Video Game / Guacamelee! 2

Guacamelee! 2 is the 2018 sequel to Drinkbox Studios' Guacamelee!

7 years after his victory against Calaca, Juan must don the mask again to face a threat towards not only the realms of the living and the dead, but also the very fabric of space and time.

New gameplay features include new moves, bigger maps, twice as many enemy types and a cooperative FOUR players mode.

---

This juego provides examples of:

• A Taste of Power: The game starts off with a flashback to the final boss of the first game, with you controlling Juan with maxed-out health and stamina, while Calaca is much slower and his moves do much less damage. The achievement for clearing this opening boss fight is called "I Remember That Being Harder".
• Anti-Frustration Features: A majority of the key piece challenges have at least something to alleviate a bit of the aggravation:
  • The challenge in Infierno features a checkpoint between the two rooms, meaning you won't have to redo the entire challenge if you fail late into it.
  • The enemy gauntlet in Los Manglares has a save point right before the boss battle with Javier as well as a shortcut back to the entrance that can be accessed prior to fighting Javier.
  • The Tule Treetops has platforms mostly covered in vines that merely warp the player back to the last stable platform, which essentially gives the player multiple potential checkpoints.
  • The Crucible has shortcuts on every floor, which means the player doesn't have to do the entire ordeal in a single sitting.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever:
  • You can find the giant Alebrije sleeping beneath the alternate X'Tabay's house.
  • Instead of the Alebrije, you now run into a gigantic, Kukulkan-looking snake in a temple maze. Once again, touching it is an instant kill.
  • You yourself can become a giant, invincible, unstoppable chicken by touching a literal magic feather.
• Back from the Dead: The game taking place across multiple different timelines allows characters who were killed in the first game to be brought back, such as your training punching bag Poncho and El Trio de la Muerte. Of course, both of those characters were skeletons to begin with.
• Bag of Spilling: Seven years after the events of the first game, Juan has lost all of his abilities due to getting fat and out of shape, and starts off struggling to break barrels. Things get better once he regains his mask (and with it, his original muscular physique), but he still has to regain all of his old abilities.
• Bittersweet Ending: The normal ending, though it’s more sweet than bitter. In both endings, Juan defeats Salvador and saves the Mexiverse, but is left trying to find the portal to his own timeline and return to his family. It takes what's implied to be a few years, but he eventually does get back home. The Golden Ending plays out the same way, except Juan finds the portal to get back home almost immediately, which removes the “bitter” part.
• Bragging Rights Reward:
  • The Proving Grounds DLC's final reward for getting all Gold medals is the ability to play as Salvador, who is one of the most powerful characters in the game whose only weakness is their weak stamina. The only thing left to use him on at that point, however, is the endgame, which the player will most likely have reached by that point due to the Proving Grounds requiring all skill trees to be completed, and for almost every mobility option that Juan has to be unlocked for most of the challenges to be beatable with a Gold medal.
  • Clearing the Crucible, which is the hardest of the Brutal Bonus Levels in the game, earns you the Infinite Pollo Shot, which allows you to use Pollo Shot as many times as you want in midair. But by the time you get it, you've just cleared the last and most difficult platforming challenge in the entire game, you're still limited by your stamina meter when you use it, and there's nothing left to do but defeat the Final Boss now that you've got it.
• Brick Joke: When you break the Choozo Statue containing KO Headbutt, no goat hermit shows up to teach you about it, much to Tostada's confusion. Much later, as you are learning Wall Run, a second goat hermit shows up and announces he's here to teach you KO Headbutt (he got lost on the way to the Headbutt statue).
• Brutal Bonus Level:
  • Like before, there is a set of collectibles that must be obtained to get the Golden Ending, this time pieces of a key which unlocks a door in the Chicken Illuminati's HQ. You get one during the main story for defeating Zope and Cactuardo, but the other four pieces are behind grueling challenges. Enjoy your combination of Platform Hell + Checkpoint Starvation!
