So I was interested in this one going in. Most people don't really talk about D2 as much as its' predecessor, and when they do, I usually hear mixed things. After two playthroughs, one as Corvo and one as Emily, I actually ended up liking it a lot more then I thought I was gonna.
Make no mistake, I do agree with some of the criticisms and I feel 1 is still the better overall experience, but at the same time I think D2 is a worthy sequel and even does some things better then the first game.
Biggest criticism I'll agree with was the story didn't exactly hit as hard as the first game's. Not to say it was bad, but it just failed to engage and interest me on the same level as the first game. Most of the characterization in general I didn't feel for. Despite being voiced by Thief's Garrett himself, Stephen Russell, I don't feel Corvo really had much to add overall in this story that we didn't really know beforehand. You see bits in the journal and during his playthrough him reflecting on his time as a kid and growing up in Karnaca, but it's very minor to the point where it's honestly irrelevant to the rest of the plot. It's cool to see Emily all grown up and utilizing the skills Corvo taught her, but again, that's all it kind of is. And Deliah I didn't feel for as a villain as much as Lord Regent or Daud. Again, it's not badly written at all, but something about the way it's executed just didn't pull me in like the first game.
For the levels, I admit I didn't feel as much for them on my first run, but I grew to appreciate them more on my Emily run. A part of me still does prefer the first game's levels just for it's art direction alone, but gameplaywise this game's levels are still really well designed and have a lot of fun stuff to them. The Clockwork Mansion, The Dust District and The Grand Palace were some of my favorites.
Now, the playable characters. Corvo is more or less unchanged from D1, and as such plays how you'd expect, but what I was interested in was how Emily played. For a long while I heard from so many that one of this games' biggest problems was how Corvo was more or less meant for low chaos while Emily wasn't, and honestly, I can't disagree enough with that. Emily is absolutely just as viable in low chaos as Corvo is, although I do feel there is one main difference in their kit. While Corvo is meant to be a more "standard" quiet stealth, Emily in comparison is what I'd call "aggressive" stealth, which I actually kind of like. Playing aggressively and almost "sloppy" is how I like playing stealth games, just to see how far I can push things and get away with it. I feel like even the game knows this, as now you have a chart that not only ranks your lethality vs pacificism, but also how aggressive you were (stealth v assault) Stuff like the upgraded far reach, shadow walk, and domino all fit into this more aggressive playstyle, and honestly I had a lot of fun with it. No shit, I feel like I had more fun on my second run with Emily then I did on my first run with Corvo. It bumped what was originally a 7 for me to an 8. Like, while far reach lacks verticality in where it can take you, it makes up for it just for the ability to pull in objects (even collectables) and people to subdue. It's just fun to stand on higher ground and yoink some guard while the other dude has no idea. Shadow walk for me felt a little more effective then Corvo's bend time as well, on top of there being a dedicated function to subdue up to 3 people when upgraded fully. Legitimately, if we're comparing to the base game, I feel D2 has more replay value then one since on top of low/high chaos, you've got the two characters to play as on top of more difficulties and a custom option to tweak aspects of the game.
Even If I didn't enjoy the story overall, the more I think about it the more parallels I feel this game has to Thief 2. Already you've got Garrett's VO, briefing cutscenes that aren't far off from that Thief as a series has, Mechanical soldiers with the voice of the man who created them, and overall just a general mindset of focusing more on gameplay then story. It wouldn't surprise me if story in development took a backseat in turn for the levels and making two playable characters. The divide I see from fans of this series seems based on that (alongside gameplay/level changes) and while in some regards I do understand it, I do feel there's still a lot of stuff fans of 1 would even enjoy here. Even if I do feel 1 is still the better overall experience, 2 is a keeper I feel. Aside from some small performance stutters (which I'm blaming more on the engine since this is apparently the same one that Deathloop used, which also ran pretty badly at points) I had a lot of fun with this. If you like 1, there's no reason you shouldn't play 2, just for the gameplay alone. For what it is, it's still pretty solid, even if it doesn't reach the same 10/10 highs as 1 did.
