kane91123
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This DLC is mostly a fun but short romp through little what if scenarios but, with the multiverse (and it just being Remedy for that matter) I suspect that these are canon in some way.
Episode One is just what I imagine is one of Rose's fan fictions about Alan. It was fun and silly and the thought that this might be how Rose received "messages" from Alan is funny.
Episode Two is probably the weakest of the 3 but I still enjoyed it. It's more or less a coffee themed retelling of Control's story. That might not make sense but you'll get what I mean by that if you play it.
Episode Three is honestly worth the price of admission alone. So much so that I don't really want to say anything about it. It's best to go in blind to this one.
Sadly it seem to be confirmed in the credits of the DLC that there was canceled episode featuring Alex Casey.
Likely due to the unfortunate passing of his voice actor James McCaffrey.
I hope somehow we can play this episode one day or at least learn more about it. I would loved to see a very Max Payne style episode of Night Springs.
Rest in peace James McCaffrey
Episode One is just what I imagine is one of Rose's fan fictions about Alan. It was fun and silly and the thought that this might be how Rose received "messages" from Alan is funny.
Episode Two is probably the weakest of the 3 but I still enjoyed it. It's more or less a coffee themed retelling of Control's story. That might not make sense but you'll get what I mean by that if you play it.
Episode Three is honestly worth the price of admission alone. So much so that I don't really want to say anything about it. It's best to go in blind to this one.
Sadly it seem to be confirmed in the credits of the DLC that there was canceled episode featuring Alex Casey.
Likely due to the unfortunate passing of his voice actor James McCaffrey.
I hope somehow we can play this episode one day or at least learn more about it. I would loved to see a very Max Payne style episode of Night Springs.
Rest in peace James McCaffrey
2022
I've played quite a few of these fast paced movement shooters at this point, games like Ultrakill, Ghostrunner, Severed Steel, and Doom Eternal but, for my money none of these other games quite nail what makes high speed shooting so satisfying. The level design in combination with the game's mechanics make for the perfect blend. All the levels being short enough that you may often find yourself replaying the same level over and over thinking "I can do that quicker." The weapons not only provide variety in gunplay but also double as tools to help you get through level faster thanks to the discard mechanic. The amount of weapons is also just right, none of the weapons feel useless and there's not too many to feel overwhelming. The music is great as well and can really push you into a flow state.
The one area of the game that didn't work for me was the story. I mostly skipped over every cutscene and the few times I didn’t, the game didn’t convince me that skipping over it was a bad idea. The story knows exactly what it is and isn’t ashamed about it, but I still just couldn’t get with it. It may work for some but if you feel the need to skip it like I did you won’t miss much.
Neon White is one of, if not the best movement shooters out there. It will always have you thinking, I could save a second, a millisecond, a frame every time you hit a new pb and will have you hooked.
The one area of the game that didn't work for me was the story. I mostly skipped over every cutscene and the few times I didn’t, the game didn’t convince me that skipping over it was a bad idea. The story knows exactly what it is and isn’t ashamed about it, but I still just couldn’t get with it. It may work for some but if you feel the need to skip it like I did you won’t miss much.
Neon White is one of, if not the best movement shooters out there. It will always have you thinking, I could save a second, a millisecond, a frame every time you hit a new pb and will have you hooked.
Surprisingly I don't have a lot to say about this game despite the 1st being one of my favorite games of all time.
The Talos Principle 2 much like the 1st does a great job making the player think both with challenging puzzles and hard hitting philosophical questions.
Although the philosophical side of the game didn't really hit me in the same way the 1st did. I didn't have the same sort of difficulty coming up with answers. It felt as if most of the questions had one obvious optimistic and one obvious pessimistic answer. This could also just be me being more firm in my beliefs on what this game tackles as opposed to what the 1st does.
While this game fell a little flat for me in the story department at least when compared to the 1st, croteam are still masters of puzzle design and I would love to still see more from them. Whether it be DLC for this game or maybe even a new IP with just as great puzzle design.
The Talos Principle 2 much like the 1st does a great job making the player think both with challenging puzzles and hard hitting philosophical questions.
Although the philosophical side of the game didn't really hit me in the same way the 1st did. I didn't have the same sort of difficulty coming up with answers. It felt as if most of the questions had one obvious optimistic and one obvious pessimistic answer. This could also just be me being more firm in my beliefs on what this game tackles as opposed to what the 1st does.
While this game fell a little flat for me in the story department at least when compared to the 1st, croteam are still masters of puzzle design and I would love to still see more from them. Whether it be DLC for this game or maybe even a new IP with just as great puzzle design.
2019
You are a worm through time.
The thunder song distorts you.
Happiness comes.
White pearls, but yellow and red in the eye.
Through a mirror, inverted is made right.
Leave your insides by the door.
Push the fingers through the surface into the wet.
You've always been the new you.
You don't want this to be true.
We stand around you while you dream.
You can almost hear our words but you forget.
This happens more and more now.
You gave us the permission in your regulations.
We wait in the stains.
The word that describes this is redacted.
Repeat the word.
The name of the sound.
It resonates in your house.
After the song, time for applause.
We build you till nothing remains.
The egg cracks and the truth will emerge out of you.
You are home.
You remind us of home.
