Frederic: Evil Strikes Back is the sequel to one of my favorite rhythm games of all time, Resurrection of Music. If you haven't yet read my review on that game, take a minute to do that now.

RoM was a fantastic game for many reasons, the most important of which is the music. Carefully remixing select compositions from Chopin's work was a stroke of genius, and was the heart and soul of an amazing experience that should not be missed. If you haven't yet played it, you are missing out on something really special. So the sequel should be another masterpiece, right?

It is with a heavy heart that I have to condemn this game for what it is. What made the first game special, the music, is why the sequel falls flat on its face. Take the heart and soul from a work of art, and you're left with an unrecognizable shell, feeding off of the success of its predecessor. That is what has occurred here, and I couldn't be any more disappointed with the results.

When I try to imagine what they could do to make a fantastic sequel, I see many possibilities. Something as simple as more of the same, remixing more of Chopin's compositions into more tracks, would have been perfectly acceptable. Teaming up with other well known musicians like Beethoven or Bach and remixing their music would have been great as well. If the premise isn't broken, then you shouldn't try to fix it. Forever Entertainment has already proven that they are more than capable of doing any of those things, so my expectations were high for the next game in this franchise.

Unfortunately, that is not the direction the developers took with this sequel. All of the tracks in this game are completely original, and instead of matching the style of a particular country, they match the style of famous musician. For example, a couple of the characters you come across are parody versions of Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga. Not a terrible idea, but the original music fails to be catchy, fun to play, and in some cases, even tolerable to listen to. As I have stated in the past, rhythm games are only as good as the music they include, which makes this game absolutely terrible.

Taking Chopin's work out of the franchise entirely just doesn't make sense to me. Remixing his compositions to fit the style of these particular musicians would have been easy enough, and it would have been interesting to hear Lady Gaga's rendition of Raindrops. Without his music, this game just feels uninspired, and it becomes a chore to even finish it.

To be fair, the rest of this game hasn't changed a bit. The gameplay is exactly the same, the art style hasn't changed, the story is just as nonsensical, and the voice acting is just as stroke inducing as in Resurrection of Music. There are no surprises here.

It's a shame that the developers forgot what made the first game so special. Maybe the third game in the franchise will return it to its roots, but I will be researching it first before wasting money on another sequel.

cool music ♥ little hard ;)

Love this game, took me 30 minutes to beat yet it was a lot of fun. I've played it over and over again. The game itself is easy to play, you just got to play it. Start with the easiest difficulty and work your way up. It doesn't take much practice to get very good. This one is my favorite of the Frederic series. The music is great and I love the beats.

Very cool little sequel to the original Frederic. Excellent time killers for music lovers, might even teach you a thing or two about timing!

The Sequel to the Ultimate PC music Based Rythm Game. Nothing has to be added, well, except that the last boss is going to kill you. It may seem easy at first, but just when you feel safe.......BAM, Entire Red Bar. But what im talking, play it youreself.

-Great Soundtrack
-Easy to learn
-Hard to master
-Hilariously dumb bad guys
-Seriously, dis soundtrack
-Super short, but great replayability

Basically, the game is piano hero and you play Frederic Chopin. There are new arrangements of all his stuff, from techno to calypso. The controls can be hard to get used to, but there is always the ability to cheat by using your mouse. Buy it for full price, but if it is on sale, buy a few extra copies to give to friends. This game is ♥♥♥♥ hot.

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You'll note that I just copy and pasted my review from the previous Frederic game. This is because it is the same game, basically, just with new music and story. It continues to be ♥♥♥♥ hot.

Sequel to the first Frederic game. This game no longer features compositions from Chopin but alterated version from Pop culture songs from Queen to Lady Gaga. It still has the slight quirky humour and a resurrected Chopin as the main character is really an awesome idea. Funnily either I got more used to the game controls now or this one is actually easier than the first one. Especially I found the later stages in the game not as difficult than the in the first game. And the final boss I actually managed to defeat on normal on the first try. If you liked the first Frederic Game definitly get this one it is more or less the same with a few tweaks (like double nodes). If you don't own any of the Frederic games I would say get the first one first.

