Excessive On Life 2 is doing the stuff you’d anticipate this sequel to do – it’s greater, extra filled with jokes, much more experimental than the primary recreation, and now has a skateboard you need to use at any time (naturally). However it’s additionally doing one thing we didn’t anticipate: altering the primary recreation’s construction essentially. Excessive On Life 2 is taking cues from Metroidvania video games, however utilizing them to its personal ends.
In an episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, Squanch Video games’ COO & Government Producer, Matty Studivan, and Inventive & Artwork Director, Mikey Spano defined – amongst many different issues – about how the staff modified their pondering to supply an entire new hub-based design for the sport.
“Our Design Director, Erich Meyr, and I early on determined we needed to do one thing that had Metroidvania parts to it, however we additionally needed to help telling actually tight tales,” defined Spano. “So, this time round, we tried to maintain the entire Metroidvania parts within the hubs.”
Whereas the unique Excessive On Life was constructed round a single hub, Blim Metropolis, the sequel will take you to a few totally different hubs, every with much more to them and, in traditional Metroidvania type, providing increasingly interactions the extra you play and earn.
“It’s a giant step up for us from the primary recreation,” mentioned Studivan. “When you performed it and Blim Metropolis, it’s a extremely cool spot, however fairly small geographically.”
“We’ve three decent-sized hubs in [High On Life 2],” provides Spano, “and every a type of hubs has plenty of little facet issues you are able to do, NPCs you could find, tons of collectibles, tons of unlockable issues. And clearly with the skateboard; there’s plenty of cool stuff associated to the skateboard that you are able to do within the hubs.”
The change is successfully about letting Squanch have their cake and eat it – the brand new construction signifies that the staff can pack within the stupendously bizarre moments that made Excessive On Life beloved, with no need to derail the core story to get non-sequitur jokes in there. It’s a sublime combine:
“When it comes to the way it all flows collectively, you’ve obtained your private home base that you simply’re all the time returning to,” defined Spano. “And in there, you’re speaking to your crew about what you’re going to do subsequent. After which, you’ll be dropped down into the hub. After which from there, you’re navigating to a goal that you simply’re following. However when you get to a sure level, it triggers a extra linear expertise the place we will inform the story in a tighter means. We nonetheless all the time have decisions that you simply’re making and stuff like that.
“However when it comes to ending a degree after which coming again with new power-ups, we attempt to hold all that within the hub in order that we will inform an entire story with no need gamers to come back again and listen to the identical issues again and again.”
The upshot is that Squanch can inform the story they wish to, however give gamers the liberty to step away and discover simply how odd the encircling world is at their leisure. To assist create all that facet content material, Squanch took a really enjoyable method:
“One of many methods we have been ready to do this is that we do recreation jams on the studio, as a result of your complete staff is so artistic,” added Studivan. “And so, we had eight or 9 groups [jam] for every week – and I feel like seven of the sport jams are within the hubs on this recreation.”
It ought to make exploring the hubs rewarding in itself – with whole different recreation sorts hidden away, each discovery can develop into one thing new. We’ll get extra of what we realized to anticipate from the primary recreation, too – Excessive On Life included whole, real-life motion pictures to observe, and that may return (with a movie show to observe them in). We additionally know that Squanch has licensed full video games (NES recreation Bible Adventures shaped a pivotal a part of the demo we lately performed) that may seem alongside the best way.
“We’re spending much more assets and time on [side content]. It actually makes the world really feel such as you’re someplace lived-in,” mentioned Studivan.
The massive adjustments to construction are additionally about catering to totally different sorts of gamers. Those that simply need the story can soar from major mission to major mission with out friction. Those that wish to do every part can achieve this with out having to repeat missions, and at their very own tempo. And there are additionally those that would possibly waver between fast blasts and marathon periods:
“So, with the missions, we attempt to hold them at a sure size in order that for those who’re like, ‘I’m going to go take down this bounty,’ you truly can end it in an evening after which get again to placing your youngsters to mattress or no matter it’s that it’s a must to do,” mentioned Spano. “After which for the avid gamers that need a extra free-form expertise, they know they’ll simply hand around in the hub for some time and do no matter they need and tackle missions at any time when they need.”
For a recreation that presents itself as unabashedly dumb, there’s a core of sensible, traditional recreation design pondering sitting beneath all of the insanity. With that design in place, it permits Squanch to go as wild as they need with the concepts we, as gamers, will work together with.
Even within the earliest appears to be like on the recreation, we’re seeing how far they’ll push this – one boss battle abruptly sees your enemy hack your recreation, sending you navigating your individual menu screens to battle him off. And, better of all:
“That’s one of many extra regular components of the sport,” Spano mentioned. “This demo is early within the recreation. By Act Three it’s simply so off the rails and insane. I feel individuals are going to be actually stunned.”
I’m very a lot wanting ahead to seeing how a lot weirder this could get – Excessive on Life 2 arrives for Xbox Sequence X|S and Xbox on PC on February 13, 2026, and will likely be obtainable on day one with Recreation Cross Final.
If you wish to hear a lot, way more concerning the recreation, be sure to take a look at the total Official Xbox Podcast episode, which dives into how Squanch rotated a sequel so shortly, the troublesome artwork of writing comedy for video games, the advantages of switching to Unreal Engine 5 and… the surprise of Microsoft Excel.
Excessive On Life 2
Squanch Video games, Inc.
☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★
You’ve carried out it. You’ve taken down an intergalactic cartel, introduced humanity again from the brink of extinction, and hunted harmful bounties to the far corners of the galaxy. Bounty searching has introduced you fortune, fame and love; however when a mysterious determine out of your previous reappears and places a worth in your sister’s head, your comfortable life will get thrown into chaos.
Do you’ve got what it takes to threat all of it and produce down an intergalactic conspiracy that after once more threatens your favourite species (people)?
Excessive On Life RETURNS as you and the one you love rag-tag staff of alien misfits shoot, stab, and skate your means by beautiful, harmful worlds all throughout the galaxy to explode the EVIL pharmaceutical conglomerate hell-bent on placing worth tags on HUMAN LIFE!
