Habroxia 2 (2021)

At the very least, Habroxia 2 is a very solid shoot-'em-up thanks to the number of elements that it manages to mash together quite well. The merger of bullet hell and twin-stick shooter in this kind of environment feels distinct, and there's some good depth to the shooting mechanics due to the options at your disposal. The branching pathways give the campaign some legs, since you have some incentive to uncover all of the pathways, and the new modes feel like more significant reasons to keep playing after the campaign is done. For shooter fans, Habroxia 2 is a great game to play and a good turnaround from the team's first efforts.

Habroxia 2 was a decent little shooter with an interesting control scheme. The powerups were fun to mess around with, the boss fights were enjoyable, and the levels are just generally OK, but overall I never felt any sort of hook to this shooter: not even in the scorechasing aspect, despite the game encouraging you to improve your accuracy and build up combos, I just never felt any sort of incentive or addictive rush to do so, and in general the game felt more like a fun ride rather than a super engrossing, must-play shooter, especially with the irritating difficulty spikes and credit grinding.

I've had a lot of fun playing Habroxia 2 on PS5. At only $10 it's a steal and certainly a must-play game for shoot 'em fans on every platform. You can get the Platinum trophy in about ten hours, so it's great for achievement hunters as well. I play a lot of longer games, so whenever I get fatigued and need a break it's great to know that Habroxia 2 will be there to jump into for some quick and fun arcade shmup action.

Is it just me or are there not enough arcade shoot-em-ups these days? Back in the day, I used to adore these games. I needed nothing more to occupy my small child-like mind other than shooting baddies, collecting power-ups and dodging a screen full of projectiles. I miss them dearly.

Overall, while Habroxia 2 doesn’t do a whole lot to stand out from other shoot ‘em ups it is a solid new choice in the genre. The levels switching between horizontal and vertical help keep you on your toes and a variety of upgrades for your ship will have you testing different loadouts out across the main game, New Game+, and the other modes on offer. If you’re looking for an enjoyable and affordable new shmup for your catalog then Habroxia 2 is a great choice.