Super Games You Beat in 2024 Turbo Thread: Arcade Edition

[TheMightyEthan]

Tim Breaker, who 

Spoiler

is a version of Jack Joyce, they just can't actually say that. But Tim/Jack/Many-other-names is jumping between realities. Same with Hatch/Door. There's huge hints on Tim's whiteboards and stuff about it.

 

Door was supposed to be played by Reddick, but then he died. 

 

But actually in the DLC

Spoiler

it's not even Tim himself, it's a different version of him from a different world, just referred to as "The Actor".

 

[Thursday Next]

Not so much "beat" as played till I was sated, Helldivers 2. Will give it a break while they sort out balancing issues and maybe return if the Illumninate turn up.

 

Also finished Assassin's Creed Mirage. Good, old-fashioned Assassaning, and Dave the Diver which was mostly fun, but started to wear a little thin toward the end. Started Jedi Survivor, seems to be more Jedi-ing about, which is good.

[TheMightyEthan]

Stray

 

This game is pretty, and the cat acts like a cat, but that's about all it has going for it. The gameplay itself is boring at best (outside of a very small few highlights), and tedious at worst. The whole thing is basically a series of nuzzles (a word I recently learned coined by the Darksiders devs which means "not-quite-puzzles"), so there's never anything to really engage with, it's just going from point A to point B, and doing a bunch of annoying fetch quests in between. There's really just nothing to the game at all, besides the cat.

 

Grade: C

[Thursday Next]

I enjoyed the world and exploring as a cat. Agree it was more "walking sim" than anything else with the odd chase sequence. I played it for free on PS plus so was happy with the game overall.

[TheMightyEthan]

You're not alone, I'm the weird one, it has Overwhelmingly Positive on Steam.

[Mister Jack]

HEARD SOMEONE TALKIN' SHIT IN HERE.

 

[deanb]

Marvels Midnight Suns

 

Completed this on my Steamdeck where it plays quite well (as long as you make a minor tweak to tell the 2K launcher to eff off).

 

Very enjoyable game. Cool mix of marvel characters, fun designs for them too, and the day-mission night-social pattern is easy enough to get into (especially if you've done a Persona title or similar). Neat playing about with the decks to suit your play style. The hub map was actually quite a bit larger than it initially seemed.

 

Only issues would be some of the story tries to create drama for the sake of it that can make some characters seem obnoxious (or tease a reveal that never comes). It's also a bit lopsided in progression - I kind of had to drag the end out so I could level up the few remaining characters friendship stats to unlock their "Midnight Sun" armour and special moves. It also wasn't super clear instructions on the card upgrades and I found out I'd basically ended up with a bunch of "waste" cards that should just be junked (it changes the 'frame' around the cards and you're meant to have inferred that meant it was at max upgrade. But it also had a + on some and a star on others so...yeah)

I also wish I'd got the deluxe/season pass version as it does seem it adds quite a bit to the game (especially expanded on Blades mechanic given it adds vampire enemies and Morbius). So yeah if you're looking at it I think the deluxe version would be well worth it - I want to try them out but not worth going through the full game. I'm also unsure that given the base amount of characters it took some dragging out to level up friendship I'm not sure if it'll be even more grinding at the end with more characters to befriend)

[TheMightyEthan]

Sonic Superstars

 

I recently played through all of Sonic Origins (1, CD, 2, 3, & Knuckles... and learned to my shock I'd never beat 3 & Knuckles before) and Sonic Mania, then went straight into this one, and I gotta say it's a mixed bag. First off, the good: Sonic controls perfectly. The physics are exactly like the old 2D games, it feels perfect. That's something that Sonic has always struggled with, but they nailed it here. The bad part is that the level design just never lives up to the old pixel games, with the exception of one act in one zone, which was absolutely great. They just aren't as complex and interesting as the older games (save Sonic CD, which I didn't think was all that great either). It was a real letdown going straight from Mania, which I still think is the best 2D Sonic game, into this one, which I think is tied with 1 for 2nd-worst, only ahead of CD. Then to add insult to injury, the 3D art is just bland. Nothing looks particularly interesting, it's just the most bog-standard simple 3D models you can imagine.

 

Which all of that does make it sound worse than it is. I enjoyed it, it was definitely the best non-pixel Sonic game we've ever gotten, taking that title from Generations. It just didn't hit the highs of 2, 3, & Knuckles, or Mania.

