Imagine the worst murder mystery story you can think of.
What would it contain? Perhaps it would lack investigation? Maybe the motives would be flimsy? Or maybe you have thought of the story where the villains are so painfully obvious that nothing about it is gripping?
Deadly Premonition 2 is all of those, and then some!
It's hard to describe Deadly Premonition 2 because so much of it is just a mess. Not a cute, funny, low-budget mess like the original was, but a seemingly cynical pile of garbage.
Deadly Premonition 2 has no reasons to exist. If you want a glimpse into York's future, or just want to follow him on a different case, you should probably look into fanfiction. Technically, the game does both of those things, but I can guarantee that even a free story on the internet would most likely be better written.
The premise of the game is that it's set in the modern day, but mostly takes place in the flashback, as two FBI agents question agent Morgan about his previous case. Scenes taking place in 2019 are arguably the best part of the game and should've probably been released as a light novel for people wondering what happened to the main character after a somewhat ambiguous ending of the first game.
During the first hour or so of the game you might be tricked into thinking that the game is good: it looks and sounds fairly nice, and it has that comfy feel of the original. However, as you play more, you might begin to realize that the game has nothing in store for you.
First thing you might notice is that Deadly Premonition 2 has very few characters in it: maybe half the cast of the original. Bigger isn't always better, but unfortunately the cast of the game is also a bit too cartoony. The original had its fair share of weirdos, but aside from a few residents, most were pretty realistic. The first character you meet here is a hotel chef/owner/bellboy who acts like he's three different people.
It seems like most characters were written to be quirky in a way where they have That One Thing, instead of being written as characters. There's a sheriff that talks in taglines. A half naked barman whose catchphrase is "yeaaaaaah?". Local priest who keeps repeating "pitiful". It's obnoxious and gets tiring really quickly.
Perhaps the worst of them is a tribal shaman Houngan, who appears before York to give him hints on how to proceed with investigation. I'm not an expert on cultures, so it's not my place to judge how well he was implemented (although admittedly, York quoting him and trying to impersonate him in a funny accent is fucked up), but he's not so much a bad character as he is a bad story. What I mean by that is that Houngan IS the story of the game.
York from Deadly Premotinion 1 had unconventional ideas about investigations. He trusted coffee more than anything else, but ultimately he did know his trade. The first game had you go to the police, the morgue, crime scene, then had you chase down leads.
There's none of that in the sequel. The story of the investigation is: Houngan appears, gives you a hint on what to do, you do that. What he wants from you is even more unconventional than following coffee patterns: get a strike in bowling, for example. Sure, all his hints lead to something, but it ends up feeling like you don't do any investigating in this murder mystery game, and his hints are so disjointed and weird that you only end up looking at the crime scene about halfway through the game. AFTER you know who the killer is.
Deadly Premonition 2 never cares about the "mystery" aspect of its story at all. The moment you set foot in the first dungeon, York gets a vision naming the killer. Sure, there are other people involved, so it's not that bad. Or, at least, it wouldn't be if you didn't catch the mastermind behind the whole thing before the game reaches midpoint!
Speaking of dungeons, if you thought that Deadly Premonition 2 would improve on the worst part of the original, you'd be wrong. Dungeons in the original were bad little Silent Hill-esque spooky dark world replicas of real places that always felt underdeveloped. Dungeons in the sequel are identical - and I mean completely visually identical - hallways with some checkpoints in the middle. Oh, and also there are only three enemy variations in the game and an entire ONE gun you get to play with.
Free-roaming has also received a downgrade. Arguably the best part of the original Deadly Premonition was the side content, and it's impressive how much the sequel dumbs it down. All the quests in the game are bad. At best they're an inoffensive fetchquest, and at worst they are deliberately made to waste your time.
There's a reason why I think Deadly Premontion 2 would work best as a light novel. If you cut out all the fluff, the game would be maybe 2 hours long. The quests go absolutely nowhere and include such hits as:
- Following a dog for about 15 minutes (be sure to not hit midnight in game so you won't lose track of it when the cutscene plays!)
