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Hotline Miami 2 |OT| Right Number

Nah

Pixel graphics doesn't equal lousy

I can sort of see why someone would think Hotline Miami's graphics aren't that great but that's more because the game is deliberately "ugly" in a sense. The pixel techniques themselves aren't that great, especially for the mugshots, but I feel like that kind of ends up being the point behind it. The top down perspective reinforces the incredibly crunchy and fast-paced game play and it makes it a lot more visceral when the neon colors flash on the screen with subtle camera shakes when killing or firing weapons. Plus, the few times a character shows some sign of expression in the game its all kind of nice and subtle.

I think the best way to describe it all would be "stylishly gross".
 
It's like they took the hardest HM1 levels and made a salad. Jesus H. tapdancing Christ.

I just replayed HM1 entirely, for kicks.

Level 1 of HM2 is harder than anything in HM1. 2 really can be a very frustrating experience.

I guess I'll replay HM2 now and see if I can understand the plot more now. :P Not on hard mode though, that shit is garbage and without lock-on the game borders on being unplayable to me.
 
I can sort of see why someone would think Hotline Miami's graphics aren't that great but that's more because the game is deliberately "ugly" in a sense. The pixel techniques themselves aren't that great, especially for the mugshots, but I feel like that kind of ends up being the point behind it. The top down perspective reinforces the incredibly crunchy and fast-paced game play and it makes it a lot more visceral when the neon colors flash on the screen with subtle camera shakes when killing or firing weapons. Plus, the few times a character shows some sign of expression in the game its all kind of nice and subtle.

I think the best way to describe it all would be "stylishly gross".

I'd agree with that. The "style" is very limiting in some ways. When you're not looking at the mugshots, its hard to tell who's who at times. I got mixed up and didn't know I was looking at Pig Butcher in his apartment. I thought it was a Jacket flashback. The game sure as hell doesn't explain who some of these people are, so if you're not in this thread or visiting the wiki, I can see not having any idea what the hell is going on at all.

I mean, I thought the conversation between The Fans was just one guy having a psychotic episode like Jacket in the first game. I mean the game only showed the Zebra guy getting into the car. I had no idea. Then I came in here and somebody told me that A) That's actually five people and B) the Zebra is actually a girl.

Had the graphics allowed for more detail, I'd be able to make that stuff out better. Bear in mind, I'm playing on Vita so perhaps that is a factor in this, but I think my point still stands.

That said, the graphics still allow for cool details. The neon flashes and shaking you mentioned are great, and things like one character taking off his jacket and really getting into it was definitely communicated successfully, however I think about what a modern look could do for this game in terms of telling the story and I get excited. I love HM for what it is, but part of me would really like to see a total remake of it in either the same perspective, or a new perspective entirely with modern tech character models and settings. Think about how awesome it would be to see the guy taking off his jacket. Seeing facial expression, maybe he lets out a crazed "WOOOOOO!!!!!" like he's all into it and has officially gone full bloodlust, etc. I think there's a lot of unexplored potential for something like that.
 
I can sort of see why someone would think Hotline Miami's graphics aren't that great but that's more because the game is deliberately "ugly" in a sense. The pixel techniques themselves aren't that great, especially for the mugshots, but I feel like that kind of ends up being the point behind it. The top down perspective reinforces the incredibly crunchy and fast-paced game play and it makes it a lot more visceral when the neon colors flash on the screen with subtle camera shakes when killing or firing weapons. Plus, the few times a character shows some sign of expression in the game its all kind of nice and subtle.

I think the best way to describe it all would be "stylishly gross".

The one thing I don't like about the graphics is sometimes I feel like I should be able to tell what someone is doing for example:
what was the blonde woman doing in your bathroom
early on in the game? But the graphics prevent that.
 
At the end of Scene 20 when the phone call ends, what happens if you choose the typewriter instead of the phone?

The writer doesn't eat with his family when the world is nuked.

