Welcome to our review of Deadly Premonition 2, an Action-Adventure game that has a unique story to tell!
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise is a sequel to Deadly Premonition that takes place in present-day Boston. Through unique storytelling, venture back in time to Le Carré and uncover the mysteries buried within the once peaceful town. Serving as both a sequel and prequel to the original Deadly Premonition, follow Agents Davis and Jones as they begin a new investigation into the Le Carré serial murders. Through the memories of a former FBI agent, go back in time to Le Carré and step into the role of Special Agent York to begin unraveling the mystery.
Return as FBI Special Agent York and experience a brand-new murder mystery! Both a prequel and a sequel: A historic investigation to uncover the murder mystery in Le Carré. An open-ended adventure: Travel around the town of Le Carré by foot or skateboard. Mini-games: Bowling, Bayou Ride, Skateboard Challenge, and more. Customization: Customize your character and upgrade your skateboard for improved speed and landing more difficult tricks.
Deadly Premonition 2 starts off with a ton of story development and you will be around 20+ minutes into the actual game before you even get to really walk around freely. During this time, it becomes clear this game will be very deep and it does have a strong story to back it up.
There are really two aspects to this game, on one side, there is the investigational side which is very elaborate and on the other, you got the physical exploration side. As you start with the talking side, allow me to explain the way it happens.
You are clearly led in a specific way, I mean you are supposed to solve the crimes after all, but most of the time, you got a certain level of freedom to explore some more. In the first part, you are interrogating a former agent of the agency, and parts of his flat appear to be overly clean and other parts are not.
He calls these places sanctuaries and while he implores you not to ask about them, it is clear you can move around the subject and get an answer anyway. Or when you are in the hotel and talking to the chef. There are like 4 questions to ask and you can go either direction, the end result being the same.
And then there is the action side where you walk around, gather information and so much more. You can even skateboard, the reason for which is even explained in detail and I admit I first found it weird that this part was so present in the talks with the chef. Getting your hybrid car stolen and having been left a skateboard in its place is surprisingly specific for a game. The skateboard mechanic felt a little awkward to me, but not in a bad way.
I admit I felt that this game was a little lackluster at first. The interrogation seemed to keep going and I almost felt like this was a visual novel, a thriller almost. But it soon blossomed in a rather surprisingly expansive and fun game. The more I played, the more I felt like I was actually leading the investigation! Especially meeting Patti, she is funny!
Graphically, the game is not a high flyer, but the story makes up for that. I do like how some characters during close-ups look kind of realistic but in a way they do not. I can not really describe it, but it just fits the atmosphere of the entire game.
A dark atmosphere filled with everything you’d expect of a game of this genre. Like a wise man once said: “I recognize the face of evil when I see it”. The double entendres, the wordplays, the cunning of some characters, … This game has everything to keep you busy!
In conclusion, Deadly Premonition 2 is a great game once it clicks and the entire time I just wanted to solve the crime to see what was next!
