Freedom Planet 2

Freedom Planet has been a highlight on the Wii U eShop this year, so much so that it secured fourth place in out staff Game of the Year awards for the store. Now developer GalaxyTrail has shared some terrific news - Freedom Planet 2 is in development.

The first game rather famously began as a Sonic fan-project, before evolving and becoming something far more. The studio's Stephen DiDuro acknowledges this legacy in his announcement, but now has the stated aim of taking the franchise forward on its own path.

The original Freedom Planet was modeled as a tribute to Sega Genesis platform games. We've learned what works and what doesn't, what's fun and what's frustrating, what we should expand on and what we can afford to lose. With all of this in mind, we feel that we are ready to bid farewell to nostalgia and create a sequel that will define Freedom Planet's identity as a franchise.

Successful aspects of the first game will return, though - playable characters Lilac, Carol and Milla will all be back with their own unique abilities. We can also expect a similar flow to stage design, along with divergent paths suitable for both speed running and exploration alike.

The developer has also been active on Twitter following the announcement, sharing what seems to be an initial screen to showcase the game's development in Unity.

Freedom Planet 2

It's also been confirmed that the game will come to Nintendo hardware, though the careful choice in avoiding naming a specific platform will become a familiar practice; various new projects are likely to be shy of committing to Wii U or 3DS until the NX platform is revealed.

Finally, there's a flashy announcement trailer which demonstrates how important storytelling will be in the sequel, as was the case in the original. Check it out and let us know whether you're excited by the news that this sequel is in development.

With thanks to Benson for the heads up.

[source freedomplanet2.com]