Hotline Miami 2 is not as good as its predecessor. The level design is noticeably worse than the first Hotline Miami; levels are far less readable and much larger, containing far too many points in which enemies can kill you from off-screen - the cardinal sin of action game design. The end result is that the player is conditioned to approach levels at a slower, far more methodical pace, using doorways as choke points to clear out a room before moving on, rinse, repeat until the chapter is cleared. In HM1, where levels are tighter, more constrained, and dense with enemies, I was powering through like a tornado of violence, clearing rooms in seconds and maintaining massive combos while using a variety of melee and ranged weapons. HM1 feels like driving a sports car at the absolute limit, as you're constantly toeing the line of failure in the pursuit of even more performance. In comparison, HM2 feels like driving an old car on its last legs, strategically managing every turn and intersection to avoid breaking down before you reach your destination.

So yeah, HM2 isn't as Capital G Good as the first game. It is, however, a far more interesting work.

This is an ambitious, sprawling double album versus the the tight, razor-sharp debut that is HM1. HM2's narrative is far more reflexive - on its predecessor, on it's own status as a sequel, on the success of it's creators and the struggles of game development, on violence, the media, sensationalism, the military industrial complex, mental health, and love. It is a frequently confusing, often bloated work that is reaching out to express everything that is on its mind, cohesion and coherency be damned. It doesn't quite know what it wants to say, but it can't hold it in any longer. It is a clear labour of love, a deeply nihilistic passion project, a misunderstood masterpiece that would only ever work as a video game but is unfortunately kind of a bummer to play. It's like a cross between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Pathologic.

It's like The Last of Us 2 if it weren't written by Zionists.

Scared the absolute shit out of me! The first few hours of this are so good and such a fresh reimagining of what the series is that the back half can't help but be sort of a let down when it inevitably has you blowing up the big bad in classic Resident Evil style. RE7 undoubtedly has the most grounded and believable writing and characters in a Resident Evil game thus far as well - even when it is obviously ludicrous, it's easier to suspend disbelief because of the detail in the environments, the incidental dialogue, and the great writing found in the collectable files.

What is the point of early access if games can eventually 'release' in a state as obviously unfinished and broken as Coral Island?

I'm quite enjoying my time with this; it's scratching the Stardew itch that I still have long after having entirely exhausted myself with that specific game. I don't particularly mind that it's not quite as mechanically solid, that the writing is completely boring and bland, and its characters are underdeveloped caricatures and/or archetypes. I appreciate the different art style, the island setting, and the diverse character design quite a lot - when the characters aren't talking, they're incredibly charming!

But I straight up do not understand how anyone involved in Coral Island's creation felt comfortable calling the game 'complete' in this state.

Quests and events are unfinished or have broken triggers - especially the event day minigames! Entire systems are half-implemented, missing or under-explained. Menus and dialogue is riddled with typos. I've experienced significant bugs almost constantly, and during every single one of my play sessions, the game has crashed to desktop. The game saving when you go to sleep at the end of each in-game day means that a crash results in you losing all progress made since you last saved.

I'm not against early access as an approach to game development. It's a valid means of funding niche games, of building an dedicated audience, and of incorporating the feedback of players, ideally resulting in a polished, feature-complete title when 'officially' released (even though the distinction between early access and official release is ultimately becoming pretty arbitrary). A game being in early access also sends a clear message to players: "lower your expectations". I expect and can forgive jank and bugs and things to be missing and for the game to run poorly because the game is explicitly not finished yet. A game in final/full release carries the expectation of polish, feature-completion, and optimisation (at least, it should; this has obviously become less common over the past two or so console generations).

Coral Island clearly still needs a lot more time in the oven, and I can't think of any real reason it had to be rushed out in its current form. It's a completely bizarre choice that, despite me finding it quite fun in spite of it's glaring faults, has left me feeling pretty disappointed overall.

This is my first FM game, and I feel like trying to get into these games in their current form is... not great.

After first booting up the game, I found the UI completely inscrutable. The menu layout, information overload, and janky navigation adds so much (IMO unnecessary) friction into the process of actually playing the game that I think I probably would have bounced off completely had I not been able to send all my questions to a good friend who is obsessed with the series. Even now, some 40 odd hours into the game, menus still feel unintuitive and it can take a second before I remember how to actually do what I want to do.

There's also a ton of bugs, at least in the Game Pass version I'm playing. Many are merely annoying, but some have locked up the game, crashed me to desktop, corrupted saves or otherwise have resulted in hours of lost progress. This is incredibly frustrating in a simulation with this many hidden 'dice rolls': replaying a transfer window after a crashed game resulted in completely different outcomes and a vastly different football team than I had assembled the first time through.

I'm putting those gripes to one side, because FM24 has fully got its hooks in me. This is the ultimate 'one more turn' game for sports nerds. What I first found overwhelming-in-a-bad-way is now overwhelming-in-a-good-way; there are so many interacting systems to keep track of that it becomes inevitable that I will let something slip and entertaining chaos ensues. It's like spinning plates, except you get to smash the "throw water bottle" button in the change rooms when your little guys are playing like shit.