Hotline Miami

So I finally finished this. The look I'm pretty meh on, but it really has that Dreamweb extreme violence in low res thing going on, which I dug. The audio was a treat and was really the pulse of the gameplay. The randomisation wasn't annoying to me because each level was so short, though there were a couple of dick levels towards the end (and the fat guy enemy started to dictate I take a shotgun between levels) and the boss encounters sucked so much cock. As boss encounters invariably do in every game ever.

However, the story. I really hope some alternate ending is tied into finding all the secrets or something because otherwise fuck me was that a let down. A classic example of an author knowing how to throw confusion and mystery into the mix to keep you off balance, but having no goddamn idea themselves what any of it means. All those conversations come to nothing in the end, and then it puts you into the "Answers" chapter, which not only changes the outcome (a fine example of shitty story telling), but basically gives you the middle finger in the form of "Hah! We don't know what the fuck any of this means either" dialogue.

Wait for the sale and only if you enjoy maximising your score, otherwise pick up the soundtrack instead. Christ almighty was that ending shitty.

There was one effective story beat:

Finished it. Pretty great, easily worth the $10.

I was underwhelmed by the regular ending -- the completionist ending was worth getting for me (but I don't regret a second of that game).

I'm currently replaying so I can collect the puzzle pieces, and yes the gameplay is fun. It's nice going back to older levels and seeing how much better I am at them now.

In contrast, the regular ending allows for a lot more arthouse wankery over the meaning of violence and the narrative of the game.

The completionest ending is one of the worse last minute exposition dumps in a title I've seen since STALKER: Chernobyl.

It is good to go back and finish those old levels after you've trained up your skills.

Great, it manages to hit both ends of the bad ending scale in a single game. Impressive.

It depends on what you like. You can take away a big "video games are violent because you players like them that way" vibe from the normal ending, or find it completely unfulfilling.

The completionist ending is either a more thorough bit of closure or a terrible, terrible exposition vomit.

I bought Hotline Miami precisely because I read a lot of gushing about the narrative and walk away feeling that people are projecting much too much into it.

The original ending to me felt like the author hadn't put more than five seconds thought into it, so neither did I. I hadn't read the hype around it but saw the trailer, and the little story clips suggested to me there might be something cool going on in there. I kept waiting for it.

I haven't reached the completionist ending yet, KOTOR2 distracted me.

What an odd game! I'm still making my way through, but it is pretty fun and actually disturbing. Not a lot, mind you, but some.

I want to play Hotline Miami with an Eduardo X mask. What would the power be?

A nice understanding of each kind of weapon? Or maybe the ability to fall asleep at a moments notice?

Arghfucks. Why would it put checkpoints for difficult fights immediately before a conversation.

Because it's how every game since the dawn of time has done it?

And fuck them all.

The devs formally announced a sequel yesterday. Not providing a link, because that's pretty much the announcement.

haw

Just beat the game. They tried to get too Funny Games with the end. Still, the atmosphere is amazing throughout. I can't wait for the sequel.

Are you talking about the movie Funny Games (alt)? If this is supposed to be a meaningful cultural touchstone I think you're overestimating how many people saw it.

At least I have no idea what you mean (although I guess Elyscape does).

Pixel-art gore just doesn't do anything for me. It wasn't creepy in Home and it isn't creepy here. Killing dudes for no obvious reason isn't exactly a new thing in video games either. If it's supposed to be a reaction to that, it isn't working for me either.

The mechanics are kind of interesting, but repeating something over and over again until you get it perfect isn't what I look for in games. At least the levels are short so far (8 or so).

Yeah, that's what I meant. I'm 99% sure they were going for the same message as the movie, and equally confident they saw one of the versions of the movie. I can explain more, but where Hotline Miami was entertaining, Funny Games was just dumb.

I eventually gave up on playing this. I cannot express my hatred enough for that goddamn GTA 2d-style control scheme.

I've bought but not yet played Hotline Miami, that like was for the comment about Funny Games.

Mostly ok parody vid, but I think it ends rather strong

What mission are you on? It's hard, but it doesn't feel that bad since it loads you back at the beginning almost instantly. So maybe it takes you 20 tries to beat a level, but that's still only about 10 or 15 minutes.

That's like level 13? Nevermind then, I thought you were just starting out. I never made it that far and I was playing mouse and keyboard.

Get better! I can clear the police station without too much hassle. The hardest part is the 2nd floor. The first floor can be cheesed and bum rushed via melee if you know how. That's how I got the highest combo achievement. Going rambo on the 2nd floor is total trial and error but it's doable. Silent gun shots mask helps a lot.

Wimp.

Also, mouse and keyboard.

I know the game is buggy, but damn, I never had that problem.

Yeah, that fight was a huge god damn stupidly made bitch.

Go right, pick up whatever it was (trophy or something) then kill the dogs/large cats, then when the one Kill Bill girl sidekick starts her shit just chuck it at her, then smash her head in with a finsher. Then the real bitch starts. Have fun!

Just Kill All The Things

The best way to handle the last boss fight is to quit. It's a BS fight and there's nothing worthwhile after it.