What Game Are You Playing Right Now?

LoathsomePete · 03-13-2015, 10:04 PM

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

Huh... well I wasn't expecting this to be my first big disappointment of the year. While the gameplay is virtually unchanged, the game suffers from a bloated story, poor level design, broken AI, more emphasis on guns, and arbitrary gameplay restrictions. There are so many characters you play as and the story jumps around in time that it's an in-cohesive mess. Half of the characters you play as once and then never see again, or at least that's the case where I'm at in the story, so it makes following their developments impossible. The level design went from smaller rooms with tight groups of enemies to these large sprawling rooms that aren't as densely populated, and as such make chaining attacks much more difficult, not to mention you'll get sniped by some enemy through a window you couldn't even see. While the AI was never great in the original I never once ran into an enemy just spinning around in a circle, but every single level I find at least one. There's also far less melee weapons and a greater emphasis on guns, which can be frustrating as guns attract more enemies and seem to have a slower fire rate than before. There was one level on a boat where there was at least 20 enemies in a room and more than half had guns. The next level up was largely the same and there was so many windows I just sat outside and sniped enemies, which completely ruins the frantic crazy slice and dice I liked from the original. As for the game restrictions, well when you're given a choice of a masked character, there are only a few to choose from and there aren't really any strong reasons to choose any of them. You play as one character who can roll, two who have a chainsaw and gun, one who can duel wield machine guns, or one who can kill with punches but can't pick up any weapons. I couldn't find any of their special abilities helpful and really they only ended up making the game more frustrating than it needed to be. Oh and the difficulty has been ramped up quite a bit, but with the awful level design it feels completely unfair.

On the plus side, the soundtrack is significantly better than the first games and the pixelated artwork is just as gruesome as even, now with more gore. There's a level editor that I haven't checked out but that's kind of a neat feature that could extend the longevity of the game. That said though, that's really all I can think of for positive things to say. It seems like the developer fell for the old "more = better" approach to sequel design and lost sight of what made the first game so good, which was it's stripped down, barebones, but densely packed gameplay, cohesive albeit surreal story, and an appropriate length.

Honestly I don't know if I can recommend this game if you liked the first one, because while it's very much like the original, it has so many missteps and bizarre design choices that it just leaves me feeling confused, and that's before we get into the story. If you find it on sale and you're curious, then maybe, but honestly I'd recommend replaying the 1st over this any time.

Key · 03-13-2015, 10:38 PM

^Well that's disappointing to hear. I love the first one and hadn't decided whether or not I wanted to give the 2nd one a go. Guess there's not much point in doing so.

LoathsomePete · 03-13-2015, 11:45 PM

Yeah I'm pretty let down, I kind of wish I had bought Ori and the Blind Forest instead. I don't even know if I'll bother to finish this one as the levels are just getting ridiculous and the frustration far outweighs the fun.

Key · 03-14-2015, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoathsomePete

Yeah I'm pretty let down, I kind of wish I had bought Ori and the Blind Forest instead. I don't even know if I'll bother to finish this one as the levels are just getting ridiculous and the frustration far outweighs the fun.

Yeah, that's a shame. The reason I love the first one is because when you die, it doesn't feel like the game is cheating you, you realize that you did something wrong and made a bad move and you try to fix it to beat the level. You probably know as well as I do how good it feels to finally beat a chapter after dying numerous times.

Ori and the Blind Forest looks amazing though, I may end up picking it up for myself.

Key · 03-15-2015, 02:07 PM

possible Game of the Year for me

This game is perfect. The soundtrack is perfect. The gameplay is perfect. Everything about it is perfect. I'm already addicted to it and I've barely gotten heavily into it. The combat style is very well done, and the environments and all that are top notch. I'm honestly surprised it's at such a low price on Steam because this game easily surpasses a lot of the AAA titles that are going for 50-60 bucks. I love this game so much right now.

Black Francis · 03-15-2015, 02:11 PM

^ Looks pretty, is it a platformer?

Im playin Terraria again and i just found a floating island.
im lucky i watched TB & Jesse's playthrough of Terraria or else i wouldn't have known they even exist.

Key · 03-15-2015, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Francis

^ Looks pretty, is it a platformer?

Im playin Terraria again and i just found a floating island.
im lucky i watched TB & Jesse's playthrough of Terraria or else i wouldn't have known they even exist.

Yep, it's a platformer. But everything about it is so charming and beautiful.

DwnWthVwls · 03-16-2015, 01:42 AM

^Watched some gameplay trailers that game looks awesome.

I think I'm gonna pick this up sometime this week:

It's just a walk around/puzzle game but it's fairy tale based and looks awesome. I checked it out on Twitch but left because I didn't wanna ruin the story if I bought it. People in chat were saying it's based on the comic series Fables.

