This article contains HEAVY SPOILERS for Frostpunk 2's ending and the choices made along the way.
Post-apocalyptic media is some of the most thematically heavy content out there. Post-apocalyptic movies, TV shows, and video games like The Walking Dead, The Last of Us, and Metro 2033 revolve around people being pushed to their breaking point, the tough decisions they make to survive, and the humanity that they lose along the way. Frostpunk 2 dives head first into these heavy themes.
Frostpunk 2 sees players lead what's believed to be the last group of human survivors in the world amid a new ice age. As their leader, the player is in a constant, ever-changing struggle to provide the colony with what it needs, from heat to food to entertainment. Naturally, there are some big choices to be made during Frostpunk 2's campaign, and a short-lived character named Lily May becomes the personification of those choices and how they've affected this new society.
Frostpunk 2's Lily May Shows How Much Influence The Player Really Has
Frostpunk 2 Is a Game All About Making Tough Choices
Fans of the first Frostpunk will already know how difficult some of the series' choices can be. For context, some of the original Frostpunk's very first choices ask the player to decide whether to cut a man's leg off and leave him disabled or let him die, and decide whether children should be forced to work in the mines. These are some pretty heavy choices right off the bat, and they only get harder as the game continues.
Frostpunk's choices are all about managing the needs of the settlement in that immediate moment while simultaneously predicting the future needs of its people. For instance, letting the aforementioned man live means that amputees now get to live longer, but it means they're unable to work, and they still require feeding. Frostpunk constantly asks players to balance their humanity with the presumed greater good.
Frostpunk 2 goes even deeper with its choices. In the sequel's prologue, players must stockpile enough food to survive an oncoming whiteout. To achieve this within the time limit, the player might be tempted to make some grim decisions, such as allowing the group's elderly to walk off into the Frostlands to allow the younger generations to eat or taking advantage of a nearby group of seals.
Much like the first game, Frostpunk 2's choices only get harder from there. Once in control of New London, players will need to side with specific factions, some of which demand a more militant approach from the player. This can quickly lead to death and destruction even if the player is exceptionally careful. More often than not, the player may not take in the moral implications of these choices due to the stressful time limits put on these tasks, and that's where Lily May comes in.
Frostpunk 2's Lily May Shows The Consequences of The Player's Choices
Right at the start of Frostpunk 2's campaign, the player is tasked with turning on New London's generator. As they do, they're greeted with a screen that claims a baby has just been born at the exact moment the generator switched on. This baby's name is Lily May.
The player meets Lily May again right at the end of Frostpunk 2, just before the credits begin to roll. One of the last things the player sees in Frostpunk 2 is a 14-year-old Lily May, with a unique occupation, visual design, and description all based on the choices the player has made throughout the campaign. These descriptions range from surprisingly hopeful (Lily May has lost her mother but still has dreams to pursue), to depressingly dark (Lily May longs to kill the Steward for their actions), and it's likely to give the player one last emotional gut punch.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 85 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- September 20, 2024
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Drug Reference, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- 11 Bit Studios
- Publisher(s)
- 11 Bit Studios
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Franchise
- Frostpunk
- PC Release Date
- September 20, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- Genre(s)
- Strategy, Survival, City Builder
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