- Getting three random items from either very specific places or places that are open on certain times and bringing them to the pastor one after one. You will receive a reward that, as far as I could see, has no use within the game.
- Talking to hotel chef. Note: nothing in the game tells you when the owner of the hotel is in his "Chef" persona, and you must only do that when he is in-character (which is about 4 hours a day)
Those aren't even sidequests. These are the main quests of the game! I wrote them down because sidequests are usually dumber are usually of "Do lots of one thing" variety. They're also as committed to waste as much of your time as possbile (do note that this game, unlike the prequel doesn't even show side quests on the map or above characters, making completion nearly impossible). However, it's likely that you would drop them after completing about 10 when you realize that the game has nothing to reward you with.
The best reward the game can give you is a new suit. The usual reward, however, is yet another accessory. Various beads, necklaces and incenses that you can use to increase everything, from firepower, to minigame luck. Those aren't a bad idea, and can even modify your gun a bit so it fires like a shotgun (although you'll probably just stick with regular bullets), but after you've received your 10th accessory, you'll probably drop the quests altogether and be sad, while you remember how Deadly Premonition would reward you with weird items, car upgrades and new guns.
Not even the ending is worth it.
Lastly, I want to bring up the big issue of the game: the transphobia. If you've heard any discussions of the game, it's probably due to York being written in a weird way. A progressive dude who cares for trans people but casually deadnames and mixes up pronouns of the only trans character in the game. Frankly, this didn't bother me much, as York is kind of an asshole, but if you thought my review made the game sound interesting in a "so bad it's good" (it's not) kind of way, I feel like I'm obliged to give a trigger warning to both this and York's ridiculous accent he makes when he impersonates Houngan.
The only way I can see Deadly Premonition 2 being worth it is if you want something to just waste your time: do random sidequests where you find spots with the help of photos and kill X amount of enemies. Even if sidequests suck, those moments are somewhat comfortable and easy to just chill to. If you're curious about the game as a continuation, however, just don't bother.
What would it contain? Perhaps it would lack investigation? Maybe the motives would be flimsy? Or maybe you have thought of the story where the villains are so painfully obvious that nothing about it is gripping?
Deadly Premonition 2 is all of those, and then some!
It's hard to describe Deadly Premonition 2 because so much of it is just a mess. Not a cute, funny, low-budget mess like the original was, but a seemingly cynical pile of garbage.
Deadly Premonition 2 has no reasons to exist. If you want a glimpse into York's future, or just want to follow him on a different case, you should probably look into fanfiction. Technically, the game does both of those things, but I can guarantee that even a free story on the internet would most likely be better written.
The premise of the game is that it's set in the modern day, but mostly takes place in the flashback, as two FBI agents question agent Morgan about his previous case. Scenes taking place in 2019 are arguably the best part of the game and should've probably been released as a light novel for people wondering what happened to the main character after a somewhat ambiguous ending of the first game.
During the first hour or so of the game you might be tricked into thinking that the game is good: it looks and sounds fairly nice, and it has that comfy feel of the original. However, as you play more, you might begin to realize that the game has nothing in store for you.
First thing you might notice is that Deadly Premonition 2 has very few characters in it: maybe half the cast of the original. Bigger isn't always better, but unfortunately the cast of the game is also a bit too cartoony. The original had its fair share of weirdos, but aside from a few residents, most were pretty realistic. The first character you meet here is a hotel chef/owner/bellboy who acts like he's three different people.
It seems like most characters were written to be quirky in a way where they have That One Thing, instead of being written as characters. There's a sheriff that talks in taglines. A half naked barman whose catchphrase is "yeaaaaaah?". Local priest who keeps repeating "pitiful". It's obnoxious and gets tiring really quickly.
Perhaps the worst of them is a tribal shaman Houngan, who appears before York to give him hints on how to proceed with investigation. I'm not an expert on cultures, so it's not my place to judge how well he was implemented (although admittedly, York quoting him and trying to impersonate him in a funny accent is fucked up), but he's not so much a bad character as he is a bad story. What I mean by that is that Houngan IS the story of the game.
