Escape Academy 2: Back 2 School Review Summary

Clever, varied puzzles and pun-filled humor make the open-world exploration engaging, though multiplayer connection and performance issues with frame drops can interrupt the fun.

Clear improvement over original: Many players describe the sequel as a significant upgrade to the first Escape Academy, with better puzzles, more content, and enhanced polish. It is seen as a worthy successor that refines and expands upon the original's strengths.

Engaging open-world exploration: The addition of an open, explorable campus is widely praised as a fresh and enjoyable feature. Running around, parkouring, and discovering hidden secrets enhance the overall experience.

Engaging and clever puzzles: Puzzles are frequently praised for being clever, well thought out, and engaging. They often fit naturally into the environment and provide satisfying 'aha' moments.

Wide variety of puzzles: Reviewers consistently praise the game's extensive assortment of puzzles, noting that they are inventive, rarely repetitive, and generally easy to medium difficulty. This variety is a key reason many find the game enjoyable.

Pun-filled humorous writing: The game's dialogue and writing are packed with puns and jokes, providing a constant stream of laughs. This humorous tone is frequently highlighted as a charm point that keeps players entertained.

Multiplayer connection issues: Players experienced multiple connection issues, and when reconnecting, one player had to recreate their character. Friend's name would not display properly, and sometimes both players showed the same username.

Puzzles are too easy: Many players find puzzles on the easier side, with later puzzles being brute-forceable and lacking challenge, especially compared to traditional escape rooms.

Visual and graphics imperfections: Graphics can get rough at times, with tiny visual bugs, somewhat unappealing character models, and poorly made 3D character models.

Game-breaking bug at chapter 4: A friend's game crashed at the end of Chapter 4 during the ending scene, and upon reload, the quest was saved as completed but progress was blocked. The oldest save was also bugged, requiring manual save file editing to continue.

Performance issues and frame drops: Occasional frame drops and stutter occur, particularly when entering or leaving areas, and the final level has constant frame drops and visual effects that can cause sickness.

Varied puzzle-solving gameplay: Puzzle-solving is central, with a wide variety of puzzle types including logic, observation, decoding, music, and more. A hint system is available to assist players when stuck.

Open world campus exploration: The game features a semi-open world set on a school campus that players can freely explore. Exploration includes running, jumping, parkouring, and discovering hidden collectibles and secrets.

Escape room puzzle focus: Many players describe the game as an escape room puzzle game, highlighting escape room-style challenges as a core component. The puzzles are integrated into the environment and often require finding clues and solving locks.

Co-op multiplayer support: The game supports cooperative play for two players, including local split-screen and online co-op. Players can team up to solve puzzles together, enhancing the experience.

Side quests and missions: Side quests and missions are available throughout the campus, ranging from simple tasks to more detailed objectives. Completing them often rewards money or points to unlock new areas and shortcuts.

Performance issues in final level: The final level suffers from severe frame drops and visual effects that cause sickness. This includes green swirls and shaking that accompany the low frame rate.

Stutter when entering areas: Players experience performance stutter when leaving or entering areas. Loading hitches also occur between areas when opening puzzle doors.

Co-op partner cannot see details: Performance issues prevent a co-op partner from seeing puzzle details in some areas. This directly impacts cooperative gameplay.

Crash during ending scene: A friend's game crashed during the ending scene of Chapter 4. This is a critical crash at a key moment.

Occasional frame drops: Some scenes have occasional frame drops, but they are not consistent.

Ideal for escape room fans: Players who enjoy escape room games or have played many on Steam are likely to appreciate this title. It is also recommended for fans of the first game.

Sequel best after first game: For those who enjoyed the first game, this sequel is worth buying, but playing the first game beforehand is strongly advised to fully understand the story.

General high recommendation: Many reviewers give a strong recommendation to try the game, with some calling it the best among all escape room games they have played.

Great for local co-op: Both academy games are recommended for local co-op play, making them a good choice for playing with a friend.

Use hints and untimed mode: For a smoother experience, choose the untimed difficulty and make use of the hint system if you get stuck.

Game completion: 23.0h.

Endgame: 80.0h.

Co-op puzzle fans report fun from the start, especially when playing with a partner, though open-world pacing and optional bloat can dull the experience. Late-level performance issues are a caveat rather than a reported unlock.

Friction: Open-world pacing slows the game to a crawl; Boring bloat tasks required to make money; Completionist obligation to do everything gets old; Local co-op moments ignore the second player.

Co-op Escape Room Socializer: Plays local or online co-op, communicates, divides roles, and solves rooms together. Motivation: Shared puzzle solving with a partner or friends. Stance: buy.

Escape Room Purist: Solves hint-free with tight focus and criticizes open-world padding. Motivation: Pure escape-room challenge and the series' original focused design. Stance: no buy.

Completionist Content Explorer: Explores thoroughly, hunts collectibles, and clears side content. Motivation: Finding every collectible, sidequest, and hidden puzzle. Stance: buy.

Monetization: The reviews focus on purchasing DLC, a season pass, and a supporter pack, plus re-buying the game on Steam. None of the reviews describe an in-game cash shop, real-money gacha, loot boxes, paid power, paid convenience, currency obfuscation, or aggressive FOMO. The monetization evidence is limited to optional traditional DLC and supporter content, so the game remains in the fair range.

Direct sequel to Escape Academy: Many reviewers note that the game is a direct sequel to the original Escape Academy, continuing the story. It is often compared to the first game and its DLC.

DLC planned and teased: DLC is planned for the game, and it is teased at the end of the current game. Some reviewers note that the game and its DLC are sold separately.

Easier than first game: Some reviewers find the game easier than the first one, with puzzles being less challenging. It is purposefully not as hard as other escape room games.

Story set in escape academy: The game is set in an escape academy where players progress through years, following the protagonist's second year. The plot involves uncovering an ancient conspiracy about the academy's founding.

Step backwards for series: A few reviewers feel the game is a step backwards compared to the first game, with less creative puzzles and underwhelming optional content.