I've anticipating this game for a while, so I sprung for an import copy. I'm up to stage 5, and since this title would be right up the alley of a lot of people here I thought I’d offer my two cents.
So far, solid. This has to be the best rail shooter I've played since the Panzer Dragoon series, in fact I'd say that Sin and Punishment 2 is more like that series than its own prequel. Your character moves as expected, left, right, jump, quick speed-bursts, but unlike the first Sin and Punishment you can fly at any time. This is why it seems more like Panzer Dragoon; the whole screen can be navigated at anytime without limitation. Which way your character faces and the speed of movement is entirely up the game though.
There are four ways to play the game, I used the wiimote/chuck, Gamecube, and classic controller. The classic controller has the analog buttons too close together, so that control scheme didn't last long for me. The Gamecube controller was ok, left analog to shoot, right to aim. I unfortunately have a crappy third party GC controller, so I can not judge that fairly. The best way to play IMO is with the wiimote/chuck (I don't have a zapper to try the game with). The pointer and one analog-stick for movement is perfect for the game and works great.
The game (if using the wiiimote/chuck) is played by moving your character with the analog stick. The wiimote aims and the B/trigger button fires. The A button does a charge attack or locks on to a specific enemy. The B button also does your melee attack when press quickly. Z does your quick dash in any direction and C jumps (you almost never use that though).
Both playable characters are in all the cut scenes and when the action takes place, the camera focuses on the one you chose at the beginning of the game. A second player can act as an assistant with their own crosshairs and firepower, similar to the co-op in Mario Galaxy. It’s a limited form for playing the game, I didn't give that too much play since my shmup playing buddy has been busy these past few days. I do look forward to some future co-op.
Now for the game itself. I admit my first impressions were so-so. I had high expectations and wasn't wowed right away like I was hoping. By the third stage, however I was won over completely. Every level starts with a cut scene (all in Japanese with optional Japanese subtitles as an fyi to potential importers. There are some English menus, enough to navigate, but that's about all I’ve seen so far) then it goes straight to the level.
Graphically, I hate to use the Wii game qualifier, so I'll just say it looks like a good PS2 game. Some moments I thought looked nice, beautiful scenery and setting and others were kind of blah. That was one part of my initial so-so impression, the other was the game is different than it predecessor. With the ability to hover the game is less about quick dashes on the ground and jumping over obstacles, but more about flying and dodging on every corner of your television. It didn't demand the mastering of controls and obstacle dodging the first game had which is what I loved about it.
This all changed after getting a few levels deep. Treasure has made every stage in the game (that I've seen thus far) different from the last. Each level has its own theme (water tunnel, metropolis, swamp), enemies, multiple bosses, and angles. Some stages will be set up like the original S&P (with the camera set up behind your character), others will look like a side scroller, one level you have to ride an animal or hoverbike depending on the character you play. Treasure did not phone this title in. Once immersed you will start to see the kind of level design and boss fights that you'd hope to see in any Treasure shmup.
Here is the level that sold me on the game.
Stage 3, no spoilers unless you understand Japanese
The game mechanics are straight forward, shoot the enemy, the male character can do a charge attack that acts like a mass-area-effect bomb (like Raiden games) and the female character’s charge attack locks onto multiple enemies and shoots a projectile at each one (like Ray Storm). The melee attack is important because it can destroy incoming enemy fire and, if timed properly, relaunch certain attacks back at an enemy. This is a big part of many boss fights.
S&P2 is low on the frustration meter. It has three difficulties, easy, normal, and hard. I have not tried hard yet. Easy is still a challenge and normal (obviously) a bit more so. The game gives you unlimited continues and has a save feature that saves your game (automatically) at each check point in the stage. You can leave a boss fight and return right back to it at any point of the day (for easy and normal that is, unsure of hard mode). Plus there is a stage select option when beginning the game. You can only replay the parts you have already beaten.
The stages all feel pretty long. Treasure added enough variety in each one to keep from getting bored. If you begin to feel like its getting monotones, a boss/mini-boss fight or a change in the level structure will spring up. This happens a lot, there are multiple boss fights per stage. This variety and pacing keeps the game interesting, winning is all about learning the enemies’ pattern, dodging the onscreen mayhem, and learning the counterattacks that are most effective and their proper timing; typical shmup fare.
This game is a gift to old-school and niche gamers. I don’t think they are going to be many more titles like this anytime soon. I highly recommend checking the game out when it is released state-side. Especially for Panzer Dragoon and Treasure fans. There’s a lot to see here, a great variety of bosses and stages. I’m hoping NOA does a decent job bringing it over without any embarrassing Americanized make-overs. If you’re on the fence about what to think of S&P2 check out some of the videos on youtube, you can see a decent amount without having anything spoiled (I think it goes up to stage 6 on youtube which may be the last one, still unsure). I hope this was informative and gets you excited about the game!