 

Grade: B

[toxicitizen]

Kingdom Hearts Final Mix

 

I finished this back in June but I'm just now realizing I never posted about it. There isn't much to say, though. It's fun but a bit rough around the edges. I found the combat in particular to be pretty frustrating at times.

 

It's the only Kingdom Hearts game I had already played before but it had been so long I really needed to replay it before moving on to the rest of the series. Looking forward to finally playing KH2 (I started it years ago but never got very far into it) but idk when I'll be able to make time for it. The next couple months actually have a few new releases that I'm interested in, so it probably won't be any time soon.

 

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Master Collection Version

 

Finally got around to wrapping up my playthrough. I had started it right after finishing MGS2 earlier this year but I ended up not touching the game for months. Other than my Street Fighter 6 addiction and that couple of months where I got sucked back into FFXIV pretty heavily, I just haven't been playing a lot of games this year. 

 

Anyway, this game is every bit as great as I remembered. To the point where I almost feel like a 1-to-1 remake is completely pointless. Almost because there's definitely room for some minor QoL improvements, like making it faster to switch camos, treat your injuries or change your loadout. Constantly going into the menu really gets old after a while.

 

The addition of crouch-walking will also be very welcome. And I really hope they'll also add the ability to carry bodies on your shoulders like in MGSV because dragging unconscious guards around is needlessly slow and tedious in this game.

 

It's still one of the all-time greatest video game stories, though. I'm glad they seem to be leaving that untouched. Can't wait to re-experience it with modern graphics.

 

Also, Konami, for the love of God please stop hinting that MGS4 might be in Master Collection Vol. 2 and just fucking confirm it already. That game needs to get out of PS3 jail so bad. Hell, I don't think I even have my PS3 copy anymore. So even if I wanted to hook up my PS3 I'd still have to hunt down a used copy...

[TheFlyingGerbil]

Behind The Screen was just about OK. Luckily it was short and not too much combat which I found particularly annoying as my Switch Pro Controller doesn't seem to register all button presses (not sure I've ever had that problem with an official controller before, so don't love that as I haven't used it much). It was an unusual story but not brilliantly written so even though it was a  cheap game I couldn't recommend it.

[TheMightyEthan]

Astro Bot

 

This game was cool, lots of great level design, varied mechanics, most of it pretty easy but with some real kick-your-ass challenge levels to change things up. My only complaints are really small things, like I wish it had a big bad with personality, like a Bowser or whatever, and I wish each nebula had some kind of overarching theme, but none of it really detracts from the experience. It's just a great platformer with lots of love for Playstation's history and a real sense of joy and whimsy.

 

Grade: A

[Thursday Next]

16 hours ago, TheMightyEthan said:

I wish it had a big bad with personality, like a Bowser or whatever

 

It's a good point, the whole Astrobot premise is great in terms of being able to absorb current popular culture or trends, so it always feels "current", the downside of that is that it lacks a bit of its own identity.

 

Reminds me a bit of Ubisoft's Rabbids in that respect. Astros are more cute/wholesome vs Rabbids more chaotic/mischievous but otherwise similar pros and cons.

[TheMightyEthan]

Black Myth Wukong

 

I really liked this game. It's kind of a soulslite (rather than soulslike). The combat feels a lot like a souls game, there are shrines that function as bonfires, and normal enemies respawn when you use them. It's missing an actual souls mechanic though, you keep everything when you die, which changes the risk-reward dynamic of exploration. It also doesn't have the shortcut-heavy level design, which makes more of a difference than I would have expected.

 

Overall it's very well done, the world is cool, the game is gorgeous, it's great. However, there are a few weird decisions that drag it down. There are entire really basic mechanics (such as upgrading your armor) that are easily missed entirely. There's no map. The entire structure of the last chapter is... a choice. Ultimately it was fun throughout, a few frustrating bosses aside, and it ended strong, so I'm happy with it.

 

Grade: B+

 

It would have been at least an A-, possibly an A, if not for those weird choices dragging it down. Hopefully they do another game and improve upon that stuff.

[MetalCaveman]

Space Marine 2

 

COURAGE AND HONOR

 

This was really cool, saw a bunch of reviews refer to this as "feeling like a 360 game, in a good way" and I agree, it does feel like a game from that era. Here's a weapon, a ton of enemies, and a relatively simple story, now go and have fun.

