Roots in the Sky: The Hand of Glory 2 review

• Reviews by Daniel Yam
• Published:

Epic globe-trotting sequel digs even deeper into the best parts of its stylish point-and-click predecessor

Roots in the Sky is the long-awaited sequel to Madit Entertainment and Daring Touch’s The Hand of Glory. Expectations raised by the shocking drama at the end of the ambitious series debut in 2020 were high, but the follow-up manages to deliver in spades. Another grandiose, exhilarating, but lightly humorous tale, accompanied by the lead character’s ongoing inner turmoil, makes for an adventure that is both outlandish yet grounded in personal emotional stakes. Filled with colourful locations to visit around the world, a murder mystery and an ancient legend to unravel, and plenty of puzzles to solve along the way, there’s a lot of game here, all of it entertaining. I finished around the ten-hour mark, but the story and its constant twists and turns made it feel like time had barely passed before I had to say goodbye to these familiar characters once again.

Five years after going into hiding from the dangerous Rosa Defecta cult, Lazarus ‘Lars’ Bundy has been laying low in Rome, working with his partner Malcolm as private security and tour guide to the rich and famous visiting the city. His quiet life is completely turned on its head, however, when his latest client is shot dead by a hitman in the middle of a public garden. What starts out as a discreet investigation to protect his identity from being exposed in the newspaper soon drags Lars back into the ongoing shadow war between the Rosicrucians, a mystical secret society with ties to alchemy, and the cult members he thought he’d escaped. 

With his cover blown, Lars must now decide whether to keep running and hiding, or to face his pursuers. But it’s not just the cult after him, as Alice Sharp, now working for her father’s private investigation firm, has been using her tech skills to scour surveillance camera footage for proof of life. When the two partners in crime-solving eventually reunite, they’re quickly thrust into another globe-trotting adventure to prevent the Rosa Defecta’s leader from unlocking an ancient artefact that would grant him terrible powers. Along the way they’ll uncover more about the legendary “Roots in the Sky,” which hide a secret related to the creation of life itself – and its potential destruction.

The narrative is Roots in the Sky’s strongest aspect, combining both the grand set pieces befitting an epic international adventure with introspective moments as Lars reflects on his childhood and struggles internally with the reality of a serious physical ailment revealed in the last game. The personal drama as a backdrop, contrasted with the wider world-ending conspiracy of the main plot, really helps make Lars feel like a relatable character amidst all the cybernetic ninjas, god-creating artifacts, and Da Vinci Code-esque tropes.

The writing and voice acting also excel in bringing the eclectic cast to life. Matthew Curtis returns as Lars, and Morgan Taylor as the new voice of Alice maintains the same energy brought by Maya Aoki Tuttle from The Hand of Glory, but all of the characters are nicely portrayed. Among the new characters, the elderly couple of hippie Edith and ex-biker Hugo stand out as favourites, with repeated visits to their eccentric apartment uncovering more details about their personalities. Malcolm may be a new character as well, but Lars and his business partner (and landlord) have clearly developed a great rapport in their years together. The villains, while their master plan is suitably over-the-top, are fuelled by motivations that are believable and realistic, portrayed as a brotherhood who believe in their cause of remaking the world at any cost.

As a direct sequel, a lot of the existing characters, plot points, and details either make an appearance or are referred to in dialogue, so it’s highly recommended to play the first game before diving into this one. However, if you just need a refresher, there is a substantial story recap of The Hand of Glory accessible from the main menu, with Lars narrating events across several important cutscenes to get you up to speed on both the story and the relationship between Lars and Alice.

Playable with either a gamepad or mouse, Roots in the Sky’s interface is different from its predecessor’s. Instead of the first game’s two-button scheme to use/look, here you left-click everything to bring up a secondary interaction wheel to choose from. While handy for consoles, having to interact with every item and then select an action on PC makes some scenes very click-intensive for solving puzzles. The dialogue options have also changed, switching over to a Broken Sword-like icon-based system rather than presenting lines of dialogue.

There’s no option to run or double-click to move quickly across screens, which can make for slower segments in large areas with puzzles that require a lot of back and forth, but most locations are small enough that this isn’t an issue. Within each scene, the smart cursor will indicate hotspots when moused over, but all interactive elements can also be revealed with either the spacebar or middle mouse button. There’s also a journal to log all of Lars’s tasks, and each entry is detailed enough for anyone to pick up where they last left off. 

