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Not feeling this one, glad some of you are enjoying it though.

Looking at some reviews though, there are some other people also feeling like something is missing this time around it seems

Stark wrote:I'm reading it! I played some yesterday and really enjoyed it, but either I've lost all my Hotline Miami skillz since the last time I played it or it's harder as I died quite a bit in Scene 1. Scene 2 went much better for me though, so maybe it's the former and I just need practice.

Yeah, no worries, I made it through on Normal, and now Hard mode is handing me my ass again. I made it to the final scene of the first Act last night. But I also unlocked The Abyss level and then beat it on Normal to finish all of my levels with no violence. I'm also starting to get better, so some levels which I got Bs or Cs on in the first try, I now have A...but not A+ or S yet, so I will still have to go back.

And I found an AK. That wasn't the weapon I was missing. Now I have no idea what weapon I have not used to kill anyone. The tazer maybe? I could have sworn I got someone with it...

Ack wrote:And I found an AK. That wasn't the weapon I was missing. Now I have no idea what weapon I have not used to kill anyone. The tazer maybe? I could have sworn I got someone with it...

That trophy is glitched by the way. Not sure if you knew that or not. The x20 combo trophy is glitched too, as I had to do it a few times before it registered.

Overall I like the first one better. The reliance on guns in this one and the wide open levels just isn't my cup of tea. Getting blasted by a shotgun off screen is infuriating too.

I am not going to bother going for the plat on this one. Getting A+ on all the levels and beating Hard mode just doesn't sound fun.

Yeah so the frustration level on this one happens way more often than the first one. The levels seem to be much larger than the first game and since it checkpoints you at every floor, it takes longer for me to get to a checkpoint. Also as graffix said, getting shotgunned off-screen is super frustrating. Should I just run into an open space shooting a shotgun on the off-chance someone is there? I'm also not super into the lack of mask switching in this one.

I'm sure I'll eventually beat it, but right now I'm pretty lukewarm on it.

Yet another sequel that proves the old adage, "It ain't broke, don't fix it"

So many unnecessary changes in this one, rather than actual IMPROVEMENTS.

Gamerforlife wrote:Yet another sequel that proves the old adage, "It ain't broke, don't fix it"

So many unnecessary changes in this one, rather than actual IMPROVEMENTS.

I disagree. We didn't need just another Hotline Miami that did more or less the exact same thing...this game offers evolution of that base game and I, for one, quite like the direction the gameplay went.

It was a risk, sure. The results of that risk might not be to your liking, but they certainly aren't "unnecessary" if one wants to do more than just create a boring iteration on a previous game. I happen to think the new ideas are "actual IMPROVEMENTS" over the original formula in that they offer greater challenge and force the player into more adaptive playstyles. That's a big part of what I liked about the original and I was pleasantly surprised to see substantive building on that formula in the sequel.

The ramp for this game is play Hotline Miami 1 though, which is kind of lame.

Stark wrote:The ramp for this game is play Hotline Miami 1 though, which is kind of lame.

Yes and no. It reminds me a lot of going from Super Mario Bros. to The Lost Levels in this respect. And it certainly pushes Hotline Miami's style of gameplay to its limit. This may result in some cracks for folks in the formula, or it may not, it depends on the player.

I haven't gotten to spend any more time with this since last week, but I do intend to get back to it. There's just a lot of other games that I'm interested in too right now, haha!

Stark wrote: Should I just run into an open space shooting a shotgun on the off-chance someone is there? I'm also not super into the lack of mask switching in this one.

The short answer? Yes, I would recommend that. In fact, I used this "bait and wait" strategy a lot. Fire a weapon then find cover and wait for them to come for you. If no one comes, chances are you're clear....only to be attacked by a dog when getting in his aggro range, hehe.

Even though I liked the first one better, I do like Dennaton Games switching it up a bit with the sequel. Whereas in the first one, you could kind of 'get into a zone' and go room to room racking up a big combo; In this one, it is almost more of a 'tactical shooter' in a sense. You have to be more mindful of your surroundings (windows, enemies with guns) and plan your attack carefully.

Although the game does get easier when you replay some of the levels and get to know the layout. Long combos are still possible it's just that you'll be using firearms more to complete them this time.