Right out the gate, DOA2 absolutely crushes its predecessor. It's much smoother and considerably more fun to play. It looks, sounds, and feels so much better than the first game ever could. I also really appreciate this is where they updated and generally solidified all character designs; because they ALL look so much better from the first game's (overall) very bland designs.
The general gameplay feels SO much more balanced. Using holds feel so smooth now; you don't need to worry about "offensive hold" or "defensive hold" anymore. Being able to just press Hold and 7, 4, or 1 (numpad rotation) depending on the High, Mid, or Low hits felts super natural. Throws are also a lot smoother and the input-timing on some combo throws isn't nearly as whack anymore.
The difficulty too, also feels overwhelmingly more fair. Though every once and a while, it still felt like the CPU would randomly decide you've had enough fun and just obliterate you in back-to-back-to-back rounds out of nowhere. I mostly felt this happening in Time Attack than anywhere else though (but it was still fun). The Survival Mode took me a bit to get used to and it's still not my favorite, but I appreciate that it lets just jump right into the action and just keep going until you can't anymore. I also appreciate we get actual tid-bits of story that doesn't just exist inside the manual; I like how the in-engine cutscenes play out during Story Mode and I kind of wish there were more scenes like the Kasumi vs Ryu bit where there's a small fight before the actual fight starts.
Overall, this is a pretty fantastic entry. I had a pretty fun time with this despite some quibbles. Once again as well, Tina and Kasumi (with a bit of Leifang) ended up being my mains. I could honestly see myself putting more time into this entry to unlock more costumes and Tengu, but for now, there's other DOA titles to play.
The general gameplay feels SO much more balanced. Using holds feel so smooth now; you don't need to worry about "offensive hold" or "defensive hold" anymore. Being able to just press Hold and 7, 4, or 1 (numpad rotation) depending on the High, Mid, or Low hits felts super natural. Throws are also a lot smoother and the input-timing on some combo throws isn't nearly as whack anymore.
The difficulty too, also feels overwhelmingly more fair. Though every once and a while, it still felt like the CPU would randomly decide you've had enough fun and just obliterate you in back-to-back-to-back rounds out of nowhere. I mostly felt this happening in Time Attack than anywhere else though (but it was still fun). The Survival Mode took me a bit to get used to and it's still not my favorite, but I appreciate that it lets just jump right into the action and just keep going until you can't anymore. I also appreciate we get actual tid-bits of story that doesn't just exist inside the manual; I like how the in-engine cutscenes play out during Story Mode and I kind of wish there were more scenes like the Kasumi vs Ryu bit where there's a small fight before the actual fight starts.
Overall, this is a pretty fantastic entry. I had a pretty fun time with this despite some quibbles. Once again as well, Tina and Kasumi (with a bit of Leifang) ended up being my mains. I could honestly see myself putting more time into this entry to unlock more costumes and Tengu, but for now, there's other DOA titles to play.