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Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise | Review Thread
- Thread starter Deleted member 10737
- Start date
Not gatekeeping, as I don't care one way or another. But it is worth exploring if the game/story would be better served in another medium.
This is what happens from my own recollection...unless I missed other conversations where York uttered the character's dead name? It's only done when referring to the character's past self and their familial connection before they discovering their true self and changed their name. York refers to the character as their new name and preferred pronouns 99% of the time and even gets pretty mad when others don't respect the character in that regard.
I also really like these posts.
I do think that a lot, if not most of the performance "issues" were intended in the first game. Even if that's not the case I think it unintentionally complimented the game's tones, simultaneously bolstering the atmospheric horror and the surreal humor.
Whether or not that's the case with this game remains to be seen.
Yeah that's a lot mellower than people were making it sound like Jim said, so it really just cements that I'm gonna have to see it for myself, haha. I am nervous either way of Swery's depiction of voodoo and Creole culture tho.
The Open Critic score is quite fascinating.
opencritic.com
It´s a few points higher than over at MC and even crosses into the low 60s zone of being above average (MC still has a few more scores to count but going up isn´t a given) BUT only 32% of the counted critics liked the game. That´s the Zack Snyder zone of media criticism. My 3rd favorite director ever. Seeing the BvS score was quite exciting for me. Seeing the slightly underperforming box-office less so. Can this game sell? That´s the real question... Switch only is a gamble but more versions at launch might have lead to even more jank.
Jim´s overall mediocre sounding non-review isn't even listed and they collect unscored reviews. This just shows how fringe the man is. He is Mr. DP, got a custom cover for the Switch release of DP1 but doesn´t even show up. Dito for the MC review collection. Is his assessment right? Ask me on Monday but I never cared for his cover sticker worthy 10/10 review and only read it years after playing the game. (The more technically broken but slightly longer PS3 one got a 9/10.) Neither his rating nor the written text represents the game well but that´s Jim for you. I don´t think that anyone misses him writing reviews. Not part of his skillset.
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise Reviews
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise is rated 'Weak' after being reviewed by 86 critics, with an overall average score of 59. It's ranked in the bottom 15% of games and recommended...
opencritic.com
Jim´s overall mediocre sounding non-review isn't even listed and they collect unscored reviews. This just shows how fringe the man is. He is Mr. DP, got a custom cover for the Switch release of DP1 but doesn´t even show up. Dito for the MC review collection. Is his assessment right? Ask me on Monday but I never cared for his cover sticker worthy 10/10 review and only read it years after playing the game. (The more technically broken but slightly longer PS3 one got a 9/10.) Neither his rating nor the written text represents the game well but that´s Jim for you. I don´t think that anyone misses him writing reviews. Not part of his skillset.
I've heard this sentiment elsewhere but I don't think it fits in this case.
When DP1 got infamous low scores like IGN's 2.0 it was coming in as a $20 janky budget game from a relatively unknown studio and developer.
It went on to gather a cult status that made most reconsider and reevaluate the project far more favorably.
So I'd think it's safe to say that by the time Deadly Premonition 2 landed it was more of a known quantity (good, bad, ugly) with a fair amount of hype behind it, in the indie sense.
I imagine this would make most already familiar with the IP be more forgiving with reviews, in the sense that they know exactly what they're getting from Swery65 and are signed up for that style of "janky B-tier with a ton of heart" production style.
Which makes the low scores that much more disheartening.
Like I said, I'm still all over it if it ever gets ported. But not taking into account tech stuff which I don't care about, I was hoping for something a bit more inspiring with the setting, story & cast.
It felt to me that the game went out of its way to repeatedly say such outdated thinking wasn't okay. It didn't seem problematic to me while playing, especially when taken in context with the plot, but given the reactions and concerns expressed from other reviewers maybe I'm not the best person to judge such things :(
York is an ally.
but he does dead name the character to their face, which may be what people are really mad about but in context it was more like he was letting the person known he was aware of their past familial connections which connected to the case. Other than that and one other time going over the case and referring to the character's past self. I cannot remember another time it happened. He uses their current name and preferred pronouns everywhere else.
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I wouldn't say that. Reviewers don't typically give which game to who based on their tastes. I wouldn't doubt DP2 was deemed a loser's choice precisely because the sort of reviewer that would "get it" picked a more popular game to review and the one stuck with the game isn't that familiar.