I love playin this game. Simple, addictive and super enjoyable. Music is superb, I got it playin in the background of other games. Highly recomend, bundle on sale is a stea-l-m.

An interesting game, quite enjoyable. I recommend getting both in the bundle, don't bother with this game alone considering the similar price. The gameplay is good, with a few new note types in this game. However, the entire style of the game shifted awkwardly. Visually it seems better, but Chopin is less charming and less developed as a character. He's no longer a stranger in a new world, but more of a 80's popstar working to save himself. More of the jokes go from awkwardly hilarious to groaningly memetic. Meanwhile, the voiceovers that could've started their own memes are notably toned down. It's harder to tell that there are only a few voice actors in this version, but it's less charming and natural.

Probably the most important thing is the music. This time it is far-less inspired by Chopin, but the tracks are enjoyable to play. Nothing stuck with me the same way as the first game, but it's still fun. Fans of the story may be underwhelmed, it's not quite a classic. There is fair replayability if you are aiming to improve and complete higher difficulties, but it's easy enough to complete on the lower difficulties in 90 minutes. I can recommend the bundle at full price if you like the idea and plan to beat all the difficulties. If you are just wanting to play once or twice, I'd recommend a 50% off weeklong deal.

As with its predecessor, this game is loaded with cheese, bad acting, and a horrible story; but it makes up for it with some really great music. If you are a classical music fan and was hoping for more Chopin interpretations, you'll be disappointed. But the music is still really good. (As a Queen fan, I particularly enjoyed their take on "Radio Ga Ga".)

As before I also recommend this more for those who have laptops with touchscreens or a Windows Surface. Trying to play this game on a PC keyboard is a source of great frustration for people who play musical keyboards. But playing on a touchscreen feels amazingly natural. Even more difficult levels still feel good to play with a touchscreen.

So, if you have a touchscreen laptop or a Surface, I *highly* recommend this game as well as its predecessor. If you're on a PC keyboard, remap the keys until they feel just right for you or else you're going to be in for a lot of frustration.

Impressive and awesome game. Since anyone has created it yet this is a new way to the piano hero construction.
You will fight against kiss,lady gaga,freddy mercury playing piano.
The gameplay is incredebly hard to learn unless you are a gome with tiny fingers,in that case,it will be easy to perform scales and button passages like on the real piano. keyboard buttons arent made for a piano game,they are too little compared to real ones. so if you dont know the exact position of your custom keybind it will be a pain on normal and high difficult when youll need to switch buttons and perform octaves.

So the pros:
-incredibly fun game
-long songs
-low price
-customizable notes
-a different game
-awesome songs

Cons:
-really hard to play even at normal on latest levels (unless you r a gnome piano master)
-cant keybind numbers or gamepad
-NO TUTORIAL (and thats really bad since the game it's quite hard)
- Too many animations covering the upcoming notes which for me was really confusing since notes dont come on a straight line(like on the guitar hero series) but they make a little curve before the strike point.
-NO ONLINE

Maybe it's just me, but I feel this game is very underrated just like the first one and deserves another look at by the community if for no other reason then just the soundtrack alone is brilliant, and if I remember correctly consists of music that is similar to the style of the parody of the musician you are currently dueling. (Spoiler!: look out for the smooth criminal in Hollywood) The artwork seems to have been improved as well in this version, but the same cheesy humor that is prevalent in the first game is still here and has only been enhanced. This whole style of dialogue is reminiscient of monkey island, which if you haven't guessed yet is one of my favorites. Don't buy this game for it's gameplay value unless you really enjoy Rhythm based games such as guitar hero or Dance dance revolution-esque gaming. However if you appreciate both visual and auditory art then i would recommend shelling out a few dollars for this lesser-known masterpiece.

Easy to play, hard to master

Definately already one of my favourite rythem games so far! I wish there are more like this.

