Game Review: Train Valley 2 Community Edition

By Manuel

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, XBox, PlayStation 4

What do you get when you mix a puzzle game with a tycoon-esque city-building simulation? You get Train Valley 2: Community Edition! Cheesy article opening aside, this unique game recently released on consoles following a Steam release that stretches all the way back to 2018. Seeing as it's quite a bit of time following that initial debut, this version tosses in just about every bit of content that has released over the years all in one neat digital package. Is this odd mix of genres worth your time though? That's the real question, and one that I hope to answer in this review. Let's take a look together and find out!

This is it, this is the game!

So many extra levels!

Train Valley 2's gameplay centers on a simple concept, you have to get various goods from one station to another using a series of trains. You have at least one town area in each level that constantly spawns workers, and these towns also have a set amount of goods they need to receive for you to complete the current level. There can be more than one of these town areas, but they all function the same. From there, your next task is to connect these towns to various factories, the most simple of which only need workers to grind out whatever resource the factory creates. Some factories require more than just workers though, and you'll also have to send them raw materials that are made from other factories. For example, if your town needs glass, you'll have to send workers to refine sand at a sand factory, and then send more workers still, along with the sand, to the glass factory to make glass. Each new resource created uses up whatever materials made it, including the workers strangely enough, so you'll constantly be sending a steady stream of trains along to keep the process moving. It all works out to be a surprisingly calming experience, though sometimes poor train management can cause collisions. You'll want to be careful of this of course, but you can stop trains at any time, and even back them up if things are getting too congested in one area. I was impressed with how intuitive the in-game systems all became, though the initial learning curve might be a bit daunting for some. If you stick to it you'll be clearing levels in no time at all. Well, that's not quite true. I say "no time at all", but these are all some very long levels, with even the best-ranking runs usually hitting at least 12 minutes. This is to be expected I guess since each level operates as a sort of mini management sim game.

What am I doing?

Oops!

Since you'll be dealing almost exclusively with trains here, that means you'll be constructing a lot of train tracks. This is done by spending money to both lay the tracks, and to maybe clear any obstacles that might be blocking their placement. Each train that successfully makes it to another station gains you some sort of cash payout relative to the resource sent and its amount. Workers are worth $1,000 dollars for example, and some of the more complicated completed resources are worth nearly 10K each. You're allowed a set number of trains per level, and they can only carry two loads by default. You're able to upgrade these with the use of more money, though some later stages start with these unlocked as well. You'll want to plan your track layout carefully as you only get half the money back for any tracks you have to demolish. Tracks that meet at an angle create switch points that allow for multiple pathways along a single track system. This is probably the most important aspect of the game, as the most optimized layouts will have many of these track switches peppered throughout. These switches help create straight paths between faraway stations, as trains need to be coming from a certain angle in order to turn along a path. If the switch system seems a bit too complicated, you can always send trains down one way, switch the tracks once they pass, and then reverse them, but it's far more efficient if you actively manipulate the switches as they go. Complex switches aside, trains still aren't always able to cross all spaces. Sometimes rivers, valleys, or even hills and mountains can block your path. To combat these you can also build bridges and tunnels. These are always rather expensive, so you want to make sure there isn't a cheaper option elsewhere in the level. Some levels start you with a very small amount of cash, and you can sort of soft-lock yourself out of completion if you spend all your money creating tracks that aren't important early on. You can restart levels at any time of course, but I can't stress enough how important careful planning is. This all probably sounds a bit much on paper, but it all works out smoothly when in action.

I think I ruined Egypt.

Well we need to ride on The Lord!

Most levels run the same course, you have a pauper stage where you can barely afford to create the essential tracks you need, and then you suddenly realize you have more money than you could ever think to spend. You'd think this would create a stressful atmosphere where you're scared to stumble into what is essentially a game over scenario, but it's anything but that. It's actually a very cozy experience all around. You can play and beat a stage in any way you desire, and that's really why the aforementioned stuck scenarios can sometimes happen. You can probably even struggle your way out of those situations if you have enough patience. It's not just completing levels by any means though, there is also a star system that rewards you for playing well. It's pretty much only used to unlock more train models, but I bet many players will try their best to hit their goals regardless. Each level has five potential stars, three of which are tied to the amount of time it takes you to complete a level, and two of which require you to complete specific challenges exclusive to the level itself. These challenges can be just about anything, but involve things like only building a set number of tracks, only clearing a certain number of obstacles, not building any bridges or tunnels, not missing any deliveries, and so on. Collecting stars isn't necessary for completing the levels, or even the game for that matter, but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it irked me whenever I missed one just slightly. Seeing as each level is a 10-20+ minute affair, giving them a second run for those missing stars was never something I wanted to do. I guess I'll just have to live with never having all those stars.

Train Valley 2 has a ton of levels of all types for players of all skill levels to enjoy. I'm not really sure how many are in the core game, but I think it's somewhere around 50. I played 40 of the core levels for this review, and was shocked that I still didn't see an immediate end in sight. Also, since this is the Community Edition, it also includes all previous DLC, and dozens of Community-created levels. These alone account for an additional 200 or so levels, but I only managed to clear a handful of these during my time with the game. (So far at least!) This was by no means through laziness on my part, but after about 20 hours of guiding hundreds of trains to their respective stations, I had to say to myself that I was more than ready to share my thoughts on the game. It's important to note that while the core gameplay never really changes, the DLC levels add a lot of flair to what's already a cool game. The Myths and Rails levels in particular were my favorite, and I plan to switch to those from here on out as the fantasy theming just really draws me in. There's an unbelievable amount of content in this version of the game, and I could see people easily spending over 100 hours playing Train Valley 2 and still having a ways to go towards perfect completion.