 

And fun I had, a lot in fact, mowing down hordes of Tyranids was really cool, seeing a swarm move in the distance and then realizing that they had changed direction and were now heading towards you was really pretty neat, iirc the same devs worked on a WWZ game which had similar horde mechanics. Seeing a ton of tyranids bunching up together trying to climb a wall, throwing a grenade at them and then watching the bodies fly never gets old.

 

Customization is pretty neat too, though only available for operations, you have access to a fair amount of stuff, yes, it takes forever to unlock some things, but it's better than having everything locked behind paywalls.

 

The story was cool, I'd definitively recommend playing the first one given how connected they are, though there's also a bunch of stuff that was told in other places specially regarding how Titus ended up where he is at the start of the game.

 

Spoiler

The scene where Calgar shows up after you've been defending the Ultramarines banner was awesome.

GOTY right there lol.

 

There's also another returning character from the first game, I was surprised to see him but also it made sense

Spoiler

the Chaplain has been grilling Titus since the beginning, clearly dude has some personal beef with him, so of course it had to be Leandros.

 

Don't know if there will be a Space Marine 3 or story DLC but I'd like to see what happens with that thing at the end

Spoiler

Titus has earned the trust of the Ultramarines, even Calgar, their chapter master expressed his trust in Titus, now they're leaving on a mission together with Leandros.

 

My guess is that Leandros is going to keep trying to expose Titus as a traitor and then eventually fall to chaos himself, that'd be fun.

 

That said I did have some issues, some were addressed with the latest patch, some still remain.

 

Ammo is a huge issue, given the enemies you face and how many there are, it always feels like you never have enough ammo, increasing the max you can carry would help a lot.

 

AI teammates weren't the best, though many of my issues are now fixed (mostly), most of the campaign was spent with my two teammates ignoring most/all aerial enemies and just standing there doing nothing when enemies were staggered.

 

Enemy AI also seems pretty happy to ignore your teammates, focusing only on you.

 

Last boss was also kind of annoying.

 

None of these issues were that bad overall though, I would still recommend this if you like WH40K, or if you're looking for a fun game to play in coop, both story and operations have 3 player coop options.

 

TL;DR: Really cool, really fun, tons of customization options, with some issues, though recent patches have fixed some of them.

 

Grade: A+

[toxicitizen]

God of War: Ragnarök

 

Finished it last night. I enjoyed the original enough and wanted to play this one but I wasn't really anticipating it all that much. But for some reason, as soon as I started playing I was really happy to be back in that world.

 

Overall, there isn't a lot to say about it that wasn't already said about the original. It's very much a "more of the same" kinda sequel. It doesn't really improve over the original in any significant way, it mostly just continues the story. Fortunately, the story is pretty good!

 

Playing it 2 years late makes it feel kinda pointless to write a long post with my detailed thoughts since everyone has played it already lol. I guess I'll just say I really enjoyed it.

 

I still need to beat the Valkyrie Queen and the Berzerker King and haven't touched the Valhalla DLC yet so I still have  a few hours to go but I'm kinda hitting a wall on those two fights and Silent Hill 2 is coming out tonight, so I probably won't go for the 100% right away.

 

I'm not sure what's next for the series but if this was the last game then it definitely went out on a high note. Now I kinda want Sony to rerelease the old games so that I can have the whole series on PC, though.

 

Also, where the hell is The Last of Us Part II PC release???? Goddamn, don't make me wait until season 2 of the show comes out. I wanna play the game first! I swear to God, if they release fucking Spider-Man 2 next, I'm gonna scream... 

[MetalCaveman]

The Callisto Protocol

 

Gonna start with the summary this time: I felt like I wasted my money on this game, and I got it for free.

 

The story was pretty meh, the way it's set up and specially the ending feel like it would have been better as a PvPvE battle royale where you play as a prisoner trying to escape Black Iron while having to fight other prisoners and the monsters and security robots that roam the place.

 

The melee combat starts out OK, but it doesn't handle multiple enemies well, and completely falls apart for certain boss fights. Ammo is too scarce, specially in the later parts of the game, not in the survival horror resource management kind of way, rather, once the first boss is introduced, the game just spams that same boss several times, with not enough drops in between to properly replenish resources.

 

Movement is constantly interrupted by areas where you have to squeeze, shimmy or crawl though in order to move forward, at first I thought this was a way to hide loading times, but there was a particularly ridiculous part where it goes shimmy->crawl->shimmy just one after another, for no reason other than to waste time. Some animations also take too long, though this is for the sake of jumpscares (going down a ladder in particular).

