I have a lot of feelings towards this game
This game has a lot of effort put into it, that's for sure.
The gameplay has been polished and really sharpened, it made you play as a different character each act which was something that helped the game be more versatile and spiced up, as opposed to 1 where you played as Jacket for most of the game and only Biker at the end. This was a massive improvement when I started playing, however as I went on, the game became frustratingly harder and the levels were simply too big to work with combined with the AI that feels like it's omniscient knowing your every move, I felt this way about the game until the 24th scene (which took me too many tries to finish), it made me realize just how fun this game can be with good skills, all I needed to do was be better at the game, git gud literally. Take Over really was ideally the "final boss" of Hotline Miami in terms of gameplay, testing everything you've been doing for these 2 games thus far in one big ass level.
In terms of aesthetic, the game still has a strong one like 1 while focused less on the 80s and more just the general style of the drug world in Miami at that era, I really liked it.
The story itself has a greater focus and is more direct compared to 1's subtle narrative, naturally as you play with 6 different characters each act, you have multiple perspectives on the narrative, each character with their own set of issues and their motives for exactly why they do the things they do, it has brilliant writing with fantastic surreal imagery and a fantastic ending giving the saga its conclusion.
Overall, I think this game is good and absolutely deserves a 2nd playthrough, this is currently my rating for the first playthrough with my issues that I had with the levels while playing.
This game has a lot of effort put into it, that's for sure.
The gameplay has been polished and really sharpened, it made you play as a different character each act which was something that helped the game be more versatile and spiced up, as opposed to 1 where you played as Jacket for most of the game and only Biker at the end. This was a massive improvement when I started playing, however as I went on, the game became frustratingly harder and the levels were simply too big to work with combined with the AI that feels like it's omniscient knowing your every move, I felt this way about the game until the 24th scene (which took me too many tries to finish), it made me realize just how fun this game can be with good skills, all I needed to do was be better at the game, git gud literally. Take Over really was ideally the "final boss" of Hotline Miami in terms of gameplay, testing everything you've been doing for these 2 games thus far in one big ass level.
In terms of aesthetic, the game still has a strong one like 1 while focused less on the 80s and more just the general style of the drug world in Miami at that era, I really liked it.
The story itself has a greater focus and is more direct compared to 1's subtle narrative, naturally as you play with 6 different characters each act, you have multiple perspectives on the narrative, each character with their own set of issues and their motives for exactly why they do the things they do, it has brilliant writing with fantastic surreal imagery and a fantastic ending giving the saga its conclusion.
Overall, I think this game is good and absolutely deserves a 2nd playthrough, this is currently my rating for the first playthrough with my issues that I had with the levels while playing.