1 out of every 3 critics liking the game sounds like a home-run to me considering how homogenous the game-critic sphere is. All the more so since a certain degree of polish and luster seems to be such a requirement for the vast majority of the public to even give any game a fair shake, let alone consider it 'good'.The Open Critic score is quite fascinating.
It´s a few points higher than over at MC and even crosses into the low 60s zone of being above average (MC still has a few more scores to count but going up isn´t a given) BUT only 32% of the counted critics liked the game. That´s the Zack Snyder zone of media criticism. My 3rd favorite director ever. Seeing the BvS score was quite exciting for me. Seeing the slightly underperforming box-office less so. Can this game sell? That´s the real question... Switch only is a gamble but more versions at launch might have lead to even more jank.Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise Reviews
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise is rated 'Weak' after being reviewed by 86 critics, with an overall average score of 59. It's ranked in the bottom 15% of games and recommended...
Jim´s overall mediocre sounding non-review isn't even listed and they collect unscored reviews. This just shows how fringe the man is. He is Mr. DP, got a custom cover for the Switch release of DP1 but doesn´t even show up. Dito for the MC review collection. Is his assessment right? Ask me on Monday but I never cared for his cover sticker worthy 10/10 review and only read it years after playing the game. (The more technically broken but slightly longer PS3 one got a 9/10.) Neither his rating nor the written text represents the game well but that´s Jim for you. I don´t think that anyone misses him writing reviews. Not part of his skillset.
Hmm, ok. Thank you for being willing to speak up and try to clarify things- that certainly sounds better than I feared, at least? The potentially racist stuff is absolutely still a problem, but at least this might not be as bad as expected.
Got kinda worried about the direction the writing was going when we started getting gameplay footage a month or two ago which had a bizarrely racist caricature that felt like it was trying too hard to be hammy and leaned too closely towards something harmful if unintended as such. Swery appeared to take criticism of DP1's character writing to heart and reached out for better understanding which was reflected in J.J. Macfield, so I'm... conflicted by the backwards steps taken.
Also, as someone who can literally not even play DP1 on her PC anymore because the technical jank is showstopping even with a few mods and precautions taken before even booting the game, I really cannot accept the technical debt these games suffer. DP1 needs a massive re-write to better preserve its magic, DP2 should have been better taken care of from the outset.
In the context provided here, it's only marginally better. What writers can and should be doing is avoiding deadnaming and utilizing more nuanced ways to represent who they are that does not also mirror painful real world experiences that trans people have to suffer daily. Another recently released game very much lead with deadnaming the character, which not only did the trans character a huge disservice, but undercut the effort taken by the otherwise polished writing. The rest of their arc is handled quite well, but we really don't need this "The bad guys are transphobes so they're going to scream the character's deadname!" trope to persist. They can and should be smarter about it.
I'll withold judgement until I've played for myself, with Swery's increasingly more aware and positive representation has earned some benefit of the doubt. But the way characters of color are overly stereotyped and deadnaming is used with any frequency definitely have me concerned.
Also, as someone who can literally not even play DP1 on her PC anymore because the technical jank is showstopping even with a few mods and precautions taken before even booting the game, I really cannot accept the technical debt these games suffer. DP1 needs a massive re-write to better preserve its magic, DP2 should have been better taken care of from the outset.
In the context provided here, it's only marginally better. What writers can and should be doing is avoiding deadnaming and utilizing more nuanced ways to represent who they are that does not also mirror painful real world experiences that trans people have to suffer daily. Another recently released game very much lead with deadnaming the character, which not only did the trans character a huge disservice, but undercut the effort taken by the otherwise polished writing. The rest of their arc is handled quite well, but we really don't need this "The bad guys are transphobes so they're going to scream the character's deadname!" trope to persist. They can and should be smarter about it.
I'll withold judgement until I've played for myself, with Swery's increasingly more aware and positive representation has earned some benefit of the doubt. But the way characters of color are overly stereotyped and deadnaming is used with any frequency definitely have me concerned.
OP
OP
sorry but that's ridiculous. the switch library is full of games that look and run way better.
lol
well said
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PS3 games performed worse than 360 games on average. See DP1. So sure. The sequel is a gimped PS3 port. The original ran on PS2 code but a 360 version was also part of the design doc. That´s why the rebooted development could go as "smoothly" as it did. Well, not smoothly but you know. Not that much changed story-wise btw. The project began in the fall of 2004. 5,5 years of on and off development.