That wasn't my experience with the first one at all but I could see why someone would approach it in that manner. To me, the original ramped up the difficulty fairly slowly (until a spike toward the end) and I never felt as though I was faced with a "blind spot." As such, I never really felt the need to be overly cautious nor did I feel as though there was much trial and error outside of going for a few 'S' ranks.

You're definitely right about that approach to the second game, though. There are a few screens that I had to retry more than I'll admit and I was definitely getting more ballsy with each successive attempt.

EDIT: I see the poster above me is in agreement with you. Perhaps I was the exception to the rule with the original Hotline Miami.

Really? Not even in Chapter... 12 I think where you have to run past a gun window to nail two people at the end of the hallway before running further down to nail guns and melee people?

Scrolling up wouldn't see those down the hall, nor would it show you the gunner if you weren't prepared for it.

@scene 24. Jeeeeeez, shit's getting hard. Need a break!

Use the gun ability. It makes that Scene FARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR easier than the speedruns of people using the Tony-alike that I've seen on Youtube.

It's not. I'm working on getting A+ on all the stages and I'm about halfway there. Don't get me wrong, it's fucking hard, much harder than HM1. You have to meticulously understand the shuffling layouts and enemy behaviors. Sometimes I trash an entire run because I get the wrong enemy layout.

You also can't really stop moving which probably sounds insane given we're talking about HM2 but them's the breaks.

It sounds like Dennaton needs to rebalance the S/A+ rank requirements then. Because I'm playing with 2-4x combos instead of going balls out due to the numerous guns in the level which kills any high-score ability. Throw in the random placement of enemies at times, and yeah... I can't blame some people thinking A+ ranks are impossible at the moment.
 
The one thing I don't like about the graphics is sometimes I feel like I should be able to tell what someone is doing for example:
what was the blonde woman doing in your bathroom
early on in the game? But the graphics prevent that.

She was unlocking her handcuffs to escape. I had to watch that about three times before I got that.

It sounds like Dennaton needs to rebalance the S/A+ rank requirements then. Because I'm playing with 2-4x combos instead of going balls out due to the numerous guns in the level which kills any high-score ability. Throw in the random placement of enemies at times, and yeah... I can't blame some people thinking A+ ranks are impossible at the moment.
I dunno. It might be because playing through hard mode gives you a good bonus because most of my scores so far on the hard mode are are B+ to S ranks.
 
I just replayed HM1 entirely, for kicks.

Level 1 of HM2 is harder than anything in HM1. 2 really can be a very frustrating experience.

I guess I'll replay HM2 now and see if I can understand the plot more now. :P Not on hard mode though, that shit is garbage and without lock-on the game borders on being unplayable to me.

Welp, that's enough for me to skip this release (for now).

I was/am absolutely terrible at HM1.
 
I just replayed HM1 entirely, for kicks.

Level 1 of HM2 is harder than anything in HM1. 2 really can be a very frustrating experience.

I guess I'll replay HM2 now and see if I can understand the plot more now. :P Not on hard mode though, that shit is garbage and without lock-on the game borders on being unplayable to me.

Ehhh, I disagree.
Some of the HM2 levels are really easy and some are really tough, but I never felt like HM2 was that harder compared to the first one.

The stage where the police raids in the first game was pretty frustrating. And that stage where you had to escape the hospital... ugh -____-

In HM2 tho, you have to be more strategic because there are enemies than can only be killed with guns or melee weapons.
 
Ehhh, I disagree.
Some of the HM2 levels are really easy and some are really tough, but I never felt like HM2 was that harder compared to the first one.

The stage where the police raids in the first game was pretty frustrating. And that stage where you had to escape the hospital... ugh -____-

In HM2 tho, you have to be more strategic because there are enemies than can only be killed with guns or melee weapons.

The hardest levels in HM2 are about 3x harder and longer than the hardest levels in HM1. And I'd say that the average level in HM2 is twice as hard as the average HM1 level.

