I can’t consider it’s solely been three years since Kyoko & Misako burst onto the reinvigorated brawler scene, cracking skulls and taking down River Metropolis’s interim Yakuza boss, Sabuko, earlier than discovering their boyfriends, Kunio and Riki. Now they’re again, in a recreation that’s greater and higher than its predecessor whereas incorporating key parts of River Metropolis Women Zero, which I appreciated. You would possibly recall that I didn’t take care of RCGZ itself, however was delighted to see that characters from RCGZ have huge roles in RCG2. For essentially the most half, RCG2 is precisely what it says on the tin with some new options and high quality of life enhancements that I actually dug.
The sport begins by reminding us that on the finish of the primary River Metropolis Women, heroines Kyoko & Misako punted katana-wielding Sabuko–daughter of imprisoned River Metropolis crime boss Sabu–out a window. She is quickly found by her adopted brother, Ken, who you could keep in mind from RCGZ, and the 2 go to their father, Sabu, who promptly punches a gap in his jail wall and says he’s going to handle issues himself. In the meantime, Misako & Kyoko’s faculty is taken over by Ken and his goons, and so they forcefully expel the gals, who wind up taking part in video video games on Kyoko’s mother’s sofa for six months.
You’ll be able to select to play because the 4 characters accessible on the finish of the final recreation: Kyoko, who’s secretly my favourite; Misako, who’s the very best brawler (IMHO), or their boyfriends, Kunio and Rikki. I by no means bothered to play because the boys within the first recreation, as they didn’t turn out to be accessible till beating the story. After taking part in a bit with them right here, I discovered each to be enjoyable characters with simply as many stunning, distinctive animations because the titular ladies, however I caught with Kyoko & Misako out of familiarity…but additionally it’s their recreation.
The primary distinction you’ll discover in RCG2 is that River Metropolis itself is tremendously expanded. Possibly too expanded. The city is split into a number of sections (Crosstown, Downtown, Uptown, and so on.), and every of those sections is damaged up right into a dozen or so single areas–what we referred to as “screens” again in my day. As within the first recreation, your troupe might be usually focused by troublemaking mooks, most of whom you’ll acknowledge from the primary recreation, and you’ll both simply run away or beat the tar out of them. In some circumstances–often tied to finishing missions–a sequence will seem across the display screen’s border, and also you’ll have to scrub a set variety of clocks earlier than shifting on, or beat up a bit of surroundings till it breaks (or is miraculously mounted) whereas keeping off goons.
Whereas every of the 4–finally six–characters has an amazing variety of melee assaults at their disposal, most environments additionally comprise loads of weapons, and the sheer breadth of implements stays astounding. You’ve received the whole lot from yo-yos to wrenches to monumental fish, outdated couches, and the whole lot in between. Every weapon has a sure variety of makes use of earlier than it breaks, and it’ll flash crimson earlier than it does–simply sufficient time to toss it at yet another mook, Breath of the Wild-style. Crowd management is a problem in RCG2, although some characters are higher at it than others. And as earlier than, you may recruit a few of these baddies to your trigger, summoning them with a faucet of the L2/R2 buttons. They’re useful in a pinch!
Provie & Marian have been closely touted within the recreation’s PR, however are each unlockable characters tied to particular quests, and you must beat them in somewhat tough battles as a way to achieve their confidence. Provie, a Capoeria-centric (Brazil!) brawler who’s enjoyable to play as, is definitely a stowaway from the PC recreation River Metropolis Ransom: Underground, however you could acknowledge iron-fisted Marian because the oft-kidnapped girlfriend of the Double Dragon dudes. She’s barely recognizable right here, with white hair and muscle groups that may put Billy & Jimmy to disgrace, and has an aggressive heavy-hitting preventing fashion.
As within the earlier recreation, Kyoko & Misako are given a lot of subquests in between essential story missions which regularly contain operating across the overly-large map, speaking to characters, beating up mooks, discovering or smashing issues, and taking part in entertaining minigames. I have to admit that operating across the monumental map did get outdated. Regardless of the presence of bus stops (quick journey factors), you’ll be doing a variety of operating from place to put, and three issues make this a problem:
1. There is no such thing as a minimap, so that you’ll be going into the map display screen lots.
2. The map’s structure isn’t all the time intuitive, as if there are extra screens in a given space than may realistically match onto a single space of the map.
