If you know the original Thea at all, then you’ll probably already know that there’s no way I could do it justice in a brief article intended to take five or so minutes to read through. The reason that I’ve chosen to cover Thea 2: The Shattering‘s Xbox release in this relatively brief way is simply because I reviewed the same game on the Nintendo Switch just a few months ago.
Putting it briefly, Thea 2: The Shattering is a roguelike RPG with elements of base-building and turn-based combat which plays out via a card game. Thea 2: The Shattering is based on Slavic folklore similar to that of The Witcher series, and just as I love CD Prokect Red’s creation for its lore, so too do I love both of the Thea games. If a strange and elaborate plot featuring unusual (at least to a British audience) and well-rounded characters (who are not always simply bad or good) is your thing, then you’re in the right place.
Whilst I loved the lore, the character building and the creation of a living, breathing settlement in Thea 2: The Shattering when I played it on Switch, I didn’t love the visuals that Nintendo’s console put out. The Switch version, when docked, looked like an absolute dog’s dinner — the muddy visuals and low-resolution textures made details barely discernible on a large screen, whilst even in handheld mode, the dull colour palette and minuscule size failed to recover. The saving grace, thankfully, was that story sections (with some decent hand-drawn images) worked well.
Sadly, even on an Xbox Series X, Thea 2: The Shattering, is far from an attractive game. If anything, I would say that the visual upgrade compared to the much less powerful Switch is minimal, if anything at all. This is a real shame since as we all know, the Xbox and the Switch should offer opposing — and mutually appealing for a serious game — propositions. The Switch offers a mobile experience, whilst the Xbox should offer a definitive home console version. Honestly, it doesn’t, and for the benefit of being able to take your Switch out and about with you and pick up the same save game as you are working on at home, you might as well go for the Switch version if you have the option.
Either way, I still consider Thea 2: The Shattering to be a really excellent game. I have always prioritised a rich narrative and strong gameplay over visual appeal — and it’s a good job here. Thea 2: The Shattering continues the excellent story of Thea, with its rich lore and fantastic world, and it layers in a clever and highly replayable roguelike aspect. It strikes a fantastic balance between making the player care for their current playthrough, whilst also preparing for the next, and it offers a lot of freedom in terms of how a player approaches the experience.
Thea 2: The Shattering is available now on Xbox, Nintendo Switch and PC
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