This is coming from someone who has played through HM1 several times and A+'ed every level.
 
So is everyone in agreement that Scene 21 is the best.

Because it totally is.
To be honest I had higher expectations for 20 based on the hype in here, and was a bit let down. It was cool and definitely put your ability to change up methods on the fly, but I've had more fun with other levels in the game so far. 21 just destroyed everything though. Taking a break, will finish the last 4 levels tonight
 
Apologies if this has been addressed elsewhere ITT, but is there REALLY no way to buy the OST outside of Steam, which has a warning that you must own the core game before buying? I find that to be ludicrous.

On topic: Just seven levels in but I'm loving it. Same superb gameplay and visual style but the soundtrack and story are somehow even better than the first. (For story here, I'm equating 'betterness' to just more off the wall, trippy nonsense which I really dug in the first game)
 
I loved how the judge in the courtroom scene tapped his fingers on his bench.
 
25 and then I've heard murmurs of a secret level or two somewhere in there.

25 huh? The game might actually be a bit too long for my taste. I think it could be over right now and I would be fine. Still gonna finish it though. Want to see all the levels and if I can make sense of the story by the end.
 
25 huh? The game might actually be a bit too long for my taste. I think it could be over right now and I would be fine. Still gonna finish it though. Want to see all the levels and if I can make sense of the story by the end.

25 levels would be great if each level wasn't so long.
 
Waiting for my vinyl special edition to come in.

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So do folks like this better or worse than HM1?

I think it's on the level with HM1. But some changes (like separate characters to replace masks) I don't really like.

If you like HM1, though, it's worth a play.
 
Not seeing it, Inland Empire had a slow ass pacing and build up to a great pay off, it's polar opposite of HM I'd say.

The soundtrack though, it owns, wish I'd gotten the vynil edition for it

I said before, earlier in the thread that the likeness is only slight. It's the theme of confusion, between reality and fiction that is similar to Inland Empire (and every other Lynch film). Obviously David Lynch handles it much better than in this game and the film is completely different.
 
Is there any reason that I'm not getting the Combo God achievement even though I've gotten a 20x combo multiple times?
Had this problem too this morning, sadly seems like a bug, just have to keep restarting the mission (Or game) until it popped for me eventually.

It sounds like Dennaton needs to rebalance the S/A+ rank requirements then. Because I'm playing with 2-4x combos instead of going balls out due to the numerous guns in the level which kills any high-score ability. Throw in the random placement of enemies at times, and yeah... I can't blame some people thinking A+ ranks are impossible at the moment.

Man I hope so. I did manage to A+ all of HM1 yesterday, which was a challenge in terms of having to do it somewhat quick, and mainly getting high combos.
HM2 was seriously a VERY hard challenge to just beat the game. While I appreciate they tried to be more innovative with the sequel by having bigger areas...I think its made the game just that much harder, as with HM1 you more had to be aware of enemies in cetain rooms/corridors, which was easier to analyse, but in HM2, theres big areas you can't really see all of, not even with moving the screen around, so its sorta unfair you can't even plan things about well in this area. I think HM2 was sorta hit and miss for me... I think the way they cycled through characters, (Espicially between the "Fans" in that mission), the music, the abilities, the (Slight) variations for missions, cool with all of that. The difficulty!!! I think has ruined the game more for me, while for HM1 yeah the game was a challenge, but I was up for trying to A+ it. For HM2, I really don'y want to be going through all of the potential pain to A+, they really were hard enough just to beat, nevermind beating in a certain "perfect" way, and I shudder thinking about Hard mode...

Game is buggier than the first one.

Yeah I think it is too, hopefully they can fix quick, but on the Vita version at least, I've had cases were the aim reticule can't be moved the full 360 degrees, for some reason and a restart fixed it. Men getting "stuck" in door ways and etc. making them invincible until they get unstuck.
 
So do folks like this better or worse than HM1?

