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October 24, 2024 11:16 am
Campanella 2 is the 35th game in UFO 50.
Campanella 2 is an expansive sequel to Campanella, the original entry in the franchise. While the first game focused solely on piloting the eponymous ship, the sequel adds layers of content and gameplay. The adventure follows Isabell, sister to the original Campanella ship operator Pilot. In this roguelike dungeon crawler title, Isabell explores the confines of an infested space station to perform a search-and-rescue mission to recover her imprisoned brother. With the right resources, she may be able to save the space station too.
Premise
Pilot has voyaged to the space station SS Parascoville IV. Typically active and communicative, no radio signal has been registered in weeks. Pilot does not return as scheduled; his sister Isabell comes in behind him to search the planetoid, uncover its secrets, and find her brother.
Isabell pilots her own ship, Big Belle, to the planetoid. She travels through the various regions of the space station before finally reaching the end.
Isabell encounters Queen Zu, the main antagonist from the prior adventure in Campanella. Now forced to fight on foot, Isabell defeats the Queen. Pilot has already escaped his cell, thanks to Isabell's efforts along her journey. Together they board their ships together and escape to the exit. Despite the Queen's defeat, Isabell thinks about what could have been done to save the space station. It succumbs to the infestation, but the siblings are free.
If Isabell takes a shortcut along the way and fails to release all the locks on her brother's cell, Queen Zu can be defeated without saving Pilot.
Along her trek through the space station, Isabell seeks out the sages of each region she visited. They each provided her a scroll, and directed her to meet with the sage of the upcoming area. In the final area, a secret door opens. Isabell enters to find the true threat behind the impending destruction of the space station, Klord, the Dark Lord of Time and leader of the Time Jellies. Isabell defeats the monster. With the true threat eliminated, Isabell escapes with Pilot, and life can finally resume aboard the SS Parascoville IV.
Gameplay
Progression Summary
Campanella 2 is a roguelike adventure game. Each full run begins in the Burrows region and ends in Crepelia. The player will choose to route through two other regions of a possible five. Players always begin with no upgrades or items; nothing obtained in previous runs carries over to future ones.
The primary objective of any playthrough is to destroy the three Orb Machines keeping Pilot imprisoned, and escape the space station with him. It is possible to reach alternate endings depending on which items are obtained during the adventure.
The basic progression of a normal run can be summarized as the following:
- Begin in the first region, Burrows I, and collect 10 stars while exploring the overworld on foot and in Big Belle.
- While exploring the overworld/main area in any region, Isabell can park the ship and enter doors to explore sub-regions, including caves and shops.
- Once 10 stars are collected, navigate to and enter the gold door.
- Reach the end of the cave, and proceed to Burrows II.
- Collect 10 stars in Burrows II, and enter the gold door. Destroy the Orb Machine at the end, and proceed to the second region, either Moire Woods or The Rink.
- Repeat the above process in the new chosen region's first and second areas.
- Proceed to the third region: either Gut, Vaalpolis, or Temple Grounds.
- Repeat the above in the new chosen region's first and second areas.
- Proceed to the fourth and final region, Crepelia and proceed as normal.
- After Crepelia II, Isabell will confront one of the two possible final bosses in Crepelia III.
- Once victorious, Isabell will escape in Big Belle. The run ends when she reaches outer space beyond the walls of the space station.
While adventuring, Isabell can collect coins by slaying enemies in the overworld and breaking specific blocks in sub-areas. Coins can be used to purchase
upgrades, which are detailed and explained in a section further below.
There are two main gameplay mechanics in every area, with high-level explanatory sections below: Traveling around the region's overworld (main area) either on foot or in the ship, and exploring its caves/shops (sub-areas) on foot.
Main Area Exploration
Players begin the run, and each part of every region, in the main area (overworld). In this area, Isabell can either navigate on foot or fly in Big Belle. While in the ship, the applicable HP is the red meter shown in the HUD. Fuel is indicated by a green meter. Collected stars appear as half-stars in the HUD. Each run begins with 8 max HP and 800 maximum fuel. HP is lost when colliding with walls, landing without clearance, or being hit by enemies or their projectiles. Fuel is consumed whenever the thrusters are used.