Getting used to things.

I think I overdid this one.

I never played the first Train Valley game, but it's my understanding that this one differs from it greatly. One of the things I saw a lot of talk about when I was researching this game was that it uses low-poly models instead of the realistic graphics of the first game. I can't really speak of that beyond what I already said, but I really love the graphics here. They're simple, but they get the job done. Nothing is too distracting in the core levels, even though most of them have unique touches that make each of them stand out. I didn't really mention it before, but all the core levels are themed. You have ones that are meant to resemble real-life cities, or just unique landmarks and layouts. Things get a bit more interesting in the Community levels though. These levels DO come with flashier visuals, but they too aren't necessarily distracting. What can be distracting though are the icons that hover above each station. As far as I can tell there is no way to turn these off, but they sometimes block views of train tracks placed beside or behind them. This wouldn't be an issue if the camera could be rotated, but it can't. You can zoom in a bit, and this helps out a little, but it's an odd thing for the developers to have overlooked. I will admit though that this is somewhat of a non-issue, as only a few levels have tight areas where building close to stations is all but required. That said, it was something I had to deal with more than once. The biggest plus with the visuals has to be that they never slow down the game. There are times when a lot is happening on screen at once, and there was never a hiccup in gameplay or performance. In fact, you can speed up the game if you so desire, and that doesn't have a detrimental effect either. These graphics might be nowhere near cutting edge, but I found them neat enough that they eventually became something close to charming. Since this game apparently ditched a realistic graphic style, it almost feels like one is playing with a really intense model train set.

Not bad if I do say so myself.

Is this even a victory?

Music fares similarly to graphics in my opinion, and this means that I don't think it ever really stands out, but you probably wouldn't want it to anyway. There wasn't a single a track that stuck with me after I was done playing the game, but I still found myself wondering if the soundtrack was available for a standalone purchase. I can think of no other way to describe it, and the genre is nothing like it at all, but the music gives off vibes similar to when one is listening to a long play of lo-fi hip hop beats on YouTube. Put simply, Train Valley 2's soundtrack is a compilation of some of the chillest music you'll ever find in a video game. It always helped me get lost in what I was doing in-game, and would often have me forget that I'd been playing a single level for the better part of an hour. I may be pushing it a bit saying that it's one of my favorite soundtracks in recent memory, especially after I just admitted that I didn't particularly care for any single track, but that's just how I feel about it. I don't really have anything else to say when it comes to the rest of the sound design though. Sound effects are all well-done, the train whistles DO live rent-free in my head, and you know you've hit peak sound production when even a train collision somehow doesn't break the chill vibes.

If I had one single gripe with the game, it would be its controls. This is clearly a game that started life on the PC. Everything feels very complicated at first, with some button choices that feel anything but natural. I screwed up a couple star challenges early on by accidentally upgrading a train while trying to speed up the game speed. I also still sometimes send the trains out of the wrong stations because the various shoulder button controls can be a bit confusing when moving quickly. None of this is game breaking by any means though, and you'll eventually get used to the initially confusing control scheme. It just that you'll most likely find yourself stumbling through the first few levels until muscle memory finally starts to kick in. Having played this game for about 20 hours, I can say that things do feel a lot better now when compared to my first few levels. Dozens of completed levels later, I find myself finally understanding why the developers made the choices they did when it comes to button mapping. One of the points made in the press releases that preceded the game actually mention how they worked hard to make it playable on consoles by refining the controls, and it really does show. There is a strong learning initial curve, but things fall into place after a handful of levels.

Why is there a dragon?!?!

I just love this game!

I really don't know what kind of game Train Valley 2: Community Edition is. I thought I'd understand it more now that I'm at the end of this review, but I'm still torn if this is I should call it a puzzle game, a simulation, a tycoon game, or some mix of all those genres. What I can tell you is that I whole-heartedly recommend this game, especially to those who are fans of the genres I just mentioned. At the time of this writing it's currently priced at $24.99, and while I must admit that it might seem a bit high for an indie title, you get a hell of a lot of bang for your buck here. I'm honestly shocked at how great this game is, and I'm sure that it's currently flying under the radars of people who might otherwise be enjoying it as much as I have. Grab it now, and thank me later. Maybe even gift it to a friend as we all need a chill game like this from time to time. With that all out of the way, I'll be taking my leave now. I'd love to stay and chat some more, but these trains aren't going to direct themselves! Till next time!

Check Out Train Valley 2: Community Edition on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/train-valley-2-community-edition-switch/

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Story: N/A
Gameplay: A+
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A
Value: A

Overall: A

Pros:
+ A unique mix of puzzle gameplay mixed with city-building simulation and tycoon-style gameplay.
+ Gameplay manages to be somehow be extremely nuanced, yet also very simple, at the same time.
+ Overall a surprisingly chill and cozy experience.
+ The game's soundtrack is very relaxing and adds to the game's pleasant vibes.
+ There's a lot of content here, including over a hundred DLC and Community-created levels.
+ The graphics may not be cutting edge, but they are very charming in their own way.

Cons:
- Levels run on the long side, and there is no in-level save system.
- Obtaining missed stars can be a near impossible task considering how long redoing a level can take.
- The control scheme requires quite a bit of time to get used to.
- While there is a lot of content within the game, as in hundreds of levels, they all essentially play the same with different skins.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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Gotta deliver the jewels!

#TrainValley2CommunityEdition