  • After learning the Pollo Glide, you can access the lower entrance of the Templo de Jade, where you must get past a much harder version of the "moving dimension" lava rooms found throughout the main temple. An ideal run through it takes only one minute, tops, but it depends so much on instantaneous reaction to obstacles and Eagle Boost grapple points that it will likely take close to an hour to perfect.
  • After learning the Wall Fly in Infierno, you can backtrack a short ways to access a series of rooms filled with instant-kill Exploders. A lot of Stamina is required to make it through these rooms quickly enough to kill all of them in time.
  • Also requiring the Wall Fly is the area at the very bottom of Los Manglares, an enemy gauntlet much like the Caverna del Pollo from the first game, although this time each of the rooms has its own gimmick, such as all of the enemies having green shields while the floor is entirely made of green blocks above lava. At the end of the gauntlet is a rematch against Jaguar Javier, who eventually brings in two more of himself from other timelines to help him.
  • In Isla Bonita, there is a house in an out-of-the-way location that contains a timeline gateway, which takes you back to the Tule Treetops. Except that these are the Treetops from the Git Gud Timeline, and it shows. You will need to be a master of all of your human and chicken movement skills (not to mention have plenty of stamina) to once again make the climb to the top and claim your prize.
  • Finally, after assembling the Special Key and opening the Important Door, you reach The Crucible. Ascending the three floors of this ultimate Chicken Dungeon is no poultry task even for a seasoned player, as it requires extremely precise control over the chicken when in an updraft, split-second dimension swapping, and more. To put it simply, you need to be really good at handling your cock.
• Character Development: Lupita was already street-smart in the first game, but seven years later, she's a Brainy Brunette working on her dissertation, and is enough of a genius to conjure up interdimensional portals with mathematical calculations instead of magic.
• Chest Monster: You can find one in El Infierno, disguised as a chest full of money, obviously. He isn't hostile, but he does angrily complain that everyone keeps punching him for some reason.
• Colour-Coded for Your Convenience:
  • As in the previous game, certain blocks and shields can only be destroyed with the corresponding move. Red is the Rooster Uppercut, Blue is the Dash Punch, Green is the Frog Slam, and yellow is the KO Headbutt. Unlike the previous game, there's also blocks and shields for the Pollo moves, where purple is the Pollo Shot and orange is the Pollo Slide.
  • Certain attacks are color-coded to indicate that you can't dodge through them; the only way to not take damage from them is to not get hit in the first place. Purple-and-white attacks can't be dodged, while red-and-white attacks can't be dodged and cause a One-Hit Kill if they land.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Once again, Juan must die in order to retrieve the Mask of the Luchador from the world of the dead. In order to speed things up, Tostada does him the favor.
  • El Diablo is still a chicken, and doesn't seem to be in any hurry to change back.
  • El Presidente's Mansion is still a ruin seven years after Calaca destroyed it.
  • The Goat Hermit from your dimension asks about your mother.
• Credits Gag: Members of the development team are listed with fun and bizarre Mexican nicknames. Also, the staff wish to give a Special Thanks to the Production Chickens: Lazlo, Dominguez, and Chicky Parm-Parm. This is immediately followed by an In Memoriam to Lazlo, Dominguez, and Chicky Parm-Parm (Just kidding, no chickens were harmed in the production of the game).
• Cue the Flying Pigs: One of the side effects of Salvador's meddling with time is El Infierno freezing over.
• Cutting Off the Branches: The Golden Ending of the first game, where Juan collects all of the Chac Mool relics and sacrifices his mask to resurrect Lupita, is the canon one. She's shown alive in this game, and seven years later, she and Juan have two kids.
• Dead Alternate Counterpart: The Juan from the first game is actually the only Juan across all of the timelines who isn't dead. The rest were all apparently killed during the final battle against Calaca. You can even go visit your alternate self in the world of the dead for an achievement.
• Delayed "Oh, Crap!": At the end of the game, Juan heads back into El Otromundo at the last second to find his way back to his own timeline. After the portal closes for good, the goat hermit realizes, "Oh, damn! I'm not from this timeline either!"
