Unfortunately, no. Right out of the gate, the game is a bit off-kilter. Much like other sequels, this seems a bit darker than the original. In fact, that’s one of the first snags: the color palate, which could have been used in some creative ways, makes way for a sea of blue, purple, and green. Every stage seems a bit similar in appearance, which makes the game itself seem more repetitive than it is.

Repetitiveness, it seems, is the name of the game here. Level designs are pretty interchangeable for the most part, with only minor changes. Even these minor changes are a bit unwelcome.

As Tak is a shaman in training, it only makes sense that he be able to work with spirits and animals here and there, but it doesn’t make sense that they do all the work for him. In some levels, you can run into either what may or may not be a spirit bear or a bird. Both are wasted, with the bear going on full-on auto pilot if you tap down once and the bird being just a glorified stage-skipping moonwalk.

Jumping puzzles come up a bit lame as well. The most dangerous looking sections are easily skipped via the Spirit of Air’s short flight time, which is a fairly gross oversight.

Enemy interaction is another one of the major weaknesses of Tak 2, with no real logic behind half of it. With some foes, the hit detection is inside the border of their sprites. Creatures that carry the hallmarks of “don’t tread on me” such as spikes and Kaiser helmets are easily butt-stomped out of creation. It seems that while women swoon over Brad Pitt’s metaphorical magic backside, Tak has a literal one.

Even past the level and character design, far past the broken gameplay, the makers have to be commended on the intuitive control scheme. With just a few buttons, you have a fairly diverse arsenal of powers and abilities at your command. Flying, rolling, shooting fireballs, all come like second nature soon after trying the game. Too bad this couldn’t save Tak 2, which is truly a squandered opportunity.