Ranking Freedom Planet 2 Levels

Freedom Planet 2 just released on consoles, and it's quickly became one of my all-time favorite games. It does a lot right from its gripping and morally complex narrative, to its fluid and fast-paced movement and combat, to its beautiful visuals and stellar music, but one of the best aspects of Freedom Planet 2 has to be the level design. So, I want to rank all 25 of Freedom Planet 2's main stages. Keep in mind that I will not be including the hubs, the boss-only stages, the two tutorials, or the shmup stage Bakunawa Chase.

25. Weapon's Core
Unlike the first game, Freedom Planet 2 has a secret final level, and I... respect it more than I actually enjoy playing it. When Syntax takes over Bakunawa, you need to descend to its core while avoiding her watchful eye. This is a genuinely scary shift towards horror, between the stage being almost entirely made up of bones, and Syntax's creepy dialogue every time she spots you. However, on a gameplay level, trying to do slow-paced electricity puzzles while also dodging a giant searchlight in the center of the screen at the risk of instant death is not my definition of a fun time. The final fight against Syntax herself is also utterly brutal, especially since you need to let her heal at least once, making for the stage I easily died the most in. Merga's sacrifice was a nice final moment, but overall, Weapon's Core ended what was otherwise an incredible final act on a bit of a weak note, and I don't really look forward to S ranking it.

24. Sky Bridge
Okay, we got the mid stuff out of the way. Every other level in Freedom Planet 2 is good at worst and incredible at best. Sky Bridge is a pretty weird stage, containing four fairly long enemy gauntlets that each cap off you with taking down the same exact mini boss. Having to repeatedly stop for a mandatory enemy gauntlet drags the pacing to a halt, which is a real shame because the rest of the stage is pretty solid. I love the Sky Sanctuary aesthetic, and platforming across all the floating platforms in what's one of Freedom Planet 2's most open stages is quite fun.

23. Lunar Cannon
With the exclusion of Weapon's Core, Lunar Cannon is "technically" the final level of the game. Like Final Dreadnought 4 in the previous game, it's meant to be both a final challenge and somewhat of a breather after the more intense previous stages. The atmosphere is fantastic, from the ethereal music, to how you see the moon's light shine through Bakunawa's teeth as it repeatedly opens and closes its mouth. The actual platforming is mostly solid, as you get to play around with gravitational fields that let you jump super high, but at the cost of the ground frequently electrifying itself, which can get pretty annoying at points. The boss is pretty fun though, it's a nice throwback to games like Gunstar Heroes and TMNT: Turtles In Time where the camera is showing the fight from the perspective of the villains shooting at you. And of course, the Merga fight is incredible, easily one of the best final bosses I've played in a while, though I can't really count it since it takes up its own level.

22. Nalao Lake
Nalao Lake can best be described as "fun but jank". It's an all-out war as you blaze through Serpentine's massive army to reassembly the BFF-2000, all as some of the most intense music in the game plays. It's an absolute blast, but on the other hand, the stage layout does let it down a bit. The above water sections feel pretty sparse and spaced-out, and swimming through all the brambles underwater can be pretty annoying. The mech section that caps off the level has a similar issue. Controlling the BFF-2000 is absolutely awesome, but you can tell that it's way too big for its own good and the level design just does not accomodate its size. That's ultimately the biggest problem with Nalao Lake, it's too big for Team Lilac but still too small for the BFF-2000. Still a fun level though.

21. Gravity Bubble
Gravity Bubble is pretty noteworthy for being the only main stage in Freedom Planet 2 to not have a boss, and it's also secretly one of the most important stages in the game plot-wise. Gameplay-wise, Gravity Bubble takes place pretty much entirely underwater, but Freedom Planet always had pretty fast and fluid swimming controls so that's not necessarily a bad thing even if I'd much rather be on land. There's also a fair amount of currents and some really cool-looking 2.5D teleporters that keep the momentum going. The real highlight of Gravity Bubble though is the ending where Team Lilac meets with Merga only for her to revive Bakunawa right in front of you, forcing you to make a mad swim out of the stage as it fires giant laser beams to you. Such a memorable and stressful finale that does a fantastic job at starting the final act with a bang, especially with the Bakunawa Chase mini-stage immediately after.