• Evil Counterpart: Salvador to Juan. One of the villagers even mentions that he has gone from "Técnico" (a "face" in Mexican Lucha Libre) to a "Rudo" (a "heel"). She prefers him that way.
• Face–Heel Turn: Salvador's turn from "técnico" to "rudo" is a literal translation of this. He used to be a hero and was the one who defeated Calaca in the Darkest Timeline after Juan lost, but is now this game's Big Bad.
• Expressive Mask: El Muñeco wears a drama mask that, usually, bears a pleasant smile, but also weeps, grins evilly, or gets swirly eyes when hit.
• Formerly Fit: Granted, Juan was a bit out of shape before acquiring the Mask of the Luchador in the first game, but his happy domestic life in the intervening seven years reverted his Heroic Build right back to making him even more out of shape than he was originally.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: The playable version of Salvador has great stats all-around except for his stamina, which are some of the weakest in the game, which fits due to Salvador being ill throughout the story.
• Game-Breaking Injury: The Jaguar Javier from the Darkest Timeline had a nasty skiing accident and is now in a wheelchair. He's very disappointed that he can't fight alongside you. Except he's actually faking it and working for Salvador.
• Gosh Darn It to Heck!: When La Tostada spots Jaguar Javier revealing his true allegiance to Salvador, she goes "What. The. Infierno."
• Heel–Face Turn: The Flame Face from the Darkest Timeline has done this. Sort of. He still hates you and will insult you at every opportunity, but he's still willing to train you in his gym, fulfilling the role of Combo Chicken from the first game as well as having his own set of skills that you can purchase.
• Impact Silhouette: Cactuardo left a Cactuardo-shaped hole when crashing through a wall of El Infierno.
• Interface Spoiler: In the skills window, every trainer is shown with a distinct silhouette before they are formally introduced. You can definitely see the last two trainers will be a chicken and an alligator, but Flame Face actually averts this, showing his silhouette as a normal human with spiky hair.
• Invincibility Power-Up: The Chicken Illuminati's legendary weapon is a shiny blue feather that turns your regular chicken form into an unstoppable, invincible juggernaut of a bird. Too bad you used it up just before fighting the boss it was intended for...
• Losing Your Head: The Juan from the Darkest Timeline is just a skull.
• Luxury Prison Suite: El Corazón is a fairly standard-looking prison in the world of the living, but extremely fancy and luxurious in the world of the dead (while still having things like iron-barred cell doors and electric barriers).
• Mask of Power: Once again, Juan dons the Mask of the Luchador. But this time around, his Evil Counterpart, Salvador, wears a Mask with a skull-motif. However, his spirit wasn't strong enough to wear it, and he has grown corrupt with its power, and it is steadily draining his life away. Upon his defeat, his Mask is destroyed and he dies.
• Multiple Endings: Just like last time, there are two endings, and which one you get depends on whether or not you obtained all the secret items from the Brutal Bonus Levels. This time, they're pieces of a giant key, which unlocks another Brutal Bonus Level that must be beaten to get the good ending. Unlike last time however, the "bad" ending is not really all that bad, and the only difference between it and the good ending is how long it takes Juan to find the correct portal in El Otromundo that leads to his own timeline. In the good ending, he finds it right away, while in the bad ending it takes him a few years.
• The Multiverse: This game increases the scope of the original game's two dimensions with various other alternate timelines in the "Mexiverse", many of which involve aspects of gaming or gaming culture.
• Mundane Utility: Eons ago, a god harnessed the powers of space and time through holy relics to make it so he would stop running out of guacamole. Said everlasting guacamole ends up as the MacGuffin of the game.
• Mythology Gag: The first game's Stamina points were represented by yellow squares; fragments of these found in chests were called "Cuadrito." This time around, Stamina is represented by circles, and the fragments are "Circulitos".
• New-Age Retro Hippie: The X'tabay from the Darkest Timeline has become a flower-crown-wearing hippie who runs an alebrije sanctuary.
