The Last of Us 2 epitomises everything about overly-produced, mass market-friendly content that many of us are becoming exhausted with. SWERY, knowing full well that his game will be castigated on Metacritic and widely mocked, has satirised every mainstream expectation of a video game in Deadly Premonition 2. There’s nothing that suggests that anything within this game is not an entirely deliberate, surrealistic subversion of expectations, and while Deadly Premonition 2 is not for everyone (and potentially offensive to some), games as an art form are better off having works like this to exist in parallel to mainstream entertainment.
On a technical level, Deadly Premonition 2 can be criticized for lots of things, but it would be a shame to rely on the game for that. Technical imperfections matter little if a game is so fascinating that it's hard to put it down. Deadly Premonition 2 you play for the bizarre plot lines, eccentric characters and obscure references to pop culture. They provide such a fantastic and quirky experience that we can forgive this second part for its shortcomings.
"Deadly Premonition 2" isn't as good as its predecessor--which is a weird phrase for a pair of games that are so hard for their experiences to be quantified--but with a new generation on the horizon and new tech being flashed in front of us, it's a game we've needed. "Deadly Premonition 2" is the anti-game to counteract the overindulgence of AAA hedonism such as "Red Dead Redemption 2" or "The Last of Us Part II". It barely runs, is as janky as ever, and looks about as good as middle-shelf title from the middle age of the Xbox 360. Yet, there are few games with as much heart, joy, and passion in them. Writing and characters are more infatuating than ever. You ride a skateboard around town and learn tricks on it and its color is based on your joy cons. While playing most games this year, I always thought how much I rather be playing "Deadly Premonition 2".
Despite technical hiccups and awkward moments, the gleefully bizarre characters, twisted and intriguing story, quirky dialogue and loads of fun content to fiddle around with in Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise provides an experience worth checking out, albeit one you may find yourself questioning at certain points.
The hardest part about reviewing Deadly Premonition 2 is that in a lot of ways it’s exactly what fans of the first game wanted. It’s a broken mess that controls like a dog on roller blades that looks ugly and runs even worse, with the bizarrely charming writing that only somebody like Swery65 could bring to the table. Nobody in Le Carré feels quite Greenvale levels of weird, but they’re all a bunch of weirdos all the same. Well, except David, he’d fit in Greenvale pretty well. If you like the first Deadly Premonition you likely already know what you want and what you’re getting into, and you’ll likely be pretty happy with this sequel. Your everyday average player should probably weigh how much jank they’re willing to put up with before giving this game a shot, though.
Deadly Premonition 2 : A Blessing In Disguise is a sequel for to the fans of the first game and them only. They endure the toughness of this episode to discover the true story behind it.
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise is a broken game on multiple levels. Its narrative is broken, in that its interesting core mystery fails to engage due to the most agonizing delivery possible. Its ideologies are broken, as it seems to think trans people are evil, women are weak, and black people are sentient stereotypes. The rest of it – the abysmal gameplay, unacceptable performance, tendency to crash – is no better.
Deadly Premonition is the epitome of a love it or hate it. The 2010 low budget love letter to equally low budget movies, David Lynch, and small town horror made massive waves and for good reason. And anybody who expected a more polished experience with its sequel ultimately missed one of its many strange charms. To elaborate, try playing the original on PC at 60FPS. It runs well enough but you can tell something's undeniably off, as though, like many console games, it wasn't meant for pristine smoothness by design.
Deadly Premonition 2, to everyone's surprise, actually happened, and for me didn't disappoint in the slightest. The bizarre writing and tone is ramped up without being too self aware, the plot is (so far) spectacular and engaging, the cast of characters just as lovingly crafted as before, and our FBI Special Agent Francis York Morgan is back in full form in Le Carre, Louisiana, happily abandoning his vacation in favor of yet another dead teenage girl left in a gruesomely reverent pose. Aside from driving, which is maybe not so tragically traded in for the loudest skateboard in the world, this is just about everything the first game was, with a wash of new minigames, a semi-real time day night system, hunger and hygiene meters (now with showers), the potential to catch a cold or even get sunburned in the southern heat, an even better soundtrack than before, and even marginally dangerous enemies that actually show up before nightfall, you'll know you're getting Deadly Premonition to its very heart and soul.
