Regency Solitaire II Review

thesixthaxis.com:

Video game adaptations of classic literature are relatively few and far between, which is a little surprising considering their popularity in the world of TV and film, if a little more understandable when you think about the comparative lack of action. Even standout examples such as the ludicrous Dante’s Inferno are almost completely unrecognisable from their source material. One of the best exceptions to this rule, however, was the original Regency Solitaire – a game that was clearly heavily inspired by Jane Austen whilst remaining legally distinct. The chilled out gameplay and authentic feeling narrative of that title made it a real joy to play, so I was understandably excited to check out the sequel, Regency Solitaire II.

Following on from the romantic adventures of Bella in the original game we now find her happily married and setting out on renovating the garden of her new home. This provides both the initial narrative thrust and the context for the upgrades you unlock as you progress. In true Austenian fashion, your journey will take you across various areas of Regency-era England (and Scotland too) whilst also bringing in a host of familiar characters. The narrative is presented once again through static dialogue screens, but still has the visual charm of the original so this shouldn’t bother you too much.

I played through the entire game and the included second campaign on Steam Deck and was delighted to find that full touch controls are included as standard. This made the whole process far more intuitive than pad controls would – although there are a few minor issues with accurately selecting bonus cards, which could be a bit of a fat finger issue, to be fair. The whole UI and ingame screen are perfectly designed for clarity and ease of interpretation and the game feels like a worthy continuation of the already polished first game. Music is also well suited to the atmosphere with gentle classically inflected tunes accompanying your journey.

At heart the game