This game is nuts.
Not in a bad kind of way. Not necessarily in a good way either. But most definitely in an interesting way.
I hit the end game screen around two days after I began and it was the only game I played during that time. I only wanted to take a peak and my attention was stolen simply because I had no on earthly idea what I would encounter next in all aspects. The structure of the piece drip feeds something weird in intervals just short enough to keep you interested.
You are a plane crasher survivor waking up to people turning into body horror monsters after getting infected by something from a dystopian big pharma company. And there are also wizards. You are chosen by a Goddess to save the world with your machine gun you found in the cabinet and your business suit and high heels. There are clones. A child melts into a puddle crying for help while it happens.
You control your character with Resident Evil "tank controls" for no discernable reason. When you are indoors the game becomes something akin to a point and click adventure. Combat comes in the form of random battles out in the field like a JRPG. The fights aren't turn based but an on-rail arcade shooter. Defeat the monster and get XP to level up. Leveling up gives you more HP and increases your "skill" skill. I never found out what it was for. There are arcade shooter-esque boss fights. You can hunt rabbits for food.
Just to be clear, I don't think this game succeeds at anything particular it is trying to do. There really is not a reason to recommend somebody go out of their way to find a way to play this. Despite that caveat, what I most appreciate about the game and think is worth talking about is that the designers were absolutely swinging for the fences with this experience.
Each cutscene feels hand crafted. There is some very strong cinematography and editing on display in my opinion. The writing is interested in deep characters with very real and present demons. The themes want you to think about your place in this world. And the gameplay tries out some very unique elements to tie the player experience to the character's experience. On top of that the game also really wants to be a John Carpenter movie. (Mostly The Thing (1982)) So interesting.
To level set again, I would describe the execution of the above ideas as just kinda mostly bad in a "so bad its good" kinda way. The unintentional laughs are abundant and honestly what kept me going to the end. But even after all the nonsense and the extremely sobering final moments it kept me thinking all the way through the credits and to eventually sit down and write about it.
There are moments that really feel like the designers are trying to communicate something very complicated visually, narratively and in gameplay. The characters often don't make much sense but when they bare their soul you can feel a genuine emotion in there somewhere. Just enough to get you to think. Even if it didn't all come together the way the designers hoped, I do appreciate and enjoy the authorship and intention of the piece.
I would recommend playing Disc 1(out of 4!!!) at least. It should take around 3ish hours and will have plenty of WTFs for you. From there you'll know if you are going to finish it or not.
Enjoy D2.
Not in a bad kind of way. Not necessarily in a good way either. But most definitely in an interesting way.
I hit the end game screen around two days after I began and it was the only game I played during that time. I only wanted to take a peak and my attention was stolen simply because I had no on earthly idea what I would encounter next in all aspects. The structure of the piece drip feeds something weird in intervals just short enough to keep you interested.
You are a plane crasher survivor waking up to people turning into body horror monsters after getting infected by something from a dystopian big pharma company. And there are also wizards. You are chosen by a Goddess to save the world with your machine gun you found in the cabinet and your business suit and high heels. There are clones. A child melts into a puddle crying for help while it happens.
You control your character with Resident Evil "tank controls" for no discernable reason. When you are indoors the game becomes something akin to a point and click adventure. Combat comes in the form of random battles out in the field like a JRPG. The fights aren't turn based but an on-rail arcade shooter. Defeat the monster and get XP to level up. Leveling up gives you more HP and increases your "skill" skill. I never found out what it was for. There are arcade shooter-esque boss fights. You can hunt rabbits for food.
Just to be clear, I don't think this game succeeds at anything particular it is trying to do. There really is not a reason to recommend somebody go out of their way to find a way to play this. Despite that caveat, what I most appreciate about the game and think is worth talking about is that the designers were absolutely swinging for the fences with this experience.
Each cutscene feels hand crafted. There is some very strong cinematography and editing on display in my opinion. The writing is interested in deep characters with very real and present demons. The themes want you to think about your place in this world. And the gameplay tries out some very unique elements to tie the player experience to the character's experience. On top of that the game also really wants to be a John Carpenter movie. (Mostly The Thing (1982)) So interesting.
To level set again, I would describe the execution of the above ideas as just kinda mostly bad in a "so bad its good" kinda way. The unintentional laughs are abundant and honestly what kept me going to the end. But even after all the nonsense and the extremely sobering final moments it kept me thinking all the way through the credits and to eventually sit down and write about it.
There are moments that really feel like the designers are trying to communicate something very complicated visually, narratively and in gameplay. The characters often don't make much sense but when they bare their soul you can feel a genuine emotion in there somewhere. Just enough to get you to think. Even if it didn't all come together the way the designers hoped, I do appreciate and enjoy the authorship and intention of the piece.
I would recommend playing Disc 1(out of 4!!!) at least. It should take around 3ish hours and will have plenty of WTFs for you. From there you'll know if you are going to finish it or not.
Enjoy D2.