Game Review : Graveyard Keeper 2

Having never played the first in the series, I went into Graveyard Keeper 2 blind only knowing the basics of what the game entails.

The Stardew Valley esque resource mining sim type game is a fancy for many now a days but can be done wrong rather easily. What can be fun endlessly mining resources and seeing what you can advance in tows a fine line between fun and mindless repetitive nonsense. Sadly though in my nearly 20+ hours of Graveyard Keeper 2, it teeters more on the repetitive side.

I’ll say this from the start, the game is rather unforgiving especially for a new comer. Aside from the very dialog heavy, and rather boring, start which might turn some off, the game almost expects you to know the multi step process for everything you’ll be doing almost from the start. Otherwise it’ll be series’ of text boxes trying to connect what pieces you need to make into what to then turn into something else.

The game does give you basic knowledge though at the start but it quickly veers off past that hoping you catch on quickly or else you’ll be slumped. Same with the endless story related quests they’ll give you. Locations can sometimes just entail wondering around and ignoring other things you pass before getting stuck in a sometimes painfully slow and boring text or voice conversation you’ll want to skip past.

Once the game goes forward into automation and controlling your team of zombies it becomes micromanaging and idling to the fullest. It feels much more like a game that only has one way to successfully play it vs giving you the option to build as you see fit.

Visually the game though is beautiful. Its bright, colorful, and crisp with its 2.5D style animation. It controls great too.

Overall I did have some fun while I played this. It just hit a point very quickly where it felt like it was a chore to have to progress because of having to figure out every step along the way to make one piece before finding out that I needed so much more for almost no progress. Its a harsh start that might turn non genre diehards off. Those that stick though will have some fun along the way though.

Score :

2.75 / 5

Code provided by the publisher. Reviewed on Xbox Series X.