20. Globe Opera 1
The Globe Opera is easily one of my favorite sequences in the game, the only stage to boast two acts, and it manages to feel so climactic and grand that it actually briefly tricked me into thinking it was the final stage. However, Act 1 is far and away the lesser of the two. It's super fast-paced and has a great sense of flow, but I'll be honest and say that I'm not a massive fan of its central gimmick which has you touching lights to create platforms for a brief time. It can be a bit finicky to clamber up these light platforms at times, but when you're moving at fast speeds, you'll often be able to skip most of these bits which does mitigate the issue a tad.

19. Robot Graveyard
Robot Graveyard is a ton of fun, while it lasts. There is a lot to like in this stage, like the main mechanic which has you rolling up into a snowball to gain speed, and the massive twist of Brevon's robots still being active which certainly doesn't trigger any of Team Lilac's collective trauma or anything. However, my biggest issue with this stage is that it just feels too short. The Brevon twist only comes halfway through the stage, so the first half feels a bit empty, and once things really get good, you only have 1-2 minutes left until you hit the boss.

18. Palace Courtyard
Palace Courtyard is another super short level, though I at least understand why. It's less of an actual level and more of an extended setpiece, but man is it one of the coolest and most memorable setpieces in the game. The sense of tension as you race through a wrecked Shang Tu to try and stop Merga, all the while police lights dramatically light up the streets. It's just one of those moments where the music, visuals, and level design all sync up perfectly, and the first fight with Merga and subsequent reveal of what FP2's story is truly about is such a phenomenal and grippingly dramatic end to the game's first half.

17. Avian Museum
Most of the first few levels in Freedom Planet 2 are pretty equal in terms of quality. They're all well-designed and fluid stages with a great sense of flow, but are a bit too early in the game to do anything truly wild just yet. Avian Museum's best aspect is the cool setting, it's very fun to run through the different exhibits of the titular museum, boosting down dinosaur statues and jumping between the interior, exterior, and that weird mirror room. That being said, I'm not a huge fan of the disappearing blocks mechanic in that aforementioned mirror room, it does break the flow a bit in what's otherwise a very well-paced stage.

16. Shenlin Park
Shenlin Park was promoted pretty heavily and it's not hard to see why. It's a fun second stage with great music set in a bustling city with tons of fun setpieces and mechanics like the tunnels, gates, trains, and that final area set on a bunch of boats, a perfect encapsulation of everything that makes Freedom Planet 2 such a fun game. Like with Avian Museum, it does feel a bit simple compared to some of the later stages and some areas can feel a bit too cluttered, but otherwise, another really fun level.

15. Phoenix Highway
Phoenix Highway is kind of a sleeper hit of a stage. I originally found it pretty unremarkable, but now I think it's one of the most fun stages to go back too. Phoenix Highway is a very speed-focused stage, introducing mechanics like the boost rings and mobile drills that are solely there just to help you go faster. It's basically the Stardust Speedway of Freedom Planet, albeit also containing a neat mineshaft section in the middle filled with collectibles, gem crystals, and branching paths. Oh, and the music is godly, easily one of my favorite tracks in the game.

14. Zulon Jungle
Like most of Serpentine's stages, Zulon Jungle is complete and utter chaos, absolutely flooded with all kinds of enemies. It has a lot of the same kinetic appeal of Nalao Lake, but it's a lot more condensed, tight, and lengthy. There's also some fun new mechanics like the vines you can use to swing around, the geysers that shoot you out, and the level-ending setpiece where Serpentine starts shooting tons of missiles at you. The energetic music and jungle setting also gives me some real Mega Man X vibes, which is nice. The only thing holding this stage back for me is the pretty poor fight against Aaa at the end, but the rest of Zulon Jungle is an utter joy.