**Yac** · 03-16-2015, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DwnWthVwls

^Watched some gameplay trailers that game looks awesome.

I think I'm gonna pick this up sometime this week:

It's just a walk around/puzzle game but it's fairy tale based and looks awesome. I checked it out on Twitch but left because I didn't wanna ruin the story if I bought it. People in chat were saying it's based on the comic series Fables.

Get it, it's awesome. I can't recommend it enough, all my friends are tired of me by now but really, get it.

Key · 03-16-2015, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DwnWthVwls

^Watched some gameplay trailers that game looks awesome.

I think I'm gonna pick this up sometime this week:

It's just a walk around/puzzle game but it's fairy tale based and looks awesome. I checked it out on Twitch but left because I didn't wanna ruin the story if I bought it. People in chat were saying it's based on the comic series Fables.

You need to play The Wolf Among Us, it's fantastic. The story telling is some of the best I have seen in a while.

And yeah, Ori and The Blind Forest continues to get better. You get some power ups as you progress and it gets really interesting and continues to be a beautifully made game.

03-13-2015, 10:04 PM	#7241 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Huh... well I wasn't expecting this to be my first big disappointment of the year. While the gameplay is virtually unchanged, the game suffers from a bloated story, poor level design, broken AI, more emphasis on guns, and arbitrary gameplay restrictions. There are so many characters you play as and the story jumps around in time that it's an in-cohesive mess. Half of the characters you play as once and then never see again, or at least that's the case where I'm at in the story, so it makes following their developments impossible. The level design went from smaller rooms with tight groups of enemies to these large sprawling rooms that aren't as densely populated, and as such make chaining attacks much more difficult, not to mention you'll get sniped by some enemy through a window you couldn't even see. While the AI was never great in the original I never once ran into an enemy just spinning around in a circle, but every single level I find at least one. There's also far less melee weapons and a greater emphasis on guns, which can be frustrating as guns attract more enemies and seem to have a slower fire rate than before. There was one level on a boat where there was at least 20 enemies in a room and more than half had guns. The next level up was largely the same and there was so many windows I just sat outside and sniped enemies, which completely ruins the frantic crazy slice and dice I liked from the original. As for the game restrictions, well when you're given a choice of a masked character, there are only a few to choose from and there aren't really any strong reasons to choose any of them. You play as one character who can roll, two who have a chainsaw and gun, one who can duel wield machine guns, or one who can kill with punches but can't pick up any weapons. I couldn't find any of their special abilities helpful and really they only ended up making the game more frustrating than it needed to be. Oh and the difficulty has been ramped up quite a bit, but with the awful level design it feels completely unfair. On the plus side, the soundtrack is significantly better than the first games and the pixelated artwork is just as gruesome as even, now with more gore. There's a level editor that I haven't checked out but that's kind of a neat feature that could extend the longevity of the game. That said though, that's really all I can think of for positive things to say. It seems like the developer fell for the old "more = better" approach to sequel design and lost sight of what made the first game so good, which was it's stripped down, barebones, but densely packed gameplay, cohesive albeit surreal story, and an appropriate length. Honestly I don't know if I can recommend this game if you liked the first one, because while it's very much like the original, it has so many missteps and bizarre design choices that it just leaves me feeling confused, and that's before we get into the story. If you find it on sale and you're curious, then maybe, but honestly I'd recommend replaying the 1st over this any time. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

03-13-2015, 11:45 PM	#7243 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	Yeah I'm pretty let down, I kind of wish I had bought Ori and the Blind Forest instead. I don't even know if I'll bother to finish this one as the levels are just getting ridiculous and the frustration far outweighs the fun. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

03-15-2015, 02:11 PM	#7246 (permalink)
Black Francis Out of Place Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: in an abstract house Posts: 4,111	^ Looks pretty, is it a platformer? Im playin Terraria again and i just found a floating island. im lucky i watched TB & Jesse's playthrough of Terraria or else i wouldn't have known they even exist. __________________ "Hey Kids you got to meet the MIGHTY PIXIES!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbRbCtIgW3A

03-13-2015, 10:38 PM	#7242 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	^Well that's disappointing to hear. I love the first one and hadn't decided whether or not I wanted to give the 2nd one a go. Guess there's not much point in doing so.

03-15-2015, 02:07 PM	#7245 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	possible Game of the Year for me This game is perfect. The soundtrack is perfect. The gameplay is perfect. Everything about it is perfect. I'm already addicted to it and I've barely gotten heavily into it. The combat style is very well done, and the environments and all that are top notch. I'm honestly surprised it's at such a low price on Steam because this game easily surpasses a lot of the AAA titles that are going for 50-60 bucks. I love this game so much right now.