Two Point Museum Fantasy Finds DLC Review (PS5) – Magical Mayhem

If you’ve ever looked at your lovingly curated museum and thought “yeah, that’s nice, but it could use some magic”. Two Point Museum Fantasy Finds DLC has got you covered. So grab your wizard hat, your sword and perhaps a trusty sidekick goblin and let’s go.

With the magical school of Spiffinmoore included in Two Point Campus, it was only a matter of time before a sprinkle of sugar, spice and everything nice was added to Museum.

For those just starting out on Museum, it may be wise to come back to this adventure a bit later on. You begin your adventure in the middle of the snowy mountains, with no money and even fewer customers visiting. Your first task on your adventure is to actually get money. This introduces you to the idea of loans and sponsors very early on if you’ve not already been acquainted to this feature during your other playthroughs.

Character Roll Call Fantasy Finds DLC comes with 40 new exhibits, a new expert type, a new map and many new decorations, including utility items and interactive displays. One of the best additions to the DLC is the arrival of four fantasy-themed experts. You can hire either Barbarian, Bard, Rogue or Wizard. These staff in your party are not just cosmetic features; each have their own strengths and weaknesses that can directly impact your expeditions. A barbarian may smash through a blocked ruin like it’s made of paper, while your bard can charm any NPC’s you may meet along the way. The catch is, if you’re not careful and you don’t build the right party, you can end up paying for it or worse, MIA.

This extra layer of RPG thinking makes expeditions feel more layered and more alive – occasionally adding a bit of chaos too. It’s a welcome quality of life feature with a dose of being able to add skill points when your staff gain experience levels. It can however, slow things down if your waiting on staff to become experienced or you need to unlock an area.

Artifacts with Attitude

Now artifacts do more than simply stand a look pretty. Enchanting items or Mythical gear can be equipped to your staff granting buffs and silly side effects. Winged boots for speed, plot armour or a chest that boosts donations. It is a small tweak on paper, but it shifts exhibits and set pieces to become tools in success for your museum. It can also bring a bigger sense of connection to your museum floor. I have an ‘everything’ museum and I can not wait to add this to the museum and have interactive section from the Fantasy Finds. However, right now, I’ve been focused on my ‘Fantasy Only’ Museum – and yes – its not always possible to do this, you may have to add a few other experts or another museum theme based on the artifacts but for me, it still counts.

In addition to the artefacts, the decor and props give you every excuse to make your castle feel as Baldur’s Gate or Dark Souls as you like. It is a shame that this isn’t located in a particular fantasy setting and instead in the snowy mountains, but we make it work and there is a lot to play with. Such as castle arches, chains, and a massive D20 dice for tabletop enthusiasts.

Adventures Await

‘Scorched Earth’ The new expedition map is the fantasy playground of scorched wasteland. Points of interest are scattered across the terrian each with unique challenges tied to the expert classes. Bringing the right person means you will breeze through collecting the artefacts, no problem. Not having the right skillset means you could end up as a crispy snack. In Scorched Earth, you can unlock and therefore create different potions which can give you skill boots or help you slay dragons. It is fun, and there are much more locations that are class specific to help you experience up different staff.

Sometimes the class can feel like a roadblock at times, I wasn’t kidding when I said it may be best for a later game experience. At times, I feel like I am almost locked into waiting for staff to level up, or sending them constantly on different ‘safer’ expeditions to gain experience before being able to unlock certain areas. You can’t steamroll every mission or objective as easier as the other maps.

These will take time and allow you to enjoy the game, I just found maybe I was stagnant a bit more often than I was used too, just awaiting money to build up or my staff to gain experience to be able to continue with the objective at hand. There are some fun little tidbits too, such as choosing a town to destroy or save just as you may in a real life D&D adventure. Whilst this won’t rapidly change your playthrough, it is added bits like this which make the DLC feel like it’s slotted in nicely for an immersive experience.

Goblin County

A new visitor type is also available in Goblins. They shamble through the halls with the same wide eyed wonder as everyone else, only to glare at anything suspiciously. They also have their own artefacts you can showcase in your museum for them to gaze in awe. Two Point’s trademark humour is still alive and well also. The tannoy continues to never get boring and pokes fun at the heroic cliche’s. Little touches like this just note how well Fantasy Finds integrates with the base game. It doesn’t feel like your stepping into ‘fantasy mode’. The mechanics, newer additions and the little touches naturally will slot into your existing campaigns. This feels like fresh content that allows you to revisit if you’ve not played for a while or continue your campaigns as necessary.

My only gripe is that this feels more reminiscent of the grind that you may see in Two Point Hospital. I actually completely understand why this does that, and I think it’s all about balance. It feels like the other museums are front loaded with so much fun and ease and accessibility. There will be those that miss the challenge, the grind and the reward of finally getting the objectives. As mentioned, it works best for later game players, but once used to the game it will be a wonderful addition to your story or sandbox mode.

Two Point Museum ‘Fantasy Finds’ DLC is available now on PlayStation 5, Xbox, Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Developer: Two Point Studios
Publisher: Sega

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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