 

The biggest issue, is that it's just not scary, all the creepy scenes, the jumpscares, the monster encounters, none of it is scary or tense, part of it is the gameplay issues, part of it is that everything feels way too predictable, way too by the numbers, so you can tell when and where a jumpscare is going to happen, when an enemy is going to attack, when some creepy sound is going to play, it doesn't take long to figure out its formula and then it loses all tension.

 

The good: the graphics, everything looks pretty good, the acting and mocap is pretty neat too.

 

I wouldn't recommend it, unless you really, REALLY want to see what it's all about for yourself, even then, I'd say try and play in that new dismemberment mode, supposedly makes things easier, but it also makes the combat feel better. No achievements in that mode though.

 

Grade: F

[toxicitizen]

Silent Hill 2 Remake

 

I never played the original, so I went into this one completely blind. Well, almost completely. I had the big thing spoiled years ago but knew nothing about the game beyond that. Well, holy fuck, this game is incredible! It might actually be the scariest game I've ever played. This isn't Resident Evil fun time. The atmosphere in this game is so goddamned oppressive and tense that I couldn't take it for more than a couple hours at a time. Which is quite a feat for a game with only about half a dozen enemy types that aren't particularly difficult to deal with. The sound design and soundtrack in particular are god-tier. I was constantly dreading what would be around the next corner.

 

I obviously can't compare it to the original but I have to assume it's up there with RE2 and RE4 as one of the best video game remakes ever. It modernizes the original game and expands on it where it makes sense to but also preserves what made it work in the first place. The voice acting still feel off and adds this eerie vibe to all the cutscenes. The combat works really well without making James feel like John Wick. The puzzles weren't particularly difficult but they were satisfying enough to solve and didn't involve bullshit leaps of logic.

 

The original is one of those games that I had been meaning to play for years but never got around to. And now I'm kinda glad I never did because this was a hell of a way to experience it for the first time. I remember playing the first game on my PS3 years ago and it just didn't compare to this. I know there are some brand new games in development but I really hope Konami aren't done with the older ones. I'd love to see remakes of the first game, at least. Ideally, SH3 and 4 as well. Or at least some kind of proper collection like they did with Metal Gear Solid.

 

So yeah, if you're in the mood for a spooky October game, this is the one to get.

 

[MetalCaveman]

The Evil Within

 

Several years late to the party, but I finally beat this one. A real rollercoaster, where the highest highs are excellent but the lowest lows made me question why would anyone play this.

 

The atmosphere, music, and monster designs are top tier, super creepy and scary with a nice mix of combat and horror.

 

The story was cool, it really puts the psychological in psychological horror.  

 

Spoiler

Kinda called it when I said it all took place in Castellanos' head.

 

Also, the end of the DLC, is his wife now being mind controlled? She sure didn't seem to care about Sebastian being "dead". Or maybe she was an agent all the time and their kid was supposed to play the role that Leslie did, being able to connect to the brain thingy, but then the fire happened and so she had no reason to stay with Sebastian?

Can't wait to start 2, see where this goes.

 

Starting around chapter 9 however, there's some serious issues, it really likes to throw insta-death stuff at you, one of the more annoying ones being capable of teleporting and appearing right in front of you, combine this with enemies and traps around the area and it ended up being a really frustrating encounter, specially since the best way I found to deal with that was to just run around in circles until it went away lol, that kinda kills the atmosphere.

 

There's also this room in one of the later chapters that was a nightmare to deal with, all the traps in the universe gathered in a single room.

 

Overall, it was a really good survival horror, though I don't know if I'd recommend it, it does require some patience, both to deal with some technical issues and to make it through some of the more annoying sections. If you do have that kind of patience, then yeah, definitively worth it.

 

Also if you link your Bethesda account, you get access to a bunch of extra stuff including infinite ammo mode. Might be a fun way to do a NG+ run, specially with some of the stuff you get for beating the game once.

 

Grade: B+

[Mister Jack]

Evil Within 2 definitely feels way better to play.