The 360 original got a 68/100 by 39 critics. MC was fully established back then and the current sample size of the sequel is comparable. The sequel might even overtake it´s review count. ´Tis the year of delays + summer and sites need content. GamePro Germany (the original got a 76%) still has to drop a review for example.
www.metacritic.com
The sequel thus scored lower under comparable conditions but runs better, has fewer problems with loading and is more stable.
www.metacritic.com
The PS3 version even reached a 70/100 with 33 reviews but it is as janky as the sequel. The fun but now likely non-canon 10 extras minutes, slightly better textures, a better audio mix, difficultly balancing that makes the combat less spongy, Move support (!) and out of place costumes for Emily aren´t worth the jump to the PS3 though. The fps take a big hit and it might crash once or twice. Both Switch games do that and the PC version, lol. RE4´s or Dark Soul´s original PC ports were Luxus in comparison. The 360 and Xbone compatible original is what you want. I give that one a 7,5/10 but it´s also one of my favorite games ever as the story is simply unforgettable. A lot of the basic game is Bad TM but you need to finish that investigation with your own 2 hands True Detectives.
Let´s have a look at the German cover, shall we? The greatest game of all time. - Gamona.de
It´s 3D compatible? Truly a Next-Gen experience.
The 360 original got a 68/100 by 39 critics. MC was fully established back then and the current sample size of the sequel is comparable. The sequel might even overtake it´s review count. ´Tis the year of delays + summer and sites need content. GamePro Germany (the original got a 76%) still has to drop a review for example.
Deadly Premonition
A third-person survival horror action game which puts you in the role of FBI Agent Francis York Morgan. In the process of investigating a murder, you will examine a series of interlocking mysteries in a remote rural town and will encounter an array of complex characters pivotal to the unraveling...
www.metacritic.com
Deadly Premonition
A third-person survival horror action game which puts you in the role of FBI Agent Francis York Morgan. In the process of investigating a murder, you will examine a series of interlocking mysteries in a remote rural town and will encounter an array of complex characters pivotal to the unraveling...
www.metacritic.com
Let´s have a look at the German cover, shall we? The greatest game of all time. - Gamona.de
It´s 3D compatible? Truly a Next-Gen experience.
OP
OP
honestly. i have no idea where the narrative that swery is laughing off or making fun of the criticisms comes from. he retweeted a video showing how bad the game runs. is that laughing it off? or jokingly calling someone a troll. considering the terrible scores he's taking it pretty well and even retweeting the bad reviews. meanwhile you got creators out there having meltdowns and harassing reviewers over 8s.
as always, people should direct their request for fixes to the publisher (rising star and toybox). the game obviously had a tiny budget, and swery can't spend out of his own pocket to fix things. that's up to the publisher to fund and request patches and fixes. it very clearly is up to the publisher when a game runs this poorly. not one guy who directed and wrote the game. i'm not surprised he's not really responding to the technical criticisms seriously. not much he can do about it. he probably did the best he could with the team and the budget he was given. people out here thinking swery just made the game on his own in his room.
sorry for the rant, but people should know who to hold responsible for this stuff.
Director of Dusk, creative director on Gloomwood.
I don't really agree with the sentiment, but I'm here for the levity.
I don't really agree with the sentiment, but I'm here for the levity.
The original was published by Ignition Entertainment. Everything else by Rising Star Games. Ignition had better quality control but also went out of business. That's videogames for you. Access Games developed the 360 original. They also did D4 directly for Microsoft. Everything else was ToyBox Inc. The signs were there people.
There is simply no way that patches will get us to 30 fps outdoors with these conditions but let´s do a solid 24 fps in a month or two, load times of 15 sec every time you enter/exit a building or use the taxi instead of 30 sec and a better autosave in case of crashes. But don´t fix the out of sync audio! I believe in you ToyBox.
But do I?
There is simply no way that patches will get us to 30 fps outdoors with these conditions but let´s do a solid 24 fps in a month or two, load times of 15 sec every time you enter/exit a building or use the taxi instead of 30 sec and a better autosave in case of crashes. But don´t fix the out of sync audio! I believe in you ToyBox.