The only let down is the bad voice acting, but it does contrast to how weird the story is anyway, it's comic, it's fun to play, and you'll be replaying the songs over and over just to get the perfect score

Both of the Frederic games really surprised me, as I haven't played an indie music game before, only mainstream. The second (Evil Strikes Back) is by far my favorite, although they're both very good, cheesy story line and voice acting considered. It's just a really charming series, even if both can be completed in a good hour or so of play. In Evil Strikes Back the original scores have very catchy melodies, so much so that I plan on adding at least a few tracks to my collection. I highly recommend both Frederic games, they're very well done, very fun, and it's hard to beat free soundtracks as well.

Not many songs to be played, but it is a fun game. I have stupid fingers, so it is frustrating at times. If you can grab it on sale, it is a good buy.

For a game that promises to be bigger and better than its predecessor in every way, Evil Strikes Back falls flat in almost every area except for (arguably the most important) the music. Whereas the previous installment was equal parts satire of the recording industry and love letter to the late, great Frederic Chopin, this one has more nods to musicians that were deceased far more recently, with amazing tributes to the likes of Falco, Freddie Mercury, and Michael Jackson. You won't hear Chopin's influence here, but you'll still hear some amazing tracks that duplicate the folk and contemporary music of the regions that you visit. It's not only deceased musicians who get their due, either, with characters lampooning the likes of KISS and Lady Gaga.

The part that was disappointing to me, however, was the story. The first game was quirky and charming, with clever satire mixed with other jokes and jabs at pop culture or random silly bits strewn about. Frederic himself was a somewhat smug, if charming, fish out of water, what you would expect of a composer who had been dead for a century and a half being brought back to life in today's world, trying to adjust to modern musical trends while keeping his own legacy alive and learning the reason for his return.

This time around, Frederic is almost insufferably full of himself, not to mention extremely modernized. This could have worked if some amount of time had passed, but the story is supposedly set immediately after the ending of the last game. He frequently trades substance for style, which seems to be running theme of this game this time around. It's still entertaining, it's just sad to see the hero, who was so lovable the first time around, turn into something rather obnoxious with little reasoning for it.

SPOILERS:
At the beginning of the game, Frederic loses his heart (I assume in a metaphorical sense, considering the imagery), which could explain the way he's behaving, if it weren't for a few things: 1.) he still manages to be kind and charitable when it suits him, 2.) he was acting this way both before and after it was returned and 3.) the first game already dealt with him trying to find his heart, in a more literal fashion (a nod to the controversy surrounding the fact that while Chopin was interrered in Pere Laichez cemetary in Paris, his heart is enshrined in an urn filled with alcohol in Warsaw). Basically, he's already gone around without a heart, and managed to be a good character regardless of it, if an unwitting pawn in a grander scheme.

That's not to say this game isn't without its own degree of charm and humor. Most of the references are nods to internet memes this time around, sometimes subtly, sometimes more obviously but to hilarious effect (especially the ending). But as a music game, if you're not in it for the story, then it's still more than solid. The soundtrack is easily equal to, if it doesn't surpass, the first game's, and the gameplay hasn't been radically changed, but mixed up just enough to keep it fresh.

It's sad that the storytelling isn't as strong as it was the first time around, but like the previous game, the fact that it includes a free copy of its stellar soundtrack makes it worth the price of admission alone. That you get a fun and quirky music game in the deal is all gravy.

The sequel to the first awesome frederic game, but more a DLC than an actual game. If you loved the first game, you have to get this one too, otherwise you'd better off starting with the first episode.

♥♥♥♥ THIS ♥♥♥♥, I CANT EVEN KEYBOARD!

This is the worst music game I have ever tried.. the video seemde nice, but OH MY GOD this game sucks, do not buy. I regret wasting my 5 bucks on this crap.. controls are a headache and I tried it at least one hour. If I found the makers of this game, I would ask for my refund. The only thing I could say is good with this game is the music, but I paid for the full entairtment factor, which I didnt get.

The game is tons of fun especially with touch controls enabled. Great soundtrack. Everyone, regardless of age, can find something for themselves. I’m a big fan of Guitar hero series and I also play a bit of keys so getting this game was no brainer.
I recommend it to everyone across all ages even if you don’t play any instrument!