[Mister Jack]

Silent Hill 2 Remake

 

As someone who did play the original, I can say this is about as good of a remake as you could hope for of that game. The interface has been streamlined so you spend as little time in menus as possible. Swapping weapons is done on the fly now and James can dodge in combat, which makes encounters much more intense since monsters can also dodge and counter you, meaning you need to always be on your toes and you can't just mash your way through every encounter. Looking at the map is also done in real time now, which means you can be attacked while reading it if you are careless. Sadly, they did remove a couple of unlockable weapons (no Pyramid Head knife this time) but they make up for that by greatly improving the boss fights. In the original game you usually just had to run around the boss room with tank controls and turn around to take potshots whenever you had enough distance, but now they're much faster and more aggressive with their attacks, meaning you need to learn to dodge. One remade boss in particular doesn't really do anything more than charge you and try to grab you, but the new fight with it still has so much atmosphere and intensity that it's become one of my favorite survival horror boss fights ever. I bet anyone who has played this game will know which one I'm talking about. I really can't think of much to criticize about this game that didn't already apply to the original one. Not that many enemy types, limited weapon selection, easy to get lost if you aren't paying close attention. All that is just baked into the series, so if you already liked the original Silent Hill 2 then I see no reason you wouldn't like the remake. If you never played it, now's a great time to see what all the fuss is about.

Edited October 22 by Mister Jack

[toxicitizen]

22 hours ago, Mister Jack said:

Evil Within 2 definitely feels way better to play.

 

TEW 2 is weird because it's objectively a worse horror game but the gameplay loop is so much more engaging that I enjoyed actually playing it way more. I would play Evil Within in short bursts whereas I'd play Evil Within 2 for far longer sessions because there was always something else I wanted to explore nearby or another upgrade I was close to getting. 

 

And now I'm mad all over again about Tango getting shutdown while they were working on anniversary content for the series... 

[Mister Jack]

Batman: Arkham Shadow

 

Hot damn, this game rocks. Before I go any further I will address the elephant in the room. A lot of people are upset that this game is VR exclusive but I have two things to say to that:

 

1) This game, while still huge for a VR title, is smaller in scope than a mainline Arkham game. If this were a flatscreen title it'd be nothing special, but as a VR experience it's amazing.

 

2) Meta funded this game. If not for that, it wouldn't exist. That's just how it is. 

 

This has all the staples of the Arkham series you would want, that being combat, predator sequences, and clever puzzles to solve for collectibles. I don't really like to use the cliche "it makes you FEEL like Batman" but they implemented the controls in such an immersive and engaging way that it's hard to think of a more appropriate phrase. Knocking out guards from behind is done by yanking them back with your arms and then wrestling with them from side to side until they pass out. Gliding with your cape is done by grabbing the cape at both sides and spreading your arms. Knife slashes are dodged by ducking and weaving. It all just feels so natural and right. The real star, however, has got to be the hand-to-hand combat.

 

If you wondered how Arkham's iconic combat system could be translated into VR, I'm here to tell you that they passed the test with flying colors. Batman will lunge toward whatever enemy you're facing when you punch forward, and then combos are performed by a blend of jabbing at targets and swinging either your left or right fist, depending on which direction the arrow is pointing. You can also grab people when prompted to perform finishers or jump on them while they're on the ground and punch the crap out of them to knock them out. In a way it's kind of like a rhythm game, except you're being attacked on all sides the whole time. Even when you're being attacked offscreen, I never felt like I was taking cheap hits because the game very clearly warns you which direction you're being attacked from and gives you the means to do a side counter to stop them. Enemies can and will attack you in huge groups and taking them down is a balance of getting in your hits where you can while also defending yourself from the sucker punches other goons will try to get in while you're focusing on the guy directly in front of you. You can, of course, also use your gadgets during fights like any other Arkham game and they also throw special enemies at you like shield or stun baton users that require specific maneuvers to take down. It doesn't feel dumbed down at all and I dare say it might be the most fun I've ever had with the Arkham combat system. Just be forewarned that it's extremely strenuous and unless you're already jacked you will probably end up sore as hell after punching criminals for several hours. 

 

The story takes place after Origins and took me a little over 15 hours to beat without getting all the collectibles, and I have to say it kept me invested to the end. Unlike Arkham Knight, where it was insultingly obvious who the Arkham Knight was from the beginning, I really had no idea who the Rat King was until the climax. There are some big reveals here, as well as appearances from villains who have never been in an Arkham game before. This was far from a throwaway plot or "good for a VR game."

 

I don't really have much to criticize. I did run into a few game breaking bugs but it worked fine after I reloaded the checkpoint. The game is fairly generous with them too so I never lost more than a minute or two of progress. It looks really good inside the headset as well. $49.99 might feel steep for a VR title to some people, but I absolutely feel like I got my money's worth, especially considering I haven't even done the challenge maps yet and the devs already promised to add more for free. This is the Quest 3's killer app, full stop.

