What is it about the Hotline Miami series, especially with 2 that makes it feel like there is a ghost hiding just below the surface. Like there is an entire secret act just waiting to be uncovered?
>>743335535You're reading into and expecting more from a series where the developers hated what they made and especially hated the people that liked what they made. Hotline Miami 2 is a hate letter to fans that launched with a soundtrack more expensive than the game itself. It was a decent game but did nothing in service to the brand itself, effectively killing it right then and there.
>>743335634I hated how the soundtrack was cut up into parts because of the payday 2 DLC.
>>743335634>hate letter to the fans>actual good game it's like that one chef that accidently invented potato chips out of spite because of a snobby guest that didn't like his french fries
>>743337292It would compare HL2 more to a really good pie that isn't cooked properly. By the time you hit the cold center you are almost done so you finish it anyway.
>>743337548I really enjoyed the final Son missions personally I thought the Hawaii missions felt the most unfinished and unfair
>>743337821That's funny it's the complete opposite for me. Aside from a few cheap shots from the wide open spaces I loved the Hawaii levels and hated the son levels. I think a part of the reason why is it's the fans but without the chainsaw and no ADHD story telling so you are stuck with him longer then the other groups.
>>743335634>with a soundtrack more expensive than the game itself./v/ really underestimates the production value of games, even simple ones.Pay normal professional rates to do ALL the other work for hotline miami (the time spent programming it, art assets, etc) and youre burning through $200k at MINIMUM. Assuming people take somewhat disappointing pay for hours worked. Might be upwards of $400k-$500k
>>743338036Nevermind i missremembered how long this game took to developDial that back to $100-200k, point still stands
Hotline Miami the first is such a glazed game. It's carried so hard by the music and visuals but the actual game part sucks. If it released today it would be Mostly Positive on Steam with 30 reviews. The story is a "im 14 and watched Drive" nothingburger. The only decent part was telling the story of MC and the girl through the changes in the apartment
>>743335634The dev literally gave us a level editor so we could make as many sequels as we wanted, retard. I very much doubt they hated it as much as you're trying to portray it since the core gameplay is pretty much intact and further expanded while addressing one of the issues the fans complaining about the first game (the storyline - which was clearly something the fans failed to grasp about the firsg game but they still went through that effort for the sequel despite the lack of interest in it).
>>743338492HM1's gameplay is great because it's actual arcadey action in a time when such games are so rare. And HM2 completely did away with it by railroading you.
>>743338492You gotta understand how unique that game was with the message for that time
>>743338590Their only sin was making that you need to go out of your way to edit the game files if you want to use custom music in the level editor levels. It should have been something built in.
>>743338492>>743338787people cared about the story in HM?
>>743338671Sure, it's great arcade action if you love killing and getting killed by off screen enemies, then resetting and hoping they spawned in the same place with the same items.It's such a weird game because it's such a niche game within a niche genre but people act like its some classic just because everything else that came out around the same time sucked
>>743338954Apparently. Reviews act like the game tells some complex story and has deep characters
>>743338954I think for me what got me invested is when I kill all the bad guys and clear the level walking through the corpses and bodies of everyone I murdered just to get back to the car (even tho it's pixelated) gave me an uncomfortable visceral reaction i've never had in a game beforehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz08gxwSTAw
>>743338671Not sure I'd agree with that. They revamped the game with an additional difficult setting (that actually changes how you engage levels because there are design changes that tweak your level progression) and they created online leaderboards for time attack and max score. I'd agree that the sandbox element got reduced though, your experience feels more streamlined.
>>743338963What? In HM1 most maps are small and you can easily see every enemy, you will rarely die to an off screen enemy. You either did not play the game or is thinking about HM2.
>>743339160People feel railroaded by HM2 because it forces you to use guns more by having larger maps. In HM1 you could clear 90% of the game with melee weapons alone.
>>743338954Well they missed the whole point of the game then. There's a reason the secret ending was a joke (Biker even breaks the 4th wall to voice your thoughts on it) but apparently people didn't really get it unless the devs nailed it to the player's heads...
>>743339125lol this reminded me of when I saw celebrity deathmatch for the first time in elementary school.
>>743339289I'm going to work some magic
>>743339289If the devs did not want us to care they would have gone with the original cocaine addict cowboy plot instead of trying to make something more elaborate. Who was calling Jacket is an actually interesting question if you are not a jaded faggot who thinks he is too cool to care.
>>743339191>rarely>most>is thinkingso it does still happen?I havent played HM1 enough to memorise every map and every enemy, sure, i'll admit that much. But you have to be coping if you think that most of the game isnt learning enemy positions after they kill you before you can react.
>>743339279You can also do this in Hotline Miami 2. There are videos of full combos on Take Over with Dirty Hands, played on Hard mode. It's just much, much harder to do so than Hotline Miami 1 and rightfully so (since the game is a sequel, it's supposed to push you harder).
>>743339480It's the David Lynch thing of not everything needs an answer. Hell, Biker going out into the desert and getting lost along with the phones calls seems like it was inspired directly from Lost Highway. Even Lost Highway is about "remember the things how you want to remember it" and the original HM being a dream for most of the game of his past events. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZowK0NAvig
>>743339480Have you ever considered that maybe it's just a meta thing and the devs don't give much of a fuck about the storyline and characters beyond asthetics they felt that were cool? Maybe those things aren't meant to be developed or elaborated and the questions the game is presenting you are more related to how you feel about engaging with the game as a player.
>>743339480>Who was calling Jacket Don't they answer that in game by having those sewer janitors who say "lol fuck you who cares"?
>>743339849They only say that if you do not complete the puzzle though. If you do they give an actual answer, explain the 50 blessing's goal and foreshadow HM2's plot.
So does the ending matter or not? >>743339289 implies that the secret ending was a jokebut (you) >>743340334 imply that the ending does matter and has larger plot ramifications Also is 2 better than 1 gameplay wise?
>>743340652In context of the first game, the jannies were being honest breaking the fourth wall by saying its just a game to them. Seeing how much work you put into tracking them down with the hacked computer they give the "in world" explanation for how they managed to set everything up hoping that would satisfy you.
Are there any decent player made campaigns?
>>743340787Ah, thanks for explaining.
>>743340823Yeah plenty, just sort by most downloaded and go from there.If you want a suggestion, play the Hunter series:https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1086602500
>>743340823Besides the one mentioned by this anon >>743341069 you can also check Kremlin Czar, Miami Menace and Wild Style. They're all pretty well balanced in what you'd expect from a campaign that mirrors the original titles and particularly excel in the gameplay department.
>>743340823Not campaigns but i recommend playing Oneshots. Those are levels that give a backstory to the original hm1 masks like Carl, Tony etc.https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=2972850215They are all fun to play and have a nice writing.
