A big open world to cut through
9th Dawn II drops you into Caspartia, a 2D pixel-art world that runs from southern sands up to frigid glaciers. Between those extremes you'll walk thick forests, ancient ruins, deep caverns and besieged towns, all of it open for you to wander rather than pushed along a fixed path. Combat is fast and direct: you swing, dodge and clear out ferocious monsters, then pick through what they drop. The game hands out a huge amount of items, loot, weapons and armour from a very wide bestiary, so most of your time goes into killing, looting and deciding what to keep.
Alongside the fighting there are puzzles to work out, including ones with moving platforms over big drops, and spells you can learn and cast to control enemies. Money matters too: you trade and bank your spoils from the battlefield to build up real wealth. Inventory, spells, world map and quest journal all sit in a GUI built to be managed comfortably, with fluid controls.
Playing it with friends
The game supports online co-op, so you and your group can run the adventure together instead of solo. The same world, dungeons and loot are there for the party to work through as a team, which suits the dungeon-crawling rhythm: pull a room, survive it, split the drops, move deeper. Since the world is fully open, you're free to pick a direction as a group and go after whatever looks worth the trip, whether that's a ruin, a cavern or a town under siege.
Before you start
Caspartia is in bad shape. The Hydra Dragon has brutalised your home and people for years, and the journey is about helping reclaim the birthplace of a once thriving nation. Your choices decide whether the sun rises on Caspartia again, so expect a long campaign rather than a quick session.
It's a 2D pixel-art game with retro styling, so the look is deliberately old-school. Expect plenty of grinding for loot, dungeon runs with traps and puzzles, and a large map you'll be crossing repeatedly. Bring time for it.