sorry for the long rambling, i don't expect anyone to read the whole thing. the tl;dr is that despite it's flaws the game has immediately become of my most favorite games of all time, and i can't wait for 2.
as a big fan of twin peaks, this game was always in the back of my mind as something i needed to play some day (specially after playing the amazing "the missing") thankfully that opportunity came when the game was released on switch. i wanted a physical copy, and sadly since it's not a big game no one imported it here where i live, which is why i had to place and order myself, which long story short, because of covid19 and whatnot, only got to me a few weeks ago.
i had actually watched a good chunk of the game on youtube years ago (i think until becky's death) and i was already spoiled on who the killer is a long time ago, so the beginning of the game didn't have many surprises for me. still, it just feels like such a special game to play. the graphics aren't the prettiest, and the gameplay is very janky and there's a lot of bugs (the game crashed like 7 or 8 times for me in 35 hours, only switch game i've ever seen crash), but somehow the story, characters, music, and atmosphere clicked with me in a way that i was able to overlook all of its problems.
i'm very thankful for is the guides in the OT and the amazing guides by Chemi_ro on her website. it can't be denied, the game can be super frustrating and annoying if you don't follow at least some general tips. there are a lot of recent playthroughs on youtube who are going through the game with no fast travel and only using the first gun, and that makes the game such a chore to play. but using the guides, it becomes a much more easy game (i pretty much beat all the regular enemies with the wrench, lol).
one thing that really impressed me about the game was the side quests. again this is something that many people seem to just ignore and just play the main quest line, but there's so much character development (and a shocking amount of voice acting) in these side quests. at the start of chapter 9, i decided it's a good time to do as many side quests as possible and then go on with the rest of the game. it took me about 4 days to finish all the side quests that were available up to that point, and i had a blast finishing them. there are some frustrating things about the side quests tho, some required rain, which just wasn't happening so i had to go back to chapter 2 to do them (in which rain is very frequent). here the game started crashing often for me (one time losing about an hour of progress), so i had to finish the chapter after each side quest (you can't save when playing an old chapter). another good chapter to go back to for side quests was 7, both chapters are very shots.
trading cards where also pretty fun to collect, although i looked up most of them :) card #65 was a nice touch.
the hunger/tiredness system was... fine. only a small annoyance most of the time. using cigarettes to pass the time is another thing that the game doesn't really tell you and it can be very annoying at times if you don't use them.
the music is just excellent. it does reuse some tracks too much, but they're excellent anyway and really help make those moments special. with 2 having a new composer i'm curious to see what the music is going to be like, but knowing the composer's excellent work from hotel dusk/last window, i'm optimistic.
as for the story, this is legit one of my favorite stories i've ever experienced in a video game. so engaging, very well written, and bizarre in the best way possible. the story begins in a shockingly similar way to twin peaks, but quickly finds its own style and identity.
the game is filled with moments that are just... overwhelming in their sadness, beauty or fuckedupness. there's a few moments that i just had to pause and take a breath, and some moments that i'm sure will be stuck with me forever. the most beautiful moment for me was when york is following the ghost of anna in the rain. i don't know why but that moment was incredibly beautiful in a way words can't really describe. another moment that really stuck with me was carole's death, specially the part when she gets up and starts describing the wooden sculpture with her tongue cut off.
the game does an excellent job at handing a pretty large cast of characters. most of them are great, and you start to care about them after encountering them a few times (the side quests really help too, as i said). the characters' names all starting with a different letter of the alphabet was something i didn't notice until the credits, which made me fill quite dumb...
the boss fights are just bad, and felt really unnecessary. probably my least favorite part of the game.
overlooking the gameplay, i think the game has aged pretty well. i could totally see a game with the same story being released in 2020. there are some unfortunate things tho that kinda show the game's age, one being some sexist remarks some characters make, the other being the use of the psycho cross-dresser stereotype for thomas. i don't think the intent behind those is malicious tho, and specially seeing how swery handled the story and characters of "the missing" i'm hoping there won't be stuff like that in the sequel.
the ending of the game was really beautiful and well done. it was emotionally satisfying and i think wrapped up the whole adventure very well. i'm a little unclear on some minor things still, but nothing youtube and google won't be able to answer tomorrow. i'm happy deadly premonition 2 is both a sequel and a prequel, so we can spend more time with york, as well as see what happens with zach.
that's pretty much it. i'm curious to read what other people's experience with the game was, favorite moments and characters, hopes and expectations for the sequel, etc.
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