The ship is navigated the same way as in Campanella; thrusting and steering are the only controls. Falling naturally does not consume fuel. If the ship runs out of fuel, it will be unable to thrust and will rapidly fall to the ground and explode. The ship also has a default short-range slash attack that can damage most enemies. Landing the ship requires clearance, which is indicated by an icon on the ground signaling that the ship will not take damage upon landing. To clear the landing, slowly approach the ground from above; approaching too fast or at a sharp angle may cause a failed landing and damage the ship.
While exploring on foot in the main area, Isabell can run, jump, shoot, or enter doors. Stars can still be collected when walking around. While on foot in the overworld, the HP meter does not apply; any damage to Isabell will result in an instant death and end the entire run. This includes fall damage; Isabell cannot fall more than one tile's height without dying.
While exploring the main area, the objective is ultimately to collect 10 stars to open the gold door which is the path forward on the adventure. Each star collected refuels the ship with 100 fuel. Once the tenth star is collected, all other doors become locked and only the gold door becomes accessible. An arrow will appear by Big Belle indicating the relative location of the door. The gold door spawns by the star platform, which the player can encounter during their exploration. Also, a timer starts after the tenth star is collected, which reads 60 seconds, but counts in double time; the actual time allotted is 30 seconds to reach the door. Additionally all remaining stars become purple coins worth 25 coins each. Time rings also appear, and passing through them grants 200 fuel and briefly stops the timer. Failing to reach the gold door in time will spawn a huge swarm of enemies that instantly destroy Isabell & the ship.
Note also that once the timer begins, many new enemies will spawn on the map that were previously dormant.
As part of the exploration in the main area, Isabell can also seek out other doors to enter sub areas, explained below.
Sub Area Exploration
Sub areas are any section of the game where the perspective shifts from the main area with the ship to a more focused, side-scrolling, run-and-gun experience. Sub areas are entered via doors in the main area. This includes caves, shops, and other special types of rooms.
While in sub areas, Isabell's health is the HP bar; the one-hit limitations of the main area do not apply and she will take damage normally. Her firearm is a pistol that can fire automatically if the button is held, or more rapidly if mashed. It can be fired in all four directions, however Isabell cannot change the direction she is facing while in midair. Isabell can also crouch, and fire while crouching.
The basic types of sub areas are:
- Caves (red doors and gold doors), where Isabell travels from the left end to the exit on the right.
- Shops (green doors), where Isabell has the option to purchase a single item from a vendor.
- Health shops (blue doors), where Isabell can purchase one of two HP-related items.
- Special areas (red doors or the yellow horned door), which contain NPCs or events not covered above. These are detailed below.
Further details on each are provided below.
Caves
Caves are the main side-scrolling action portion of the game. They are found in red doors and gold doors. The objective in caves is to navigate to the far right where there is either an exit door or an Orb Machine to destroy. Coins can be collected in destructible blocks, or by detonating explosive barrels. While in caves, a ghost enemy will chase Isabell from the left side and constantly fire bullets if she is progressing too slowly.
In each half of each biome, there is always one red door cave available to locate and complete to earn a Chest, which provides either a resource or upgrade.
Shops
Shops are located in green doors. The player can purchase only one item regardless of how many are offered by the vendor. A description of all items and their prices are listed in the items and upgrades section below. One shop is guaranteed to spawn in every area starting in Burrows II.
Health Shops
Health shops always sell one HP-restoring gum item and one max HP upgrade. They are located at blue doors, and are not guaranteed to spawn.
Special Areas
There are several types of special areas that are located at red doors and yellow horned doors.
Sages - Sages award a Scroll and direct you to the appropriate area to meet the next sage. If you arrive at the incorrect Sage, nothing happens. Collecting all Scrolls allows the player to fight the true final boss, required to meet the Cherry requirement for Campanella 2.
Fuel Refill NPC - A large, friendly NPC will give you a free fuel refill worth 500 fuel. They will often give advice or other helpful information.
