The original Tallowmere from developer Chris McFarland launched on mobile way back in 2015, and to be honest it did not leave a good first impression with me. For lack of a better term, it just seemed… janky, and right from the start the game sort of throws you into the deep end without a ton of explanation. For whatever reason though it intrigued me, and I kept playing, and then dying, and then playing, and then dying some more, over and over until everything really clicked and to my surprise I was majorly hooked. Now its bigger and beefier sequel, Tallowmere 2, is ready to make the jump to mobile next week, and I’m very excited.

To back things up a bit, Tallowmere is a full-blown rogue-like dungeon crawler, played from a side-view like an action platformer and similar to the classic Wazhack. It was compared to Dark Souls before comparing games to Dark Souls became cool, as it’s a very tough game that demands you take combat slowly and strategically. Try to button mash your way through this one and you’ll meet a quick death. You also don’t carry anything over from run to run, each one is pretty much self-contained and death means losing it all and starting over.

The big appeal in Tallowmere for me is in its sheer variety. There is SO MUCH crazy loot, and so many crazy enemies, that a big draw is to see just what sort of wacky situations you can find yourself in. And as with any rogue-like worth its salt, it also requires you to utilize what’s given to you on any given run as best you can to overcome those wacky situations. We go into greater detail on all the wonderful points about the original Tallowmere in our review from 2015.

So Tallowmere 2, being a sequel, does what a sequel should do and sticks with what worked in the first game but does it bigger and better than before. More loot, more enemies, more wacky situations. And while the first Tallowmere wasn’t exactly a graphical showpiece it did have its own charm, and actually when things got really hectic it was quite impressive with the amount of particles and other dazzling effects it could throw around. Tallowmere 2 has the same unmistakable look as the first game but does have more detailed visuals overall, including even more crazy particles and effects when combat gets intense.

Probably the biggest addition in Tallowmere 2 is cross-platform online co-op play. The first game featured same-device co-op if both players had their own controller, but this sequel will allow you to hop online and play together with friends or enemies alike whether they’re on mobile or the PC version, which has been out for a couple of years already. The term “out" should be used loosely there though, as Tallowmere 2, much like the first game, is constantly influx and being updated and added to. It’s still very much a full and complete game but the original just grew and grew and grew since launching in 2015 and I expect no less from this sequel.

Another nice feature of Tallowmere 2 is that it will be free to play with a one-time premium unlock. Being that the first game was one that needed to grown on me at first, I think letting people see what this specific flavor of rogue-like platformer is all about before having to commit some hard-earned bucks to it is a smart move. Fans of the original will be able to tell how refined an experience Tallowmere 2 is right from the start, and for veterans of the series and newcomers alike, you’ll be able to dive in for yourself when the game launches next week on September 30th. iOS players can pre-order on the App Store here and Android folks can Wishlist on the Google Play Store here.