You've taken your boss with your boss with you.
All hair must be eaten.
Under the conceptual reality behind this reality you must want these waves to drag you away.
After the song, time for applause.
The cliche is death out of time, breaking the first the second the third the fourth wall, the fifth wall, floor; no floor: you fall!
How do you say "insane"?
Hurts to be happy.
An ear worm is a tune you can't stop humming in a dream: "baby baby baby yeah".
Just plastic.
So, safe and nothing to worry about.
Ha ha, funny.
The last egg breaks now.
The hole in your room is a hole in you.
You came and we let you in through the hole in you.
You have always been here, the only child.
A copy of a copy of a copy.
Orange peel.
The picture is you holding the picture.
When you hear this you will know you're the new you.
You want to listen.
You want to dream.
You want to smile.
You want to hurt.
You don't want to be.
The thunder song distorts you.
Happiness comes.
White pearls, but yellow and red in the eye.
Through a mirror, inverted is made right.
Leave your insides by the door.
Push the fingers through the surface into the wet.
You've always been the new you.
You don't want this to be true.
We stand around you while you dream.
You can almost hear our words but you forget.
This happens more and more now.
You gave us the permission in your regulations.
We wait in the stains.
The word that describes this is redacted.
Repeat the word.
The name of the sound.
It resonates in your house.
After the song, time for applause.
We build you till nothing remains.
The egg cracks and the truth will emerge out of you.
You are home.
You remind us of home.
You've taken your boss with your boss with you.
All hair must be eaten.
Under the conceptual reality behind this reality you must want these waves to drag you away.
After the song, time for applause.
The cliche is death out of time, breaking the first the second the third the fourth wall, the fifth wall, floor; no floor: you fall!
How do you say "insane"?
Hurts to be happy.
An ear worm is a tune you can't stop humming in a dream: "baby baby baby yeah".
Just plastic.
So, safe and nothing to worry about.
Ha ha, funny.
The last egg breaks now.
The hole in your room is a hole in you.
You came and we let you in through the hole in you.
You have always been here, the only child.
A copy of a copy of a copy.
Orange peel.
The picture is you holding the picture.
When you hear this you will know you're the new you.
You want to listen.
You want to dream.
You want to smile.
You want to hurt.
You don't want to be.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is great follow up to the 1st game and MM. It's also a very safe follow up that, in a way it feels like an extension of the 1st. I wouldn't go as far to say its $70 DLC. It justifies being a new game but, it more or less plays the same as the 1st.
There are small additions to combat and traversal that makes it feel better, swinging is faster and the new gliding makes getting across the city a breeze, new abilities with Miles Venom powers and Peters Symbiote abilities freshen up the combat but it doesn't feel like a huge leap forward.
The story of the game has a lot great themes that feel right at home in a Spider-Man story. I like that the games focus is about giving villains a 2nd chance and making them feel like real believable people who aren't just evil for the sake of it. It does a good job inter grading Peter into the narrative however, Miles seems to take a back seat in the story with his main conflict of the game mostly being about writing an essay. I get that it was to show how he is struggling with balancing being Spider-Man and being Miles Morales but it just didn't really work for me.
The game is also not quite as polished as the 1st. I ran into a few bugs in my playthrough, nothing game breaking most of the time but, I did also have 2 crashes while playing. Overall I enjoyed my time with the game and still want to see more from this series but it certainly didn't have quite the same impact as the 1st.
There are small additions to combat and traversal that makes it feel better, swinging is faster and the new gliding makes getting across the city a breeze, new abilities with Miles Venom powers and Peters Symbiote abilities freshen up the combat but it doesn't feel like a huge leap forward.
The story of the game has a lot great themes that feel right at home in a Spider-Man story. I like that the games focus is about giving villains a 2nd chance and making them feel like real believable people who aren't just evil for the sake of it. It does a good job inter grading Peter into the narrative however, Miles seems to take a back seat in the story with his main conflict of the game mostly being about writing an essay. I get that it was to show how he is struggling with balancing being Spider-Man and being Miles Morales but it just didn't really work for me.
The game is also not quite as polished as the 1st. I ran into a few bugs in my playthrough, nothing game breaking most of the time but, I did also have 2 crashes while playing. Overall I enjoyed my time with the game and still want to see more from this series but it certainly didn't have quite the same impact as the 1st.
2023
This review contains spoilers
This game absolutely lived up to the hype that I built up for myself. The Story, Writing, Acting, Graphics, Art Direction and Music are all amazing. The Gameplay/Combat it self still is a little lacking but is a big improvement from the 1st. The way the game handled the connect to the larger remedy universe was a treat as well. The FBC plays a large role in the story, there are nods to both Max Payne and Quantum Break with Alex Casey and Tim (E.) Breaker, and of course Ahti was used in a great way. This game has some insane ideas and pulls them of to near perfection. What other studio would this to include a full blown 20+ min musical or 20 min short film in their survival horror game and make it work? Remedy that is only who. I will say that the ending left me a bit dissatisfied at first but it has grown on me since thinking on it. Plus it seem like that may not truly be the end with new game+ seemly adding changes to the story. Remedy knocked it out of the park once again and have me super excited for the 2 DLCs and Control 2 and I have no doubt they will deliver. It's not loop, It's a spiral.