Edited October 26 by Mister Jack

[TheMightyEthan]

Alan Wake 2: The Lake House

 

This DLC is great. You're playing an FBC agent investigating an FBC facility that they've lost contact with, so it's basically a little mini-episode of Control, but with the Alan Wake 2 mechanics, just a flashlight and guns, no super powers or anything. The narrative is spot-on, as is the encounter design and everything, except for the final boss (which I feel like is a problem Remedy often has). I can't say much more without spoiling stuff, but if you like Control and Alan Wake then this is definitely for you.

 

Grade: A

[Mister Jack]

Forgive Me Father

 

This is a retro FPS based on the Cthulhu mythos. I'm no expert in it so I couldn't tell you how faithful it is, but what I do know is that this is a pretty underrated game. While it has the usual retro FPS formula you would expect, complete with colored keys to find in every level, they still added in some other things to give this game more of its own identity. For starters, there are two different characters to play as, each of them getting access to different eldritch spells over the course of the game. I played as the priest, who is more about healing and buffs. The other character is a journalist who gets access to offensive spells, though I haven't tried her yet. In addition to that, there is also an upgrade tree for your spells and weapons. Upgrade trees are nothing new, but what I found interesting is that you can choose whether you want your weapon to be upgraded with human technology or eldritch powers. Both paths are valid, although in my personal opinion some variants are just straight up better (the eldritch dagger is an enemy garbage disposal and way more useful than the throwing knives). If you decide you don't like the path you chose and want to try something else, you get one reset point for every boss you kill.

 

Gunplay is pretty good and every weapon feels useful. Even the basic pistol also functions as your medium-range sniper weapon and will never become obsolete. Enemies burst apart into satisfying showers of gore and there's a decent variety of monsters to kill, although it can take a while for that variety to really start showing itself in the early stages. Racking up kill combos builds up madness, which is actually a good thing in this game because it not only fuels your spells but also makes you deal more damage while taking less until the meter drains. It's pretty easy at first, with basic zombies shuffling en masse right into your knife swings, but later enemy types can become so dangerous that they almost feel like mini-bosses. You will absolutely need to use your spells to survive. There's no in-game map, but the levels are fairly well-designed and easy to navigate so I found myself not really needing one. I only got lost maybe twice during the whole game, and those levels were intentionally designed as mazes.

 

Oh yeah, and the soundtrack is full of absolute bangers. I would listen to it on Spotify if it was on there. I've never heard of the composer, Tim Fialka before, but in my opinion he deserves to sit at the cool kids table with Mick Gordon and Andrew Hulshult. Just listen to this:

 

 

[Mister Jack]

Forgive Me Father 2

 

I am honestly not sure what to make of this sequel. It's not bad but at the same time it changes so much it almost feels like a different game and I can't decide if it's better or worse for it. The graphics are objectively better, no questions there. The leveling system is gone now and it's 100% an action shooter. There's only one character now, the priest, but rather than getting four unique spells you can use together you now have a spellbook and can choose up to three different effects for it to have whenever you press the magic button. In theory this offers more build variety but I found it hard not to always keep the lifesteal ability in one of the slots because these enemies hit hard and the maps can be stingy with healing items.

 

The leveling system is gone. Instead you now find token in the levels that you can exchange for new weapons in the shop between stages. There are 24 weapons now with six categories of four weapons each, which is more than last time, but you have to choose six of them to bring with you into each mission. It does give you a chance to try out more guns since you don't have to commit to a specific path this time, but since I didn't find every token in my playthrough there are some guns I never got to use. New game+ is a thing, but it was still kind of a bummer.

 

The gunplay feels better than the first game, although the first game already felt pretty good so that's not a knock against it. Some of the weapons got rebalanced too. The abyss shotgun no longer bounces projectiles all over the walls and now it's just a rapid fire shotgun. Yeah, it was overpowered before but...damn it, I miss my overpowered shotgun!

 

I'm on the fence about which game I prefer. I know I had a lot of complaints just now but this one still does feel better to play while you're actually moving and shooting things. The last game forced you to choose between holding a gun or holding a lantern to light up dark areas while this one gives you a crank flashlight you have to occasionally rewind, which is easier to manage. You jump slightly higher in this one too, which makes platforming sections much easier to deal with. You can also quicksave now instead of being limited to specific checkpoints. I dunno. I guess I'd say both games are good for different reasons.