13. Dragon Valley
What an incredible first level. Freedom Planet 2's Dragon Valley reimagines the iconic setting from the first game brilliantly, between the gorgeous moonlit background, that absolutely godly level theme, and some very fun new mechanics like giant vines that swing you around and piles of leaves you can cut through. It's open, filled with hidden secrets and alternate paths, and is incredibly euphoric to run through time and time again. The fact that it hasn't even cracked the Top 10 goes to show how stellar Freedom Planet's level design is.

12. Tidal Gate
What an incredible first level. Seriously, though, what I love about Tidal Gate is that it's basically the Dragon Valley of Freedom Planet's second act. The first half of the game is fairly familiar and quite heavy on the remixes, but by the time you hit Tidal Gate, you really get the feeling that you have no idea what to expect for the rest of the game. It's a very fun level to speed through too, with tons of water slides, some of the more complex routing in the game, and a boss that you fight whilst running on top of the water. The stunningly beautiful visuals and musical score also really help.

11. Airship Sigwada
Airship Sigwada is basically just Sky Batallion but better in pretty much every way, it has that same kinetic energy but it's also far more streamlined. Instead of visiting three different airship each with their own unique mechanics, Airship Sigwada has you jumping and blasting yourself from airship to airship all the while dodging a metric ton of lasers. The main gimmicks like the battery-activated doors, flamethrower conveyors, and the aforementioned cannons are also easily some of my favorites in the game. Add in a cool opening where you ride a missile to reach the airships ala Mega Man Zero, some banger music, and a surprise double-boss fight and you get one of the most pure fun stages in Freedom Planet 2.

10. Inversion Dynamo
Hey, remember when I said Zulon Jungle was chaotic? Well, Inversion Dynamo amps that chaos factor up to eleven. You spend the entire level being flooded by Syntax-infected enemies, all the while flinging yourself across teleporters. There's Metallic Madness-inspired music, Mega Man X5-inspired landscapes, and windy level design that goes all over the place while keeping the momentum up throughout, and it's so damn fun. And unlike Zulon Jungle, Inversion Dynamo caps off with one of the best fights in the game, a tense on-foot battle against Serpentine's mech as you fight for Milla's independence.

9. Shade Armory
I was a bit skeptical of Shade Armory at first since it seemed like a sewer level, one of my least favorite level tropes. But to my complete and utter surprise, this stage is such a blast. From conveyor belts, to platforms that slide down when you stand on them, to little gravity bubbles you can launch yourself out of, to some surprisingly fun puzzles about pushing walls to clear a path, Shade Armory has a lot of very fun mechanics and the level design still manages to maintain a great sense of flow without any of the stage's more puzzle-y elements slowing the pace down at all. What really elevated Shade Armory for me though is the latter half where Syntax starts messing with the stage, pulling platforms and levers back, it's a very charming touch. Oh, and the music is once against incredible, but that's a given at this point.

8. Ancestral Forge
Pangu Lagoon was my least favorite stage in the first game. It was a more serene breather stage focused around annoyingly precise Dragon Boosts, and it felt a bit too start-and-stop for my tastes. Ancestral Forge is basically this game's Pangu Lagoon. It's lighter on the enemies, heavier on the puzzles, and packs an incredible calm and moody atmosphere and you uncover and explore the water dragon's collective grave. Despite the crushing length and heavy emphasis on puzzles though, Ancestral Forge is a really fun stage since most of its puzzles are in fact very enjoyable. From liquefying lava to raising the water levels to sprouting seeds, Ancestral Forge has some pretty inventive environmental puzzles that all come together in a very satisfying way by the end of the stage. The boss is kinda annoying though.

