Beholder 2 Review Summary

An improvement over the first game with a strong, intriguing story, engaging gameplay, and branching paths and endings, though repetitive grinding and long travel make it tedious.

Improvement over the first game: Many players consider this sequel better and more engaging than its predecessor, citing more dynamic gameplay, improved graphics, and a more interesting plot. It is seen as an overall refinement of the original formula.

Strong and intriguing story: The narrative is widely praised as excellent, immersive, and full of unexpected developments. Reviewers highlight the gripping lore and impressive storytelling as a major strength.

Engaging and enjoyable gameplay: Players frequently describe the game as interesting, fun, and captivating, with gameplay that makes time fly and keeps them mentally engaged. The core loop is considered novel and gripping by many reviewers.

Multiple branching paths and endings: The game features numerous distinct endings and a branching narrative where player decisions shape outcomes. Reviewers appreciate the replayability this provides, including the ability to unlock many unique endings with their own narration.

Choices carry real consequences: Decisions made throughout the game have tangible effects on the story and the fates of characters. Players emphasize that every choice matters and leads to distinct, dramatic outcomes.

Gameplay becomes tedious and repetitive: Many players find the core gameplay loop monotonous and tiring over time. The work and complaint-sorting mechanics are frequently cited as boring and drawn out.

Excessive grinding and travel time: The money grind is monotonous and long, and walking between home and work or between floors takes too much time. This padding makes the game feel like a chore.

Heavy departure from original style: The shift from 2D to 3D and the more casual direction are seen as missteps that alienate fans of the first game. The change in presentation feels off to many.

Lacks ethical choices and impact: Choices barely affect the story, and there are few hard ethical decisions compared to the first game. Players report that colleague-related choices do not influence the finale.

Confusing guidance and unclear tasks: New player tutorials are strange, and some quests lack clear descriptions. Players often need to consult guides or run around clicking to progress.

Multiple endings drive replayability: Players frequently note that the game offers multiple endings reachable through different choices and paths. This branching structure encourages repeated playthroughs and exploration.

Moral choices shape outcomes: A central feature is a moral choice system with good, bad, and neutral options that influence character fates and plot development. These decisions can affect colleagues' lives and the ending.

Gameplay differs from predecessor: Many reviewers highlight that the gameplay, atmosphere, and content differ significantly from the first game. The sequel expands on some elements but feels more dynamic and less monotonous.

Floor-based work progression: The game is structured around working through office floors in a ministry, with tasks and grinding required to advance. Floors such as 1, 12, 25, and 37 are mentioned.

Varied tasks and minigames: The game includes multiple gameplay approaches, tasks, challenges, and minigames as part of the loop. Office work tasks are also automated or performed directly.

Crashes and freezes on launch: Players report the game crashing before it even starts or freezing at the beginning with unresponsive controls. One crash was also noted during 14 hours of play, indicating stability issues.

Performance struggles on low-end PCs: Reviewers had to lower all graphics settings to minimum, yet the game still lagged periodically. Severe performance drops can also occur with specific tactics on one stage.

Long loading times and freezes: Loading screens between locations are lengthy, and the game froze for up to a minute and a half on the 25th floor during a second playthrough. Map loading is also worse than in the previous game.

Weak graphics and empty environments: Reviewers describe the graphics as weak and the environments as empty, and note that high graphics settings look no different from low settings.

Low requirements but optimization issues: The game has very low PC requirements, described as running on a calculator, yet optimization problems still exist, causing lag and freezes.

Broadly worth playing: Many reviewers consider the game worthwhile overall and recommend it for play. The sentiment is positive even when noting it is not perfect.

Good value at full price: Multiple reviewers state the game justifies its full price and is a good investment. Some describe it as more than worth the cost.

Play the first game first: Reviewers strongly suggest playing the first installment of the franchise before this one to understand the setting. Some even recommend the first game instead of this one.

Best for returning franchise players: Reviewers recommend the game especially to those who completed and liked the first part. Fans of the original are the primary audience.

Buy it on sale: Several reviewers advise waiting for a discount before purchasing. Full price is considered acceptable by some but not ideal.

Community fair range: $9.99 - $14.99.

Game completion: 15.0h.

Story completion: 12.5h.

Session length: 1.5h.

Endgame: 35.0h.

Beholder 2 is often described as story-rich and addictive once players push past a slow, repetitive office-work opening, but that same grind causes some players to bounce off or lose interest later.

Friction: Repetitive, tedious office minigames and paperwork; Slow opening and poor pacing; Money and authority grinding; Long walks across the map; Confusing instructions for money-making jobs; Unskippable lengthy animations and repeated scene loading.

Dystopian Narrative Seeker: Plays point-and-click dialogue scenes, explores consequences, and seeks multiple story outcomes. Motivation: To experience a dark dystopian story with meaningful moral and political choices. Stance: buy.

Series Loyalist Completionist: Replays multiple routes, save-scums, hunts achievements, and compares each entry with the first game. Motivation: To continue the Beholder series, master its systems, and unlock endings and achievements. Stance: buy.

Grind-Weary Pacing Critic: Approaches the game as a series fan, values tight pacing, and rejects repeated job mini-games and authority grinding. Motivation: To enjoy a worthy story-driven sequel without repetitive bureaucratic chores. Stance: no buy.

Steam Deck: The reviews contain no explicit Steam Deck testing, but the translated feedback shows significant handheld-relevant friction: broken or incomplete controller support, repeated crashes and black-screen freezes, launch failures on Linux and some PCs, and inaccessible save files. Positive comments about improved UI and controls exist, but the evidence of controller failures and stability problems is severe enough to place the experience in the broken range for Steam Deck users.

Linux and Proton: The Linux evidence is sparse. One reviewer explicitly reports that the game does not launch on Arch Linux with AMD/Radeon hardware and describes Linux support as bad. A separate launch-option instruction is present, but it is not tied to Linux or Proton. There are no positive Linux/Proton reports in the provided data, so the result fits the barely-playable range rather than a consensus that Linux support is entirely non-functional.

External guides: The dominant complaint is that players need walkthroughs to understand outcomes, avoid missable content, and reach the best or secret ending, which is a Tier 3 instructional-data burden. However, under the strict scoring hierarchy, the explicit mention of needing a spreadsheet and notes activates Tier 2 inventory/data-management dependency. Repetitive table work and bugs are present but do not meet Tier 1 drop-rate or farming-location criteria.

Frequent unfavorable comparisons to original: A large share of reviewers find this entry inferior to the first game, citing lost charm, weaker atmosphere, reduced addictiveness, and shallower characters or mechanics. These comparisons consistently position the predecessor as the stronger experience.

Recognized as Beholder sequel: Reviewers consistently identify the game as the second entry and follow-up in the Beholder franchise. They treat it as a direct continuation that inherits and expands upon the original's world.

Major shift to 3D presentation: Reviewers note a radical visual departure from the original's 2D art, with an improved three-dimensional style. The game is described as considerably different from the first part due to this change.

Developed by Warm Lamp Games: The game is identified as a Warm Lamp Games title, published by Alawar Premium in 2018. It is noted as one of two games from the studio.

Short playtime and scope: The game is described as short in story and small in scope, with rough playthroughs ranging from about 12 to 30 hours. Length is a recurring point of discussion among reviewers.