High On Life 2 is doing the stuff you’d anticipate this sequel to do – it’s larger, extra filled with jokes, much more experimental than the primary recreation, and now has a skateboard you should utilize at any time (naturally). However it’s additionally doing one thing we didn’t anticipate: altering the primary recreation’s construction basically. High On Life 2 is taking cues from Metroidvania video games, however utilizing them to its personal ends.
In an episode of the Official Xbox Podcast, Squanch Video games’ COO & Government Producer, Matty Studivan, and Artistic & Artwork Director, Mikey Spano defined – amongst many different issues – about how the workforce modified their considering to supply a complete new hub-based design for the sport.
“Our Design Director, Erich Meyr, and I early on determined we wished to do one thing that had Metroidvania components to it, however we additionally wished to assist telling actually tight tales,” defined Spano. “So, this time round, we tried to maintain the entire Metroidvania components within the hubs.”
Whereas the unique High On Life was constructed round a single hub, Blim Metropolis, the sequel will take you to a few totally different hubs, every with a lot extra to them and, in basic Metroidvania fashion, providing increasingly interactions the extra you play and earn.
“It’s a large step up for us from the primary recreation,” mentioned Studivan. “In case you performed it and you understand Blim Metropolis, it’s a actually cool spot, however fairly small geographically.”
“We’ve got three decent-sized hubs in [High On Life 2],” provides Spano, “and every a type of hubs has a lot of little facet issues you are able to do, NPCs you will discover, tons of collectibles, tons of unlockable issues. And clearly with the skateboard; there’s a lot of cool stuff associated to the skateboard that you are able to do within the hubs.”
The change is successfully about letting Squanch have their cake and eat it – the brand new construction signifies that the workforce can pack within the stupendously bizarre moments that made High On Life beloved, without having to derail the core story to get non-sequitur jokes in there. It’s a sublime combine:
“By way of the way it all flows collectively, you’ve received your private home base that you just’re all the time returning to,” defined Spano. “And in there, you’re speaking to your crew about what you’re going to do subsequent. After which, you’ll be dropped down into the hub. After which from there, you’re navigating to a goal that you just’re following. However when you get to a sure level, it triggers a extra linear expertise the place we are able to inform the story in a tighter method. We nonetheless all the time have selections that you just’re making and stuff like that.
“However by way of ending a degree after which coming again with new power-ups, we attempt to hold all that within the hub in order that we are able to inform a full story without having gamers to return again and listen to the identical issues time and again.”
The upshot is that Squanch can inform the story they need to, however give gamers the liberty to step away and discover simply how odd the encircling world is at their leisure. To assist create all that facet content material, Squanch took a very enjoyable method:
“One of many methods we have been in a position to try this is that we do recreation jams on the studio, as a result of your complete workforce is so inventive,” added Studivan. “And so, we had eight or 9 groups [jam] for a week – and I feel like seven of the sport jams are within the hubs on this recreation.”
It ought to make exploring the hubs rewarding in itself – with complete different recreation sorts hidden away, each discovery can grow to be one thing new. We’ll get extra of what we discovered to anticipate from the primary recreation, too – High On Life included complete, real-life motion pictures to observe, and that can return (with a movie show to observe them in). We additionally know that Squanch has licensed full video games (NES recreation Bible Adventures shaped a pivotal a part of the demo we not too long ago performed) that can seem alongside the best way.
“We’re spending a lot extra assets and time on [side content]. It actually makes the world really feel such as you’re someplace lived-in,” mentioned Studivan.
The large modifications to construction are additionally about catering to totally different sorts of gamers. Those that simply need the story can soar from important mission to important mission with out friction. Those that need to do all the pieces can accomplish that with out having to repeat missions, and at their very own tempo. And there are additionally those that would possibly waver between fast blasts and marathon periods:
“So, with the missions, we attempt to hold them at a sure size in order that should you’re like, ‘I’m going to go take down this bounty,’ you really can end it in a night time after which get again to placing your children to mattress or no matter it’s that you need to do,” mentioned Spano. “After which for the players that need a extra free-form expertise, they know they will simply hand around in the hub for a whereas and do no matter they need and tackle missions every time they need.”
For a recreation that presents itself as unabashedly dumb, there’s a core of good, basic recreation design considering sitting beneath all of the insanity. With that design in place, it permits Squanch to go as wild as they need with the concepts we, as gamers, will work together with.
Even within the earliest seems on the recreation, we’re seeing how far they will push this – one boss combat all of the sudden sees your enemy hack your recreation, sending you navigating your personal menu screens to combat him off. And, better of all:
“That’s one of many extra regular elements of the sport,” Spano mentioned. “This demo is early within the recreation. By Act Three it’s simply so off the rails and insane. I feel persons are going to be actually stunned.”
I’m very a lot trying ahead to seeing how a lot weirder this will get – High on Life 2 arrives for Xbox Sequence X|S and Xbox on PC on February 13, 2026, and can be obtainable on day one with Recreation Move Final.
If you wish to hear a lot, rather more in regards to the recreation, be sure to take a look at the full Official Xbox Podcast episode, which dives into how Squanch rotated a sequel so shortly, the troublesome artwork of writing comedy for video games, the advantages of switching to Unreal Engine 5 and… the surprise of Microsoft Excel.
High On Life 2
Squanch Video games, Inc.
You’ve finished it. You’ve taken down an intergalactic cartel, introduced humanity again from the brink of extinction, and hunted harmful bounties to the far corners of the galaxy. Bounty searching has introduced you fortune, fame and love; however when a mysterious determine out of your previous reappears and places a value in your sister’s head, your comfortable life will get thrown into chaos.
Do you might have what it takes to threat all of it and produce down an intergalactic conspiracy that after once more threatens your favourite species (people)?
High On Life RETURNS as you and the one you love rag-tag workforce of alien misfits shoot, stab, and skate your method by attractive, harmful worlds all throughout the galaxy to explode the EVIL pharmaceutical conglomerate hell-bent on placing value tags on HUMAN LIFE!