River City Girls 2 Review (Functional Player)
A Better And Improved Sequel But With The Same Issues
Gameplay Experience
Finished the game as Misako at Tough (Hard) difficulty.
Tried online for an hour after finishing the game
Planning for another playthrough at the hardest difficulty with a different character
Impression and Summary
I am a Misako main in the prior game and I can say this sequel is a definite improvement with the combat and move progression. I am not sure which variables were changed but I was able to juggle the enemy longer and more consistently which just feels so good. However, I feel the game still suffers from its previous issues such as the story, dialogue, backtracking and bosses that I still feel disappointed after finishing it despite its improvements.
While I do recommend this game as a beginner couch/coop brawler, I suggest looking into other entries such as Streets of Rage 4 for a better straightforward experience and gameplay.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/985890/Streets_of_Rage_4/
Improvements
Less money is lost on defeat
Healing items recover more
Safehouses to change characters or restore health without paying or dying.
Training room with damage values as a safe space to practice
Vertical hitboxes are tighter and fairer
Two assists instead of one
Healing items can now be stored and used later
Elemental modifiers for more options
Functional online multiplayer with lobbies
Better move progression (for Misako at least)
Super special move using another resource/meter
Other benched characters gain some overall experience
More playable characters with distinct movesets (2+)
Fast travel points
Side quests are better
To reiterate, the game has many surface improvements but one (or two) is worth mentioning. One prior issue is the economy of money used in unlocking moves or buying healing items where death was too severe to encourage experimentation and healing too weak and expensive to make a grinding profitable. Thankfully, losing money on death is less severe and healing items restore more making grinding viable and acquiring new moves beside boss rewards. At the very least, this makes exploring the town and engaging in random fights a pleasant experience.
Issues
Serviceable story and quests
Load times such as transitions are noticeably longer and presumably worse online
Tedious backtracking
Bosses breakout or reset to neutral after a few hits
Players can carry too many healing items
No advance dialogue (only skip the whole dialogue)
No combat or combo trials to push for advance mechanics
Enemies specially bosses doing multiple hits such as projectiles causing excessive damage
Interact/pickup action are still tied to the attack button causing unintended actions
Combo counter is purely aesthetic
As much as I appreciate the improvements, it does not address the core issues of the game.
Even if the dialogue and meta humor is not for me, I feel it does not elevate the game or is at best serviceable and at worst annoying. I was not personally invested or motivated in any of the characters (even my main) and the story for both games where I simply powered through it. Although the sidequests have improved and some minigames to add variety, I have no interest in replaying the game (aside for research) despite the new characters and improved combat because the whole experience feels underwhelming.
Another issue is the mandatory backtracking which feels tedious and tiring alongside the longer load times. The level formula seems to be exploring an area first, then encountering a road block that requires going to several points, then going all the way back to the block and finally fighting the boss. It still feels like padding without any changes or challenges. Perhaps roaming NPCs or a persistent slow yet strong enemy chasing throughout the level would actually make use of the area for routing and planning. Regardless, I think a linear map design would be better and replayable specially for multiplayer than trying to be an underwhelming metroidvania.
Bosses are less exciting and more unfair in this game specially the ones that includes platforming and throwing items. They also now breakout of long combos to prevent too much damage. Perhaps doing less damage the longer the combo would be a better alternative to reward juggle skill while maintaining balance. Nonetheless, some bosses can't be juggled which reduces potential damage and somewhat feels bad as a counterbalance. They tend to have longer attack phases without opportunities to be more proactive. Even if some bosses were bad in the prior game, at least the player could lay the smackdown just as well which I enjoy more.
Lastly, the game introduced a new problem: too much healing. While I consider this a general improvement, healing items can now be stored (up to 10) and used later which breaks the late game difficulty by overstocking for boss fights. Perhaps a 2 or 3 item limit instead of 10 would not break the economy or difficulty while allowing for mistakes. When I came to the last boss with max heals, I was not afraid or taking it seriously which feels bad.