But do I?
They got away with the PC version really bad. It left me a sour taste.
Have I become senile in my 20s? because I remember that game running like dog shit on the 360
Jesus fucking christ.
Loved the original, but this one is a easily a no go now.
The writing being what fans wanted is already more than enough for me. I didn't expect this game to run well on the switch, maybe some steady framerates you could force on PC when it comes out there. DP other ports and editions had some progression blockers that were no good, besides framerates, bugs that stop progression should be the biggest priority if it has them.
I've been asleep and working, so catching up.
Technical issues I had heard well about, so it did land about where I thought it might as they would damper and get in the way of some sequences. It also fluctuates wildly, with some sequences working fine and others (especially outside) being a bit of a mess, but I am happy to hear from a few who have played Deadly Premonition on other platforms it's at least better performing than the PS3 version of Deadly Premonition 1 (which is not a high standard or anything, but is relieving to hear). I already know my tolerance for jank is much higher than most people if there's things in the game I'm genuinely enjoying, so I'm still in to see what I think.
The comments on it's handling of a trans characters is a bit more concerning, though I'm not as damning at this point in time as some. Jim paints a pretty grim picture, but then I also trust Whitney and honestly what Whitney says sounds more likely knowing both what's in the original Deadly Premonition and Swery's works since then. I'll have to see what others in the community end up thinking of its handling, and how my own feelings go. Thomas is a complicated case for me, I actually really liked Thomas as just a person in DP (early in playing the game he was one of my favorite characters, before some of the stuff later in starts coming out), but the handling of certain aspects of the character were very on the verge of being mishandled, though never really felt they went in a malicious direction, just... questionable, if that makes sense? I don't believe for a second the game is actively transphobic, but I can certainly believe it may be misguided in its handling. I feel I'm not the right person to say it is or isn't, but I do want to hear more specific examples (but realize at the moment that's impossible until the 10th due to NDAs), I'm going to be really curious how I feel on it and moreso what those actively in the community and friends I know that are excited for the game that will certainly have more to say on how it's handled will think.
I'm still on board and I expect I'll really enjoy the game, but I am interested in how this game's performance and handling of certain characters ends up being executed and received. It's a bit hard to tell at the moment because I know reviews have heavy NDAs of any content past the first chapter, so exact examples probably won't be available until the 10th (when the NDAs on this stuff lift and more people are playing the game). I do think it's important there's some further discussion on this though, especially when more specifics are known.
Technical issues I had heard well about, so it did land about where I thought it might as they would damper and get in the way of some sequences. It also fluctuates wildly, with some sequences working fine and others (especially outside) being a bit of a mess, but I am happy to hear from a few who have played Deadly Premonition on other platforms it's at least better performing than the PS3 version of Deadly Premonition 1 (which is not a high standard or anything, but is relieving to hear). I already know my tolerance for jank is much higher than most people if there's things in the game I'm genuinely enjoying, so I'm still in to see what I think.
The comments on it's handling of a trans characters is a bit more concerning, though I'm not as damning at this point in time as some. Jim paints a pretty grim picture, but then I also trust Whitney and honestly what Whitney says sounds more likely knowing both what's in the original Deadly Premonition and Swery's works since then. I'll have to see what others in the community end up thinking of its handling, and how my own feelings go. Thomas is a complicated case for me, I actually really liked Thomas as just a person in DP (early in playing the game he was one of my favorite characters, before some of the stuff later in starts coming out), but the handling of certain aspects of the character were very on the verge of being mishandled, though never really felt they went in a malicious direction, just... questionable, if that makes sense? I don't believe for a second the game is actively transphobic, but I can certainly believe it may be misguided in its handling. I feel I'm not the right person to say it is or isn't, but I do want to hear more specific examples (but realize at the moment that's impossible until the 10th due to NDAs), I'm going to be really curious how I feel on it and moreso what those actively in the community and friends I know that are excited for the game that will certainly have more to say on how it's handled will think.
I'm still on board and I expect I'll really enjoy the game, but I am interested in how this game's performance and handling of certain characters ends up being executed and received. It's a bit hard to tell at the moment because I know reviews have heavy NDAs of any content past the first chapter, so exact examples probably won't be available until the 10th (when the NDAs on this stuff lift and more people are playing the game). I do think it's important there's some further discussion on this though, especially when more specifics are known.