Make no mistake, I do agree with some of the criticisms and I feel 1 is still the better overall experience, but at the same time I think D2 is a worthy sequel and even does some things better then the first game.
Biggest criticism I'll agree with was the story didn't exactly hit as hard as the first game's. Not to say it was bad, but it just failed to engage and interest me on the same level as the first game. Most of the characterization in general I didn't feel for. Despite being voiced by Thief's Garrett himself, Stephen Russell, I don't feel Corvo really had much to add overall in this story that we didn't really know beforehand. You see bits in the journal and during his playthrough him reflecting on his time as a kid and growing up in Karnaca, but it's very minor to the point where it's honestly irrelevant to the rest of the plot. It's cool to see Emily all grown up and utilizing the skills Corvo taught her, but again, that's all it kind of is. And Deliah I didn't feel for as a villain as much as Lord Regent or Daud. Again, it's not badly written at all, but something about the way it's executed just didn't pull me in like the first game.
For the levels, I admit I didn't feel as much for them on my first run, but I grew to appreciate them more on my Emily run. A part of me still does prefer the first game's levels just for it's art direction alone, but gameplaywise this game's levels are still really well designed and have a lot of fun stuff to them. The Clockwork Mansion, The Dust District and The Grand Palace were some of my favorites.
Now, the playable characters. Corvo is more or less unchanged from D1, and as such plays how you'd expect, but what I was interested in was how Emily played. For a long while I heard from so many that one of this games' biggest problems was how Corvo was more or less meant for low chaos while Emily wasn't, and honestly, I can't disagree enough with that. Emily is absolutely just as viable in low chaos as Corvo is, although I do feel there is one main difference in their kit. While Corvo is meant to be a more "standard" quiet stealth, Emily in comparison is what I'd call "aggressive" stealth, which I actually kind of like. Playing aggressively and almost "sloppy" is how I like playing stealth games, just to see how far I can push things and get away with it. I feel like even the game knows this, as now you have a chart that not only ranks your lethality vs pacificism, but also how aggressive you were (stealth v assault) Stuff like the upgraded far reach, shadow walk, and domino all fit into this more aggressive playstyle, and honestly I had a lot of fun with it. No shit, I feel like I had more fun on my second run with Emily then I did on my first run with Corvo. It bumped what was originally a 7 for me to an 8. Like, while far reach lacks verticality in where it can take you, it makes up for it just for the ability to pull in objects (even collectables) and people to subdue. It's just fun to stand on higher ground and yoink some guard while the other dude has no idea. Shadow walk for me felt a little more effective then Corvo's bend time as well, on top of there being a dedicated function to subdue up to 3 people when upgraded fully. Legitimately, if we're comparing to the base game, I feel D2 has more replay value then one since on top of low/high chaos, you've got the two characters to play as on top of more difficulties and a custom option to tweak aspects of the game.
Even If I didn't enjoy the story overall, the more I think about it the more parallels I feel this game has to Thief 2. Already you've got Garrett's VO, briefing cutscenes that aren't far off from that Thief as a series has, Mechanical soldiers with the voice of the man who created them, and overall just a general mindset of focusing more on gameplay then story. It wouldn't surprise me if story in development took a backseat in turn for the levels and making two playable characters. The divide I see from fans of this series seems based on that (alongside gameplay/level changes) and while in some regards I do understand it, I do feel there's still a lot of stuff fans of 1 would even enjoy here. Even if I do feel 1 is still the better overall experience, 2 is a keeper I feel. Aside from some small performance stutters (which I'm blaming more on the engine since this is apparently the same one that Deathloop used, which also ran pretty badly at points) I had a lot of fun with this. If you like 1, there's no reason you shouldn't play 2, just for the gameplay alone. For what it is, it's still pretty solid, even if it doesn't reach the same 10/10 highs as 1 did.