7. Lightning Tower
Lightning Tower is another more puzzle-centric level, focused around the electricity puzzles I mentioned in Weapon's Core. But unlike in that hellscape of a stage, the electricity puzzles are lot shorter and more fun, and you don't have to simultaneously be playing a stealth mission while doing them. Lightning Tower is also noteworthy for its streamlined, linear, entirely vertical level design that helps it feel like a nice breath of fresh air, without suffering from any of the literal pitfalls that come with vertical level design. The music is also a solid bop, and the sick 2.5D boss fight ends the stage on a high note.

6. Bakunawa Rush
Bakunawa Rush is a fantastic love letter to Sonic Adventure 2's Final Rush, kickstarting with you briskly grinding on rails in space. This is easily one of the fastest-paced and most propulsive stages in the game, even in the interior second half which has you blazing through nearly every early boss. What elevates this stage even more though is the incredibly fun pinball gimmick where you can hop into a powerful pinball and destroy pretty much everything in the fight, and it's even used in the boss fight too.

5. Tiger Falls
Freedom Planet 2 has its fair share of cool 2.5D assets, but nothing was quite as fun to mess around with as the waterfalls in Tiger Falls. This stage has you hop between being in front of and behind waterfalls to navigate the stage and dodge obstacles, and while it can feel a bit unwieldly at first, managing to keep your momentum and pull off perfectly-timed plane-switches at high speeds feels so good. The lovely visuals and music also help make this one of the best early stages in the game.

4. Zao Land
Zao Land is basically this game's Fortune Night, and it has pretty much the exact same appeal. It's a beautiful and colorful carnival-stage filled to the brim with fun interactable objects, ranging from strength tests that give you gems, to giant baseballs you can ride on, to a ridiculous amount of balloons to pop. This stage even introduces grind rails for the first time, which are always a joy to use. I try to avoid the Sonic comparisons whenever possible when talking about Freedom Planet, but I'm gonna be real, Zao Land is better than any Sonic casino level.

3. Globe Opera 2
The first act of Globe Opera was fine, but the second act, now that's the good stuff. It starts off strong with a memorable opening that has you turn on the lights only to be immediately flooded with enemies. The main gimmicks introduced like giant plugs you have to use by riding them down to the outlets, teleportation portals, and spinning cylinders you can fling yourself off of are all a ton of fun to play around with. And to further sell the illusion of it being the final level, Globe Opera 2 also ends with a bunch of rooms based on previous stages, all of which are quite fun in their own rights. And the music, holy shit, Globe Opera 2's theme is easily one of the best tracks in the game, it's so intense, climatic, and ethereal. This is why I hold the Globe Opera sequence in so high-regard, it really has everything, from fun level design, to flashy visuals, to emotionally effective music, to shocking story revelations.

2. Clockwork Arboretum
Out of the final Bakunawa stages, the Clockwork Arboretum stands out as my favorite of the bunch. The main premise is that you're riding up an elevator that stops on every floor, where you have to go in, get a key, and move onto the next one. There's a nice variety between the floors, from faster speed-focused sections to slower puzzle-focused ones, and there's a great blend between repurposed level mechanics from previous stages to fun new mechanics like the spinning gears you have to hop across. But what really brings Clockwork Arboretum to second place is its emotional impact, as this is also the stage where you have your final face-off against Corazon, which easily ranks alongside Merga as the best and most heart-breaking boss fight in the game.

1. Magma Starscape
From what I can tell, Magma Starscape is a fan favorite stage and it's not hard to see why. It ranks alongside Bakunawa Rush as being the most relentlessly fast-paced in the game, as you have to quickly dart from shelter to shelter before Lilac heats up. This could've been a really annoying mechanic, but the level has such an incredible fluidity to it that blazing through the stage and frenetically hopping across sinking platforms feels beyond exhilirating. It also helps that the visuals and backgrounds are some of the prettiest in the game, and the head-bangingly intense stage music is straight-up my favorite Freedom Planet 2 track. And while I can't necessarily count it since it's a separate stage, the Askal fight right after this is really good too. Also props for pulling a Gravity Bubble and ending the stage with a chase sequence as you have to scramble up out of the volcano before the lava catches up with you.