But sadly it doesn't cut it. A short, lackluster story severely holds back a fantastic game unlike any other. Could have stood toe to toe with Deus Ex regarding story writing but instead... we get a generic plot. Could have been the definitive parkour game but... alas is too short. That aside, the game is fantastic in everything else. Dialogue is nice, the gameplay is great, soundtrack dope and not just the end credit theme.
Didn't finish yet. Don't matter. IT'S HOLLOW KNIGHT BAYBEEEEEE
This is a point and click game, however it does not play like an adventure game. This is one of those "detective games", in which you must gather clues in order to piece together what happened. It is also akin to what I've seen being called a "historical detective" game. You look at events in the past (in this game's case, a a temporal 2d diorama) in order to piece together the truth. The game checks the solutions for you and warns you when you're close to the answer (when only 1 or 2 things are wrong), which keeps you from being too frustrated and gives you kind of a clue to how close you are to figuring it out. Which is helpful, as if you've gotten that close to solving the case, you definitely deserve a final hint. That said, this game required some use of pen and paper, personally. There's not a single case that I didn't enjoy cracking, but whether due to the fact that I'm not used to this kind of game, or whether I'm just dumb, it really helped writing things down, as I was able to take note of certain things that the game won't note for you (like keywords and thinking panels, which are essentially smaller chunks of the whole case, like gathering everyone's name for example). By writing things down, I forced myself to really pay attention to EVERYTHING, and if you do pay attention even to the most minute details... you'll be able to solve most cases easily. Miss a spot here and there, and you'll be left at the mercy of the hint system, which can be very, very vague.
I have no doubts that, at the time, this game was a hit (hah). It was building on the success of the first game, and managed to improve on a lot of things. However, not every lesson was learned. I can take boring missions. What I cannot take is inconsistent AI and... missions that are essentially impossible without gunning down at least a few henchmen. The Japan missions are one such example: starting out with a banger, only to flip the script and make the disguises essentially useless, only to make them useful again in the castle. I had my fun playing this, but I think it'll be better for me to play Contracts and onwards.
Forget the lewdness, the Candy Crush-esque addiction is real, bloody hell
Only thing I dislike (just slightly) is the sanity system and the little adventure game gameplay mechanics that Penumbra employed (check an item for the protag's thoughts). But they are small nitpicks when looking at the massive influence this game had. And the custom stories just don't stop, like Thief FMs!
Very short game, shorter than Amnesia The Bunker. Yet you can start to see the DNA that could later colour Frictional's later works.
Absolutely fantastic piece of game design work. Other than some jank, and requiring a patch, this game is still fresh af.
Lots of improvements to Asylum. Open world and excessive darkness are a minus though, the open world is more overwhelming than fun (even worse in Arkham Knight) and Asylum managed to be colourful AND dark without being literally... DARK. Arkham City sadly is a little too literal with it. These are nitpicks though, game's solid af.
Best atmosphere. Combat system isn't as clean as it is in the sequel, but it's already fantastic. No stupid open world, but open areas that don't feel overwhelming. Amazing plot. It's just good.