Yeah it's really hard to discuss this given that any sort of context is heavy spoiler territory. Again I just want to say that I didn't see it problematic while I was playing but content effects people differently....maybe I'm not the best person to judge in this case?. I look forward to the discussions once it is released!
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I'll probably get the game eventually, but there's no way I'm paying $50 for a game with these tech issues. I'm hoping there will be a PS4/PS5 release with a better framerate.
Yeah, the livesteam is fun. Swery has a very charming screen presence. Seems super earnest.
Definitely. Great sense of humor. Also shows the amount of thought and detail that went into the game. Looks like it's gonna be a blast to explore And listen to York's narration.
This is not a fucking ally.
I don't care what it is, a person who does that especially as a way to invoke a Trans persons history is never fucking okay, it is asking to have your fucking jaw shattered and rightfully so.
Swery is largely a good chap and maybe they even meant well, however there is NEVER any right to Dead Name, even more so to invoke a what could be a traumatized history.
That's awesome.
I won't be delaying my playthrough, but it'll be nice if subsequent runs will have better performance.
User Banned (2 Weeks): Inflammatory Drive-By; Prior Bans for Similar Behavior
annual reminder that Jim Sterling is a piece of shit and only gave the original 10/10 to troll IGN, don't trust his opinion on anything but especially not this game
Nothing about that combat was good, and it went for way too fucking long.
There's a lot I love about the first one, but there's clearly some irony in it.
Ah I see and understand! I'm so sorry for my own ignorance :( I mainly thought he was an ally based on the impassioned speeches York during the game but I guess it goes to show that even if you have good intentions you can still royally mess up. I didn't even register to me how traumatizing a mention could be for someone which just proves I have just as much to learn. Thank you for letting me know <3 I was pretty confused but I am starting to understand thanks to discussions like this :) I'm looking forward to seeing what you all think once you play/watch the game play out for yourselves.
Swery said during the livestream he wants to hear what people liked and hated so he can learn from his mistakes and make better games in the future. I really hope he takes this sort of feedback to heart!
Tell us how you really feel.
If I was a reviewer, I'd definitely give DP1 a 10/10. Also if you actually read that review you can tell that Jim genuinely loved the game. Seriously, where is this coming from?
if you liked the game despite the combat, that means the good outweighed the bad. that's different from "so bad it's good". you didn't end up liking the combat because of how bad it was.
So what's the issue here? Lack of budget? The dev team just slacked? Was made janky on purpose, but it got out of hand?
Also, on that note, has Swery ever worked with a decent budget? XD
Also, on that note, has Swery ever worked with a decent budget? XD
Don't say sorry, ya did nothing wrong.
Let me give a basic example and explain why I don't feel Swery did "wrong" so much as this is to say this isn't okay.
My name is Beth (well mostly lol) and my Dead Name is Max. When I came out the very first thing my parents did was ask how could I do this to them? How could I take their "son" Max from them?
I was basically stealing their child and killing them in their minds, their reaction was to tell me directly that I should have killed myself, that suicide would have been better for them and Max.
I don't say this for sympathy but to make a point but more to say an ally would know that if they studied or are close with friends who are trans as my story is sadly not uncommom.
If you are like me and you get Dead Named, it doesn't just trigger the name, it triggers the memories of your own parents wanting you to kill yourself.
So this is why I was so furious when I said they are not an ally, because an ally would know not to do this before making the boneheaded decision to not only Dead Name, but to use the name purposely to invoke a Trans persons history.
Like I said this is just me venting and I do NOT hate Swery or want them attacked in anyway! I just can't let the idea that an "ally" said this shit slide.
Swery took the feedback he got from Thomas'... questionable at best portrayal and DP1 and used that to make The Missing. I trust him to take the feedback he gets for his mistakes here and learn from them for the future.
The reported issues with Trans representation and Swery's continued support of a known abuser really put a dampener on my excitement for the game. I might check out a Let's Play one day, but as someone that owns 3 different copies of the first game and got many of her friends into the game as well, it's such a disappointment.
we learn and grow, I hope it's only uphill from here. Nothing is "perfect" but we all have to pick where we draw our own moral line
we learn and grow, I hope it's only uphill from here. Nothing is "perfect" but we all have to pick where we draw our own moral line