The first one is better.
I think the music is a lot more memorable in the first one.
The second one is really story heavy but they don't really go anywhere with it.

Still, if you liked the gameplay of HM1 it's worth checking out.
 
So do folks like this better or worse than HM1?
I like it better. If you are expecting more of the same you might actually be disappointed because the level design and character restrictions change up the gameplay and don't let you play how you usually would. Levels are far bigger, more enemies, more guns, more windows.

However: I only used guns as a last resort in the original and much preferred just running around meleeing people, but I'm loving this one. The variety of the gameplay is awesome, and it takes everything I liked about the original and changes it up.

I think I said it before in this thread, but it feels like the game was made to coexist with the original, rather than be a better version that ultimately replaces it. It assumes you've played the original with the difficulty and story nods, and goes big with everything. The original is a tightly knit arcade experience, this feels to me almost like Dennaton's attempt at a "cinematic" Hotline Miami if it makes sense. The shootouts feel more like setpieces than standard twin stick shooting.

I'll have to finish the last 4 chapters before I can have a definitive opinion, but I love it.
 
Maybe it's because I originally played the first game when it launched on PC but it was also buggy as hell. Most of the achievements didn't work, the game crashed at random no matter what set up you had, sometimes enemies wouldn't trigger, and so on.
 
I explained some of my thinking and experience earlier. It takes a lot of practice, memorization, an ability to think on the fly (but not recklessly), and a little bit of luck. I've put an embarrassing amount of time into the first game so I feel sort of obligated at this point, lol.

I did revisit scene 12 (Death Wish) today and noticed that I had a much easier time with it the second and third time through. I still wasn't able to get higher than a C ranking, but I shaved the time I spent on that level down to 24 minutes which is a far cry from the original 40+ it took me. I have noticed that it's possible to blaze through that scene if you memorize the layout and have a specific approach.

But yeah, all it takes is for one thing to go awry and if you're unable to adapt then you're toast. Reflexes DEFINITELY come into play at a higher level, and at the moment I just don't have that in me. I also realize that it's crucial to utilize "lock on" (which I try not to rely on) in order to quickly and efficiently dispatch foes to keep combos going

Currently at scene 14 with the soldier and ugh, the ammo conservation is a real drag.
 
Yeah, I love that song, but that overlong level ruined it for me. I never wanna hear it again after suffering through Chapter 12. FUCK that level.

LOL. I actually really enjoy that level now, but then again, I'm kind of a masochist when it comes to these super hard old school style games. I'm coming around on the level design. I initially felt it was super bull shit with all of the off screen fire, but after trial and error, it becomes more manageable. It sort of reminds me of a bullet hell shmup in how unforgiving it is
 
So I'm enjoying this so far. I like the different characters/masks offering more differences in playstyle so that's cool. The music and visuals are great as ever too but I'm having trouble with the story. I'm not sure what's going on or why these things are happening or when. I think it's because of the jumping between characters and dates and I'm having trouble following it. Like, you get the date and time but I kinda forget it from one scene to the next. I'll probably read a wiki or summary once I'm done if it doesn't click by the end. The first games story was weird too but ended up kinda making sense to me by the end.

It's kinda weird playing both this and Ori at the same time. One is this super gory, ugly, violent action puzzle thing and the other is this beautifully animated metroidvania that almost made me cry in the first 10 minutes.
 
I wish Ori was on Linux too so I could bring it on my plane trip coming up.

I can play Cities Skylines on the plane, I could play Ori, but I don't think I can swing Hotline Miami 2 in a crowded plane or airport.
 
Fuck the dogs and their ground execution making me lose my combo (or life) pretty often. And I'll wait for the enemy door glitch to be fixed before going score attack because it messes completely attraction strategies. Not to mention dudes are almost unkillable.
 
Yooo that No Mercy level is awesome.
Russian mobster with suppressed pistol, so cool
.

I'm really loving all the different characters so far. I expected to dislike it but it's actually really cool.
 
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