Special Shop NPC - A vendor will sell you the Friendship Bracelet at a special, steeply discounted price of 100 coins, versus the 400 coins it normally costs if it is sold in a normal shop. Obtaining this item awards the gift in the UFO 50 Garden.
Cursed Encounter - The character will break in two and attack Isabell. Defeating the enemy will grant Isabell's triple shot upgrade or the Big Belle's double swing upgrade, depending on whether they were fought in Moire Woods or Temple Grounds respectively.
Gworm Trial - A swarm of seven Gworm enemies will appear and circle the room, looping around from edge to edge. If the player defeats them all, they are rewarded with a shower of 150 coins.
Empty Room & Switch Room - Temple Grounds is filled with empty rooms behind red doors. One door will contain a switch that fully illuminates the overworld.
Armor Supply - A friendly NPC will give you free armor, usually worth 800 coins.
Shortcut - You will be able to proceed directly to Crepelia I. Located only in locked doors in the third region. Warning: Doing this prevents Pilot from being freed as the third Orb Machine will not have been destroyed.
Item Boon - A friendly NPC will give you the choice of a free item/upgrade from a selection of three
Magnet Switch - Contains a switch like the one found in Temple Grounds, but disables all magnets in the stage.
Boss
Rotondo
Rotondo is the mini-boss at the end of each region's second gold door, and guards the Orb Machines. He will lob bombs at Isabell, which will begin to appear when she reaches a certain distance away from him. The bombs can each be destroyed in three hits, but they will eventually explode on their own. The explosions do not damage other enemies. Rotondo is defeated in 12 hits.
Final Bosses
Queen Zu
Queen Zureturns as the final boss fromCampanella, remaining in her own large saucer. She will float above Isabell and fire energy shots below. She will occasionally lob a swarm of Goopers to attack on the ground, or drop the entire saucer down with spikes. Isabell can shoot up to damage her from below. After taking enough damage, she will be defeated.
Prior to the fight with the Queen, the player will have an option to restore health and visit a shop in a special restoration area just before the door.
Time Lord Klord
Klordis the true final boss ofCampanella 2, and the entity responsible for the infestation on the planetoid. He can be reached if all scrolls are obtained, and the final sage is visited in Crepelia. A secret door will be available to access the boss.
Klord attacks from his machination, occasionally trying to ram Isabell with it. He will also fire energy rings and launch missiles above, which will rain down. The missiles can be destroyed. Klord can only be damaged in the head, which requires standing on the machine and shooting at the head while it is accessible.
Note that accessing this fight means the player forgoes the ability to use the final service area that is available for the Queen Zu fight.
Defeating Klord will lead the player to the usual escape sequence; Pilot will follow behind.
Strategy
There are several different parts of the gameplay loop that require attention and consideration with regards to strategy.
Exploration and Fuel
Big Belle has a limited fuel supply. It is important to conserve fuel whenever possible. The only default methods to restore fuel are collecting stars or fuel supplies as rewards or in shops. Of course, collecting stars is required to proceed, but fills progress towards locking all doors. It is important to measure the risk vs reward of keeping the ship fueled and collecting stars, while also ensuring the most important rooms and areas are visited first.
Navigation on the overworld should be efficient; try to not to revisit areas if not required. Don't use thrusters needlessly. With the Friendship Bracelet, it is possible to walk around as Isabell, and call the ship to any location, conserving fuel. For fuel conservation, the 
upgrade will add fuel any time an enemy is slain in the main area, which can be massively helpful especially when stars are scarce.
Each region's map is procedurally generated, but there is no guarantee that the doors will be accessible or near the spawn point. It is also possible to run into dead ends or loops that are inconvenient and taxing on fuel. It may be helpful to leave some stars for a return trip, anticipating that you will need the fuel. On the other hand, if you have a surplus of fuel, it could be helpful to collect the tenth star near many others, as they will become coins once the timer starts.
Combat
In the overworld, there's very high risk in fighting as Isabell on foot. Any hit ends the entire run, so it could be helpful to fight most enemies in the ship.