York from Deadly Premotinion 1 had unconventional ideas about investigations. He trusted coffee more than anything else, but ultimately he did know his trade. The first game had you go to the police, the morgue, crime scene, then had you chase down leads.
There's none of that in the sequel. The story of the investigation is: Houngan appears, gives you a hint on what to do, you do that. What he wants from you is even more unconventional than following coffee patterns: get a strike in bowling, for example. Sure, all his hints lead to something, but it ends up feeling like you don't do any investigating in this murder mystery game, and his hints are so disjointed and weird that you only end up looking at the crime scene about halfway through the game. AFTER you know who the killer is.
Deadly Premonition 2 never cares about the "mystery" aspect of its story at all. The moment you set foot in the first dungeon, York gets a vision naming the killer. Sure, there are other people involved, so it's not that bad. Or, at least, it wouldn't be if you didn't catch the mastermind behind the whole thing before the game reaches midpoint!
Speaking of dungeons, if you thought that Deadly Premonition 2 would improve on the worst part of the original, you'd be wrong. Dungeons in the original were bad little Silent Hill-esque spooky dark world replicas of real places that always felt underdeveloped. Dungeons in the sequel are identical - and I mean completely visually identical - hallways with some checkpoints in the middle. Oh, and also there are only three enemy variations in the game and an entire ONE gun you get to play with.
Free-roaming has also received a downgrade. Arguably the best part of the original Deadly Premonition was the side content, and it's impressive how much the sequel dumbs it down. All the quests in the game are bad. At best they're an inoffensive fetchquest, and at worst they are deliberately made to waste your time.
There's a reason why I think Deadly Premontion 2 would work best as a light novel. If you cut out all the fluff, the game would be maybe 2 hours long. The quests go absolutely nowhere and include such hits as:
- Following a dog for about 15 minutes (be sure to not hit midnight in game so you won't lose track of it when the cutscene plays!)
- Getting three random items from either very specific places or places that are open on certain times and bringing them to the pastor one after one. You will receive a reward that, as far as I could see, has no use within the game.
- Talking to hotel chef. Note: nothing in the game tells you when the owner of the hotel is in his "Chef" persona, and you must only do that when he is in-character (which is about 4 hours a day)
Those aren't even sidequests. These are the main quests of the game! I wrote them down because sidequests are usually dumber are usually of "Do lots of one thing" variety. They're also as committed to waste as much of your time as possbile (do note that this game, unlike the prequel doesn't even show side quests on the map or above characters, making completion nearly impossible). However, it's likely that you would drop them after completing about 10 when you realize that the game has nothing to reward you with.
The best reward the game can give you is a new suit. The usual reward, however, is yet another accessory. Various beads, necklaces and incenses that you can use to increase everything, from firepower, to minigame luck. Those aren't a bad idea, and can even modify your gun a bit so it fires like a shotgun (although you'll probably just stick with regular bullets), but after you've received your 10th accessory, you'll probably drop the quests altogether and be sad, while you remember how Deadly Premonition would reward you with weird items, car upgrades and new guns.
Not even the ending is worth it.
Lastly, I want to bring up the big issue of the game: the transphobia. If you've heard any discussions of the game, it's probably due to York being written in a weird way. A progressive dude who cares for trans people but casually deadnames and mixes up pronouns of the only trans character in the game. Frankly, this didn't bother me much, as York is kind of an asshole, but if you thought my review made the game sound interesting in a "so bad it's good" (it's not) kind of way, I feel like I'm obliged to give a trigger warning to both this and York's ridiculous accent he makes when he impersonates Houngan.
The only way I can see Deadly Premonition 2 being worth it is if you want something to just waste your time: do random sidequests where you find spots with the help of photos and kill X amount of enemies. Even if sidequests suck, those moments are somewhat comfortable and easy to just chill to. If you're curious about the game as a continuation, however, just don't bother.