Roots in the Sky: The Hand of Glory 2

Genre:	Comedy, Mystery
Presentation:	2D or 2.5D
Theme:	Conspiracy, Religion/Occult, Team-up
Perspective:	Third-Person
Gameplay:	Puzzle, Quest
Control:	Point-and-click
Game Length:	Long (more than 10 hours)
Difficulty:	Medium
Graphic Style:	Cartoon

The sequel’s visuals retain the charming hand-drawn style and vibrant colour palette from The Hand of Glory, but the cartoony aesthetic is slightly more detailed this time. And once again you’ll be travelling the world visiting even more exotic locations. From the streets of Rome, to an archaeological dig in Jordan, to a fishing island in Japan, all the way to the dense Indian jungle, there’s a lot of variety in the destinations you’ll visit. Everywhere you go the environments feel suitably alive, with characters having idle animations depicting them going about their day or performing their jobs, like the scientist Miranda performing an experiment in the middle of Rome’s Piazza di Spagna. There aren’t as many background characters compared to the first game, but this makes sense given that Lars is trying to remain anonymous and avoid areas populated by tourists. 

Speaking of backgrounds, they too feel alive, though less from animation and more from sound effects. Birds chirping, water flowing, and the hubbub of a crowd nearby are among the ambient sounds that add to the energy of each scene. The musical score is like that of a movie, with large orchestral tracks reserved for big action scenes, cutscenes, and narrative climaxes, while maintaining a more subdued vibe during the quieter parts of the game.

The puzzles in Roots in the Sky feature tried-and-true classic inventory use, including combining items before trying them in the environment, and they’re executed to a very high standard. Each puzzle fluidly feeds into the next in a way that feels natural to the story’s progression, and the diversity of locations means there’s never a dull moment. The game isn’t entirely linear, allowing you to pursue multiple tasks at once, such as recreating the scene of a crime by compiling various eyewitness accounts and photographs across Rome, or juggling between the trials of three guardians in the hidden village of Vrikshapur to gain access to a sacred temple. However, if you’re stuck on one puzzle, you may need to solve another first before you have all the related pieces required.

Occasionally Lars and Alice travel together, and switching control between them at will is key to solving puzzles in certain sequences, most notably when Alice is underwater exploring ruins while Lars is above her in a boat, requiring coordination between both. Other times they split up to cover more ground, and have dedicated sections where they’re the only playable character with their own specific puzzles. Lars has a very involved deduction segment in which he’s travelling around a motel, asking guests for information in order to narrow down which room a particular suspect is staying in, while Alice has the ability to study body language when questioning people in order to help reach conclusions. Both of these puzzles are worked out in separate windows accessible via the inventory, weaving in typical item-based puzzles to acquire new information that paints a clearer picture, like an evolution of classic dialogue puzzles. 

Towards the final act there are more action set pieces, with Lars and Alice being put in mortal danger, requiring you to perform actions in the correct order rather than possess fast reflexes to get them out of trouble. There are ways to die as the consequence for doing the wrong thing, but these sequences are quite short and reset very quickly upon the protagonists’ demise.

The story starts out somewhat slowly, including a flashback to Lars’s childhood to reveal his original decision to pursue detective work. It quickly ramps up, however, with numerous twists and turns as the truth about the murder of Lars’s client is revealed. I was invested from that point on, and the larger mystery did a great job of keeping me engaged with its constant revelations throughout. The game wraps up its own story arc in a satisfying manner while ending with yet another cliffhanger, hinting at a third game that will be even more personal to Lars.

Final Verdict

Roots in the Sky: The Hand of Glory 2 more than lives up to the high expectations of a long-awaited sequel, not simply meeting them but surpassing them with its escalating story, thoughtful puzzle design, charming hand-crafted presentation, and a wonderful cast of nicely voiced characters. Not once does a puzzle feel contrived or illogical, and the way collected items are intertwined and used across multiple solutions is well-designed. The narrative is both epic and intimate, deadly serious but sometimes funny, and the world and its characters are further developed the higher the stakes become. The gameplay here really harkens back to an older era of adventure games filled with locations to explore and puzzles to solve. Backed by a story that continues to unravel the grand conspiracy surrounding the lead character, this is a delightful game that has no major weaknesses. With a third installment teased, and with Lazarus Bundy’s health issues still looming in the background like a ticking time bomb, here’s hoping there’s much more to look forward to from this series.

Sam played Roots in the Sky: The Hand of Glory 2 on PC using a review code provided by the game's publisher.