Archero is back and more addictive than ever

When Archero came out in 2019, it was definitely something new. Sure, roguelike games have been around for decades, but Archero has reinvented the genre like few games can. The tight gameplay loop and slow progression system completely hooked me, and it spawned a cottage industry of copycats in the following years.

But in reality, none of them managed to capture the same magic. Developer Habby has continued to inject new content into Archero, keeping the game fresh and fun. The only thing that broke my grip was the 2020 release of another mobile game you may have heard of called Genshin Impact.

So imagine my surprise when Archero 2 appeared out of nowhere for a soft launch late last year. The original has been downloaded more than 50 million times, but the sequel’s worldwide release date of January 7 passed without much fanfare. The Archero 2 trailer linked below has fewer than 500 views at the time of writing, but the game itself already has over a million downloads on the Play Store.

I have no idea how this one went unnoticed, but it has once again invaded my free time.

So what does Archero 2 do differently from its predecessor? Honestly, not much. The core gameplay loop remains unchanged, which was the right decision.

In a nutshell, you control a single character fighting waves of enemies, with the twist that you can only attack when you stop moving. It’s part action, part hell, with a healthy dose of role-playing. As you beat waves and level up, you can obtain power-ups that deal more damage, fire more shots, etc. Power-ups are random, so no two races are ever the same.

Archero 2 takes this formula and turns it up to 11. It’s much faster and harder, with new game modes like survival challenges, boss fights, and some new farming-focused options. I was happy that the same strategies and techniques I remembered from the first game still worked, so I could pick up where I left off.

The new tiered power-up system adds excitement to obtaining the best legendary power-ups, although the animation is rather slow. The new game modes are also fun, but I found them overwhelming. There’s still a lot to do, but much of it feels like the type of “daily grind” that plagues modern live service titles.

To make matters worse, there are tons of new menus and places to claim rewards. The home screen is cluttered with notifications, and that’s without even considering that most rewards are paid. It almost feels like one of those Chinese mobile games with an inexplicably complicated interface (I’m looking at you, Age of Empires Mobile).

Despite this, I still can’t put it down. The gameplay is as good as ever and the visuals are a welcome upgrade over the original.

It’s still early since Archero 2 just launched last week, but I can already see several ways the game can improve over time. For example, there are only five weapon types, and two are S-tier items that can only be unlocked through one of the gacha systems (yes, there are several). The first game had eight when I quit in 2020, and it seems that number has increased to 12 in the years since.

I really missed the weapon variety, as it was the main thing that made each playthrough unique in the first game. The best bonuses and strategies depended a lot on the weapon, but in this game you’re usually just incentivized to use your highest level weapon. Also, my favorite weapon from the first game (Stalker Staff) is not available yet.

It also takes a lot longer to unlock new characters. There are only six characters, four of which are unlockable through gameplay, and two others cost thirty dollars each. For $60, I could buy a AAA console title to place on my shelf with the rest of the games I never play.

The gacha-only artifact system is also quite confusing because it offers massive passive bonuses to stats without any interactive elements. It’s pure pay-to-win, even though you can technically unlock them all through consistent gameplay. To give you an idea, the “Golden Dragon’s Treasure” artifact set gives something like 5000 HP and 1600 attack, which is about the same as the rest of my gear combined at the moment. And all of this is simply in a hidden menu.

EventuallyHowever, these are just nitpicks on a game that has already completely captured my free time. It also proved to be another smash hit, making an estimated figure $6.6 million in revenue in its first week. I guess I’m not the only one hopelessly addicted.