken the mines to the north-east and it will be the new recruits job to handle the situation, non violently if at all possible. Accompanying our two heroes on this endeavor would be Donovan, Sharla, Emily (both Duegan and Mardeks not to secret crush), and Steele. Toward the end of the mission to stop Steele from violently beating the bandit leader to death Emila strikes him with a bolt of lightning, killing him on the spot and devastating both herself and the others marking the somber tone which this chapter would take.

Afterward having returned from the mission Steele's actual terms of death are left unsaid as they inform their instructor that Steele died in combat against the bandits. All of this leaves a negative impression on Emila as she attempts to come to grips with the fact she ended someones life, even if they were as arrogant and evil as Steele.

Soon after, on the next morning Duegan and Mardek receive a mission to investigate the disappearance of the shaman of Canonia only to have Emila approach them asking to join them on their quest. They gladly accept her company and journey forth towards the town.

This marks the end of the story's introduction and moves forward with the bulk of vital plot. While on their journey to the city of Canonia they find that the Hag of Canonia lake has been turning people into glass statues and take it upon themselves to dive into the lake, with Emila's handy aqualung, and defeat the hag to protect the town's population from such a terrible fate. Moving on from this point they track down the shaman in the forest south of Canonia to find that she has been turned into a power hungry zombie hell bent on taking the region using her great influence. Having defeated the would-be zombie conqueror they learn from Rohph that this is the work of Moric the necromancer, another member of the Annunaki who has been sent to Belfan to kill Rohoph. Even worse that Moric himself might very well be attacking Gonzor as they speak as part of his plans for domination.

Following this Mardek and his party make tracks back to Gonzor to find that it has been swarmed with the undead who, quite hilariously enough, were too slow and dimwitted to truly threaten the townsfolk at this time. From there the characters take a path through the sewer and into the catacombs where the party must fight against Moric's undead minions and at the end of the dungeons Moric himself in the flesh. Upon Moric's defeat Mardek, Duegan, and Emila return to Gonzor castle to receive money for their now completed mission as well as rest for that night. Whilst lying down Rohoph informs Mardek and Duegan that Moric might very well have survived by transferring his soul to one of the bodies in the crypt in the same manner which Rohoph did to Mardek in chapter one. With that in mind Mardek takes his much need rest.

Subsequently Mardek is awoken in the middle of the night by Duegan and the others. The reason is that Canonia is under attack by Moric within his battleship. Once again, it is up to Mardek and his cohorts to venture forth and take the fight to Moric's ship and slay him once again. Having launched an assault on his vessel they encounter Moric in his new body, that of the revered and recently deceased Social Fox. Upon his defeat the ship begins to shut down, giving them ten minutes to escape before the vessel crashed into the side of Belfan. During this escape, they encounter one of Moric's 'pets' and to rescue the party Duagan takes it upon himself to par the ultimate sacrifice ensuring the survival of his friends.

Further on the main story ends on a somber note with with Mardek and Emila being accepted as Royal Knights only for Emila to reject the offer so that she might attend to unstated matters. With this the other leave for their own personal reasons leaving, Mardek all alone. The only real option at this point is to go back to your bunk, lie down... and rest.

Lastly, there is a scene where the Governance de Magi convene to speak of Moric's defeat, and they decide to send Qualna to deal with Rohoph.

Physical Qualities ( 9 / 10 )

Call it rose tinted glass or what have you, but this chapter encompasses everything of the first chapter and more. The atmosphere is amazing with both the graphics and music, giving it a life of it's own. Alas it has the same issues as with the first chapter likely due to them using the same system. Because of this it shall receive a 9 out of 10 for it's matching feel for the last game without any major improvements.

Gameplay( 10 / 10 )

Having expanded upon their chapter this chapter offers what you want to see in an RPG, a rich plot driven story line. An active combat system that can grow tedious over time (as all combat systems do), and a varied skills system that begs for the player to use the skill and max them. With that said really it play great just like the first chapter with more content, and more consideration required by the player. The element system is more used in this chapter than it was previously requiring you to actually think a little before attacking. The game has the addition of many new maps, each of which is big in it's own rights with the added bonus of seeing how the world has changed in the eight years since the last game. The game-play easily makes a solid 10 out of 10 for both it's expansion in content compared to it's previous title as well as it's overall improvement in combat.

Re-playability ( 5 /10 )

Save for wanting to replay this great game for the sake of it, you'll probably only replay it once just to setup quest for the next chapter and to ensure 100% completion of the whole series. For that it's a 5 out of 10 just like the previous title.

Hack Power ( 1 / 10 )

Man taking no damage and the 4 byte times 8 are the only ones for this as well. I mean they're good, but there could be a lot more like inventory hacking, one-hit to max skills ect.

Overall ( 8 / 10 )

A great next game if you haven't gather from my fluttering. Really though it's pretty great, if not a tad bit long for a single sitting. The writing is up to par as well as pun-tastic, and when it gets serious the game feels serious. Though it's quite a bit more somber than the previous chapter it's a good game that engages the player with both it's story and combat. Check it out (or don't) I don't care.