No spoilers, but the universe of the series is expanded with the writing and gameplay and on par if not better than the last one.
PS: I haven't got any technical issues or memory leaks on my side is working perfectly.
Disclaimer: Firstly, I'm 20 hours in, but haven't finished yet. I haven't had any technical issues in spite running on a 6 year old PC on Windows 7. I multi-boot so I will also try on Win10 later.
The game as a sequel: Double Fine knocked it out of the park. It satisfies everything a fan of the original could have wanted, while bringing the gameplay and visual polish to modern standards. You know how sometimes your memory idealizes old games? This easily lives up to an idealized memory of the original, and then surpasses and expands upon it in very satisfying ways. I can't think of a single aspect which is not a faithful improvement and expansion of the original.
It's not just another adventure for the same characters, it brings more depth and richness to the story and characters of the original. The soundtrack achieves this as well, extrapolating on the original's themes, bringing in new elements, and elevating the production value to new heights (live orchestra, anyone?) Bravo.
The game as a game: This is a masterpiece of the genre. It is a rare and wonderful thing for a game to so well integrate its story and concepts with gameplay and level design. The premise of exploring mental worlds offers a creative license which Double Fine have taken full advantage of. It is a vibrant, rich, interesting, funny, heartfelt and delightful experience. The art direction and graphics are gorgeous, cohesive and full of quirky character. The gameplay is varied and interesting without becoming confusing or over-complicated. It is forgiving when it needs to be to prevent frustration. The sound design and music seamlessly integrate with the worlds and bring them to life. The level design is wonderous and thoughtfully crafted.
Nobody who likes narrative-driven platformers should miss this. Cream of the crop. Easy GOTY contender. Perhaps there are some people out there with a distaste for this kind of potent style, but I pity them for missing out on this magical experience.
The platforming and combat are much improved over the original. The art design is even better and more impressive thanks to the leap in technology over the last 16yrs. The originality of the original is also well preserved. I'm happy for the fans who were there way back in 2005, this seems to be more than worth the long wait.
After 12 hours of playing, I got a bug that prevents me from progressing in the game (Strike City stage).
So just one star for you, Double Fine. This is what you get when you prevent a player from manually saving the same game in different slots.
The player encounters a severe bug, the game is automatically saved in this state, he has no way to load an earlier save, and he writes you a review with one star.
This is all he can do since you have disabled your forums, where he could report the encountered defect.
What to say? This is incredible. The best possible sequel we could get.
Artstyle,music, gameplay, everything is perfect.
The narrative blends perfectly with the gameplay. The characters are beautiful, the voices, the animations.
Wish more games took this kind of freedom for their style and gameplay. I can't stop prising this.
This already is a classic.
Only thing I don't get is why there are no achievements on GOG? Steam has them.