Video games don't need to be complicated. Sure, it's nice to dive into a title with elaborate skill trees, in-depth inventories, difficult enemies with incredible A.I., and a well-crafted, tear-jerking narrative. But sometimes, all we really need is to sit back, relax, and punch a lot of dudes in the face.
And that’s exactly what you’re getting here. One Finger Death Punch 2 is a pure power fantasy that turns the player into an unstoppable, god-like killing machine and delivers a maddeningly addictive experience.
Time To Kill Everyone In A Straight Line!
If there's a story in One Finger Death Punch 2 it's pretty hard to find. You're just a rudimentary stick person who's been trained to be a bloodthirsty kung-fu master. Why are these people trying to kill you? Why are you killing them? Who knows, and who cares? You load into the game, complete the tutorial, and set about trying to complete each of the different massive maps while your master barks at you in a stereotypical, borderline offensive Japanese accent.
The core gameplay mechanic is so simplistic that it shouldn't be nearly as engaging as it is. The stick-man character stands in the middle of the screen as enemies approach from the left and right. Once they're close enough, the player hits the button that corresponds to that side of the screen - for the Switch, it's Y for left and A for right - and unleashes a brutal attack that turns that baddy into a bloody mess.
That's it. That's pretty much the whole game. It's wonderful.
One might think that seems pretty shallow to be a full game, but for as easy as it sounds, One Finger Death Punch 2 does just enough with this formula to make it all come together. It starts out slow and then starts to throw more and more new elements to change things up and make it both challenging and fun. It increases the speed, throws in more enemies, adds in bosses, weapons, special powers, and on and on. Soon enough, you’ll find yourself sitting back and repeatedly loading up level after level - of which are there are many - until hours fly by and you begin the process of telling yourself, "Ok, this is the last one for now." Before you know it, the sun has come up and you’re still blasting fools on your Switch. Needless to say, it’s pretty dang addictive.
Looks Can Be Deceiving
This Switch port runs without a hitch, which shouldn’t come as a shock since One Finger Death Punch 2 isn’t exactly a graphical powerhouse. The game is literally just stick people killing each other with martial arts, although the animations are solid and there are a lot of flashing colors and images racing by in the background. It looks pretty silly, but that’s part of the charm.
If there are any gamers out there who have played the original One Finger Death Punch, they may be disappointed to see that not too much has changed. The gameplay is virtually the same, and aside from some new weapons and occasional bonus rounds - one of which has you killing people on a horse(!) - this is essentially just more death-punching. However, it is bigger, better, and there’s so much goofy content thrown in that it still feels like a worthwhile use of your gaming time. Not to mention the fact that the original game isn’t out on the Switch, so if you wanted to execute gangs upon gangs of stick figure folk, then this the absolute best choice you have.
Guess You Could Say It "Sticks" The Landing
At its core, One Finger Death Punch 2 has the appearance of one of those flash games from the 2000s. It doesn’t look visually impressive and the game mechanics are so basic that it’s hard to fathom how this game could provide more than a few minutes of entertainment. But that’s the big, magical mystery of this game. It takes the idea of being a Bruce Lee-esque destroyer of worlds, strips it down to people made out of lines and circles, and creates an addictive gameplay loop that becomes impossible to put down.
One Finger Death Punch 2 may not be DOOM Eternal when it comes to looks, but it packs just as much as badassery in a much smaller package.
A Nintendo Switch copy of One Finger Death Punch 2 was provided to TheGamer for this review. One Finger Death Punch 2 is available on Nintendo Switch and PC.
One Finger Death Punch 2