After playing a bit of the main mission (just got to the Kai Tak Resort and saved) and through the whole Flavour Nexus expansion, here are my thoughts so far:
The first mission is still the same, they added nothing new to the Darlington Station and Russian Embassy levels (though you can now successfully bypass the retinal scan in the embassy by showing a xerox of your butt; they'll say something like "welcome back, Dr. [insert butt pun name I can't recall]"). Some people encountered a bug in the movie theatre, but I couldn't reproduce it, myself. So far, the game has been smooth and bug-free, for me (though, yes, like someone mentioned before, If I turn v-sync off, the mouse gets jittery, unresponsive and will even get stuck at times. If I leave v-sync on, though, everything plays hunky-dory). I honestly can't notice any graphical updates, I have been playing the game at the second-to-best graphical preset, like I always did (my PC is pretty crappy), and everything looks and feels the same. Maybe there was some slight optimization, as I get more fluid movement and overall gameplay performance.
I still don't know what they added in later missions but, my god!, they expanded the second mission a lot! More alleyways, more side-missions, a whole lot more stuff to do, experience and explore -- plus an addition of an over-the-top wrestler that challenges Polyblank to matches set in a wrestling ring complete with old CRT TV filter. Everything feels natural and, in all fairness, this is probably how the game should have been when it first released; more nonsensical humour for the fans to enjoy, larger levels with more stuff to do and NPCs to interact with, all the while maintaining the spirit and the quality of the original version. I can't wait to see what Necrophone added to the later levels, but even if it isn't much, the additions to the second mission alone justify a Director's Cut (to be fair, this level was previously just a single street with not much to do, not to mention it straight up just led the player to the "main mission objective"). I won't spoil the new stuff they added, since it's best to experience it on our own, but some of it is downright amazing -- and always nonsensically hilarious. Just explore every nook and cranny and find out for yourselves.
As for the Flavour Nexus DLC proper... well, I like it, it's more Jazzpunk. That's basically it. Surreal, trippy, weird fun. Took me around 40 minutes to finish, and I think I did most of what there is to be done, though I'll definitely revisit it later. I found controlling Polyblank odd, though; it's my minor gripe with the expansion. Whereas he still controls the same in the main game, in Flavour Nexus he feels floaty and he definitely slides for a bit after you stopped pressing a direction. Nothing majorly annoying, but worth mentioning, anyway. This DLC can be completed in under 5 minutes if you just do what you're told to do but, like with the rest of Jazzpunk, I think it's all about trying different things and attempting to enjoy every bit of the experience. Like I said, it took me about 40 minutes from start to finish, I guess it could have lasted more if I wanted to look for more stuff to do. It's not going to add three or four hours of "exciting" gameplay to those who already "beat" the main game, but I don't think that's the point of Jazzpunk. It's a nice addition, a cool little extra that can be accessed right from the main menu and played for a bit, for an occasional dose of this weird nonsense we love.
Wedding Cake can now be accessed right from the start in the main menu extras (along with Flavour Nexus), too, and it's more full-fledged. You now unlock maps and characters by playing the main mission, and the game can effectively be played in actual multiplayer. If you enjoyed Wedding Cake before, they made it infinitely better.
And that's it, I guess. If you didn't enjoy Jazzpunk before, this new edition + DLC doesn't make it different or more appealing, it's basically more of the same offbeat stuff we fans already loved to begin with. I should also add that if, for some reason or other, you preferred the previous version of the game, or if you want to compare the original with the Director's Cut, GOG Galaxy does allow us to rollback to the previous (3 years old) version.
If you think Jazzpunk might be up your alley but haven't picked it up, yet, I can't recommend this new version enough. It's basically extended Jazzpunk, and it's the best version of the game that has ever been sold, so go grab it now, with or without the Flavour Nexus DLC.
Post edited July 28, 2017 by groze
