Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise

It´s another smash hit like the original. As in smashing against a wall at full speed. No lessons were learned, the tech is even more busted, the controls are N64 bad, etc. Hats off. The again bleak story mostly works on the other hand, the music is legit good this time, the VAs give it their all, the setting(s) rock, etc. Patches won´t save the even more extreme technical mess fully but they can´t hurt. Only the original 360 version of game 1 is semi-coherent as a product in your hands when compared to the on paper "improved" ports. The human eye just can´t see at 30 frames. About half is enough. So says Mr Toybox. Don´t just watch the game on YouTube. The full experience involves the somehow downgraded gameplay and not just the story. Even at it´s ugliest. Especially at it´s ugliest. Don´t be surprised if you end up taking notes with this game. That´s how cryptic it can be without a guide once you start the side-quests. It´s as if this game truly came out in 2005... on a Dreamcast.

Was this game worth the decade wait? Not fully. The accidental transphobia is problematic, the story feels like cutscenes are missing (the finale to act 3 is the main culprit) and the game´s overall mystery plot doesn´t feel solved in the same way it was in the original. The plot is even noticeably less engaging that than DP "Origins" but still enjoyable. The game even has a hard point of no return in a game that highly relies on half baked side content. The good news is that the game ends in a way that the "franchise" can continue and hopefully learn from all of this.

I give DP 2 a 6.0/10 due to the abysmal technical state with room for a 6.5 if extensive patches come. Those skating controls are as bad as the fps on the board for example. A port with additional content might work wonders here but who honestly trusts TyoBox after the many disasters they unleashed till now?

PS: Let´s make D5 a thing Swery. D4 is even confirmed canon to this universe.