• No Man of Woman Born: During his boss fight, Salvador boasts that Juan will never be able to so much as scratch him because he has invented a new shield that no man can break. But Juan doesn't only have the powers of a man...
  Salvador: COME AND FIGHT ME!! DON'T BE A CHICKEN!!!!
• Nostalgia Level: Some of the timeline portals take you to different-timeline versions of areas from the previous game; including Sierra Morena (Service-Based Platform Timeline), Pico de Gallo (Grindiest Timeline), and the Tule Treetops (Git Gud Timeline).
• Parrot Exposition: Most chickens are prone to repeating the last words of the last statement, but the Chicken Illuminati do this every single time, to the frustration of the Chicken Pope.
• Previously on…: Previamente en Guacameele...
• Promoted to Playable: The goat hermit and X'tabay are now playable in addition to Juan and Tostada. Of course, the game still treats you as if you're playing as Juan regardless. Downloadable Content allows you to play as El Muñeco, Uay Pek, and Jaguar Javier, and the Proving Grounds allow you to unlock Chamoya, Flame Face, Coscorrona, Rooster Ramirez, Uay Coco, and Salvador.
• Pun:
  • The trophy for defeating Salvador, "Nacho Libre", isn't just a Shout-Out (see the Shout Out Page). It also comes from freeing the guac-dipped nacho from Salvador's stomach.
  • The Huevo power does nothing. It just lets you lay an egg while in chicken form. But you can lay an infinite number of them (there's even a related trophy), which means that Juan, brave luchador that he is, has muchos huevos. (And of course, you'll need them to gain access to the Git Gud Treetops...)
• Punny Name:
  • Salvador, Spanish for "savior", ended up defeating Calaca after the Juan of most timelines failed. His name turned into an Ironic Name when he turned to evil.
  • Coscorrona, the first living trainer you meet and who teaches you wrestling moves, is named after the Spanish word coscorrón, a type of noogie.
  • Villachula, where "chula" is slang for "pretty", is indeed the nicest-looking town in the current duology, in both Living and Dead World versions.
• Sequel Escalation: The first game's dual world mechanic was restricted to the two dimensions in the game, but the sequel gives a large multiverse of worlds, each with their own gimmicks, alongside the dual world mechanic.
  • In addition, the regular progression, nevermind bonus chests and health/stamina fragments, requires mastery of lucha and platforming that are on par with or even beyond the Brutal Bonus Levels of the first game. The Special Key stages themselves also require much more thought and puzzle-solving skills than the relatively straightforward Chac Mool counterparts of the original.
• Take That!:
  • The Service-Based Platform Timeline is an unsubtle mockery of lootboxes and Allegedly Free Games. Juan has to rescue a family locked inside of a house. He has to pay 10 gold to unlock the door, after which the grateful family gives him a reward... which is behind a silver door that costs 100 gold to unlock. Behind it is a large box of treasure that costs 250 gold to unlock, and inside of that is a "Legendary Chest" which costs 800 gold to unlock, and rewards Juan with 1 gold. Of course, you don't have to spend any money at all to complete this quest if you don't want to. You could simply wait for increasingly long periods of time instead, starting at 2 minutes for the house door and ending at 24 hours for the Legendary Chest.
    Achievement Unlocked: One Born Every Minute
  • The Dankest Timeline, said to be a horrifying place that nobody should ever enter lest they be driven insane, is a cave decorated with all of the signs and posters from the first game that reference internet memes, accompanied by a gaggle of townsfolk quoting actual forum posts (complete with usernames!) complaining about memes, how putting memes into your work is lazy writing and not funny, and how Guacamelee! is filled with memes, including one person who says he's sure the gameplay is excellent but he still refuses to play it purely because of the memes. Your reward at the end of the cave is an achievement called "You Survived" with the Trollface as its icon.
  • Each of the fast travel Olmec Heads will tell you about their own personal secret ingredient they like to put in guacamole to make it taste better. One of them goes on a long spiel extolling the wonders of kale, and how absolutely no one has gotten sick of people constantly talking about it and putting it in everything.