In sub areas, remember that Isabell's blaster can fire in all four directions. Shooting at enemies above Isabell is often critical to keeping the path clear. Additionally, no enemies in Campanella 2 have invincibility frames. So, mashing to hit more shots more quickly can be better than the slower automatic fire. This is especially true with the 
or 
upgrades, which both amplify total damage in different ways. The upgrade provides triple damage at the cost of coins. For example Rotondo is defeated in only four hits instead of twelve. Nearly all minor enemies are defeated in a maximum of two hits. With the upgrade, triple damage is also possible if you can safely fire close enough to the target. This is especially possible against bosses, who have larger targets to hit.
Ultimately combat will be improved based on the upgrades available in the run and what is most appropriate for one's situation and playstyle. It is advisable to have at least one or two upgrades for Isabell's weapon, as the hordes of enemies in later caves can be more difficult to handle with no improvements to the default weapon. There are some enemy-specific strategies worth considering as well. When fighting 
Scorps, Isabell can duck below their shots if she is on the same level as them, and still fire from a crouched position. If they (or any enemy) are above her on a ledge or on the ceiling (such as 
Buggers), try to take them out before jumping up or letting them fall on you. Note that if Buggers enter the acid pits, they will become acidic themselves.
Ghorbs 
cannot be scrolled off the screen, and will instantly regenerate if their spawner is still on screen. If they appear, move forward enough so that their spawner is no longer visible, then eliminate them. They always travel in a straight line before bouncing off the edges of the screen.
In the overworld, there is a unique enemy that can attack Big Belle directly called a Parasite 
. It will try to latch on to the ship. If it does latch on, find a landing spot with open space and land as soon as possible. The Parasite will fly off upwards and not harm the ship.
Pathing and Regions
Each region has unique characteristics. To complete the Cherry requirement and defeat the true boss, the player needs to travel to the specific regions that the Sages direct to. Otherwise, the route can be customized by planning on the unique enemy types and special occurrences available in each region.
Burrows
The starting region, and an introductory area. Sub areas include minor enemies like Scorps and 
Ceilers, which hang on the ceiling and drop when Isabell nears.
Moire Woods
The woods have more overworld traps and creatures than Burrows, like large 
Maggots. The sub areas introduce Buggers, which are plentiful and crawl on all surfaces, but die in one hit.
The Rink
The main gimmick of the Rink is ice physics; the floor in sub areas will cause Isabell to slide around with less friction. There are 
drones that produce fire and wind in the overworld. In the sub areas, there are 
Thrusters that create fire walls.
Gut
Gut is deeply infested with meaty, disgusting creatures. Parasites will try to latch on to the ship, and eyeball creatures will behave like turrets, firing projectiles at the ship. There are also exploding acid traps affixed to walls. In sub areas there are wormlike creatures that attack with ring projectiles, acid pits with 
Goopers, and rock-throwing 
Axers.
Vaalpolis
Most of the enemies in Vaalpolis are based in technology. In the overworld, there are turrets and defense systems that cannot be defeated by the ship, which will mercilessly attack Big Belle. However, they will stand down when Isabell lands the ship, and can be defeated by Isabell on foot. There are also lengthy snake-like creatures and wall crabs in the overworld. Sub areas are populated by flying 
Airbots and varieties of armed soldiers called Randar Bots.
Temple Grounds
The Grounds are a dark, labyrinthine sequence of false rooms and dead ends. The lights in the overworld are dimmed by default; one room contains a switch that turns the lights back on in the main area. The area is sparsely populated with enemies; most of the area is open with some fire traps. There are fake stars that appear red and will become enemies that pursue Isabell if she approaches too closely. In the sub areas, there are Airbots and bees in cocoons, as well as 
Spewer enemies that throw spreads of flames. There are also fire traps in the sub areas, such as large rotating fire carousels.
Rotundo 
does not spawn in Temple Grounds II.
Crepelia
Crepelia is a definitive test; most elements that appeared prior are mixed in Crepelia's overworld and sub areas. The overworld also introduces magnet beams that push or pull Big Belle when their stream is entered. It is possible to find a switch inside a red door that disables the magnets.
There are also boomerang monsters whose projectiles can pass through walls, regular mounted turrets, and long, multi-segmented Worms that bounce off walls.