If there's anything bad to be said is that the open world framerate is poor even by Switch standards, but as this was quickly addressed and even apologized for by the writer/director SWERY, I'm gonna avoid the lynchmob bandwagon and withhold judgment. After all, unlike most games, DP isn't the kind of game where you throw around words like "unacceptable". It's one of those exceptions that prove the rule in that regard, like a good Troma film, or that one no-budget horror flick that managed to get something right despite everything. The outdoor framerate certainly hasn't impeded why I play this game, as indoor framerates are fine, and indoor sections are the bulk of the game itself. Cutscenes are also polished enough to be enjoyable. The game isn't short either, evidently matching the 30+ hour average of the original, so there's a lot of story to be told.
Keep this in mind. If you loved Deadly Premonition, you'll love Deadly Premonition 2 just as much, give or take. It's absolutely the soul of the original, only with a new mystery to unravel.
Deadly Premonition 2 gets a 10/10. Time to fall back into the chaos, isn't that right, Zach?
Deadly premonition 2 is a very odd game. I was a big fan of the first game and played through it twice. The characters were full of charm in a twin peaks way which I really appreciated. The sequel manages to keep a lot of that charm. I think the narrative is a bit weaker and becomes a little convoluted at points but it has a solid ending which helps make up for that.
In terms of technical issues I experienced none so I think the game has been patched and runs much better now than it did at launch. After roughly 15 to 16 hours I had zero crashes and zero framerate drops. I found the game played well both docked and in handheld mode so if you're worried about technical trouble I don't think that's an issue anymore.
Visually I quite like the art style but the lack of lip synching and stiff animations mean this isn't a game you play because it's pretty. In terms of gameplay I thought the first felt like an xbox game but seeing as it was released on xbox 360, just one generation later, that wasn't so bad. The sequel plays like a good xbox game but even so... it feels like it's two generations behind. There is a lack of enemy variety, the inventory system is a mess, the gunplay is fine, the shooting sections drag out heavily, guns should just have infinite ammo as I ended up running out of bullets and punching enemies and even the final boss, melee fighting feels bad and there's no lock on, there are some long fetch questions or follow this person quests etc. The game ultimately feels quite padded out and the story sections can throw a lot of dialogue at you.
Overall I'd say if you're a fan of the first game and you can get this on a sale it's worth checking out but it's ultimately a very mixed bag and a bit of a disappointment. I loved the first game and quite enjoyed the missing as well so I hope swery's next project is better.
As strange as it may seem: Deadly Premonition 2 is worth it. Of course, this can be subjective, taste for certain games is something personal. But its story and dialogues are the main points that made me have enough fun I was looking for. And as I am a lover of investigative games with terror-oriented aspect along with shooting mechanics, I may even be suspicious of saying – despite the fact that DP2 approaches terror in a very “B-movie” way. That said, apart from Swery's work being completely crude, having very outdated graphics, shameful animations and many, but MANY technical problems, it is curious how much the game manages to captivate through its story and personality. It’s a big problem that he is in the Brazilian Nintendo eShop and does not have the Portuguese language, whose understanding is essential to understand the events and the silly humor of Deadly Premonition 2.
While the original was prime example of so bad it’s good, Deadly Premonition 2 is just bad. Agent Francis York Morgan is a fascinating character, but there’s nothing else worthwhile here except an acid trip story. It runs terribly and the gameplay is worse than the original.
It’s a good thing Agent Francis York Morgan is so charming, because the other characters are extremely unlikable, including a naked cowboy who admits to being in love with a 16-year old girl.. A far cry from the original game where the citizens of Greenvale were quirky and endearing.
SummaryIn the year 2005, FBI agent York visits Le Carré, a small town in New Orleans where he encounters a mysterious serial murder case alongside his "friend" Zach. Produced by the original creator team. The story takes place in a small town in New Orleans which was created based on research and interviews.