• Talking Is a Free Action: According to Flame Face, this trope is a law in the Mexiverse. When your training partner attacks you in his Fightporium, Flame Face says that you can't fight someone while they're talking.
• Tamer and Chaster: The Tostada from the Darkest Timeline wears a wrestling singlet and cape, showing a lot less skin than the first game's Tostada.
• Theme Naming: The Temple of Jade, and the Temple of Obsidian.
• Time Skip: After Juan defeats Calaca, 7 years pass and now Juan has two kids and a paunch, while Lupita is working on her dissertation. In the normal ending, Juan is lost in the Mexiverse trying to find his way home. We see his kids grow up, happy, but missing their father. By the time Juan finally comes back his children have become teenagers and Lupita is sporting a few wrinkles.
• Took a Level in Badass: The chicken form. It starts off being able to attack and use grapple moves just like a human, and can unlock its own set of special moves by breaking Pollo Statues.
• Unexpected Gameplay Change: In one of the bonus timelines, Juan must defeat the skeletons rousing a nearby volcano by fighting them in a turn-based RPG.
  • The game also has a tendency of jumping from a side-scroller beat 'em up to a precision platform not unlike Super Meat Boy in a matter of seconds.
• Versus Character Splash: The Mirrored Confrontation Shot announcing each boss fight is even flashier and more animated than those in the first game, adding lightning, speed lines, and dynamic poses.
• Videogame Cruelty Potential:
  • In order to obtain a missing powerup, you must retrieve it from the last remaining Choozo Statue in the entire Mexiverse that contains it, and you must find the statue in The Timeline With All The Statues. The Goat Hermit from that timeline is very proud of his collection. Although you only have to break one of them to get to your goal, there are so many Choozo Statues in his house that the temptation is there to break them all.
  • The Fight Streeter bonus stages present you with a Volchito (Mexican for "Volkswagen Beetle"). It's just sitting there, not doing anything to anyone. Its owner is very happy with it. And it's right there. Look at it. Not a dent on it.
    • If for whatever reason you're enough of a monster to destroy his car, the next time you see him he reveals your actions inspired him to pull himself up by the bootstraps and get a job, making enough money to buy a new car. He's so proud of his accomplishment. Just. So. Proud.
  • At first, it looks like the piñata-filled house of the Piñata Lover would be this, but as it turns out, he loves seeing piñatas smashed just as much as he loves collecting them and will reward you for it with a new costume that turns your luchador into someone dressed as a pinata.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?:
  • Aside from the one you actually need, all of the Choozo Statues in the goat hermit's collection from the Timeline With All The Statues grant these. Among his collection are statues for fresh breath, immunity to paper cuts, and the ability to blink faster.
  • The final chicken ability you unlock (outside of the Crucible) is... the ability to lay eggs. No, of course they don't explode or do anything like that, that would be ridiculous. They're just eggs. Their sole use in the game is to access the Git Gud Timeline, since the chicken guarding the portal won't let you in until you demonstrate the ability to lay eggs.
• What the Hell, Hero?: After you "win" the first Bonus Street timeline, Tostada calls Juan out for demolishing an innocent man's car. After you demolish his car a second time, a resigned Tostada tells Juan that if he saves the Mexiverse, he'll probably still be a good person.
• Wolfpack Boss: The fight against Jaguar Javier at the end of the Golden Key bonus area in Los Manglares turns into a jaguar-pack boss when he summons two more Javiers from other timelines to assist him.
• Wrong Turn at Albuquerque: One of the Goat Hermits arrives at the wrong Choozo Statue because he took a wrong turn on Insurgentes and got lost in the Mexiverse.
• You Can't Go Home Again: Defeating Salvador fixes the instability of the timelines, which means portals between timelines can no longer be created since they relied on manipulating that instability. Knowing that El Otromundo contains portals to every timeline, Juan jumps back in right before the portal closes for good, and finds his way back to his own timeline. The goat hermit from his timeline, however, actually does remain stuck in the Darkest Timeline, due to a delayed realization that he isn't from that timeline either.