3. There are weirdly-long load instances in between each display screen.
That final level is the actual killer–we’re speaking five-ten seconds of loading time each time you progress from one display screen to a different. This was my essential criticism about Shantae and the Seven Sirens, too, and I ponder if this loading situation is current on the opposite consoles. Not game-breaking by any means, however given that you simply’ll be traipsing round each nook of the map a number of instances, it is omnipresent.
Minigames are new to RCG2, and in just about all cases are implausible diversions from the principle curb-stomping gameplay. One early minigame has you taking part in dodgeball towards a complete staff of opponents (which can be simpler to win with extra folks). A later minigame has a enjoyable model of Dance Dance Revolution. In all circumstances, they’re over too shortly and there aren’t sufficient of them.
Yo’ ladies nonetheless degree up, however as earlier than, stat will increase are bought in varied outlets. River Metropolis has a wholesome variety of eating places, road distributors, boutiques, and specialty shops, all of which promote gadgets you could both eat, retailer for later, or put on as an adjunct. Any time you go to a brand new food-centric retailer, if you happen to’ve received the inexperienced, it is best to pattern the whole lot on the menu–the primary time you eat any dish, that character will get a stat enhance. Oddly sufficient, books and video video games may also be consumed on this approach. You’ll be able to eat the meals proper there or retailer it for later use. My technique was to eat the whole lot immediately, then purchase seconds for boss fights.
Every character should enhance their stats individually, however cash will not be exhausting to search out in River Metropolis, and spending even a modest period of time grinding goons will produce a surplus of casheesh. Equipment haven’t modified both: they produce sure buffs and two might be worn at a time. Some are defensive, some are offensive, some steadiness out, and others are ridiculously particular (for instance, do extra harm per cat rescued). The sheer variety of equipment will help you discover nearly any mixture to fit your playstyle.
RCG2 seems beautiful, with the identical 16-bit aesthetic that its predecessor had, however there’s simply extra of it now: extra characters, extra different areas, and many eye sweet to ogle within the environments. You’ll need to listen, too–one quest asks you to rescue a bunch of cats, and people little rascals get into the strangest locations. The environments have extra verticality now which is a pleasant change of tempo. It’s not fairly platforming, however I all the time recognize environmental exploration in video video games and also you’re often rewarded in your effort.
One huge change from RCG is the multiplayer choices: as much as 4 gamers can bounce on domestically, or two gamers on-line. One of many causes this evaluation isn’t up on launch day is that I needed to check out on-line play, and I wound up fairly impressed. Internet hosting is simple–you can begin taking part in as regular and when any individual joins, they seamlessly seem. I didn’t expertise any slowdown throughout on-line play, though I wasn’t precisely positive what the principles had been for coming into/exiting outlets. Surprisingly, it was native multiplayer that brought about a efficiency hit. I used to be solely capable of get two different folks within the room for my sofa co-op experiment, and that brought about a framerate dip when all people began punching issues. It wasn’t dramatic (see: Samurai Maiden) however undoubtedly noticeable.
I can’t allow you to all go with out mentioning the writing, which stays hilarious, and the voice-acting, which is extraordinarily good. In my evaluation of the primary recreation (and RCGZ), I heaped reward upon Megan McDuffee’s transcendent soundtrack. When RCG2 was introduced and that McDuffee could be returning, I discovered myself anticipating her new tunes greater than some other RCG element. Nicely people, the brand new tracks are superb and exist facet by facet with tracks from the primary recreation. If the theme of RCG2 is “extra RCG,” that additionally extends to the soundtrack, and I couldn’t be happier with it.
So, to make use of some outdated online game journal evaluation lingo, River Metropolis Women followers rejoice! Should you preferred River Metropolis Women, you’ll most likely like River Metropolis Women 2. It’s principally the identical factor, simply far more of it. The brand new characters are enjoyable, the town is far bigger, there are far more quests, and the story has increased stakes. The minigames are an incredible new addition, boss fights are powerful however enjoyable, and oh man, that soundtrack.