High On Life 2

📜𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝟐
One can only envy such dedication and hard work of the "Squanch Games" who are releasing a AAA sequel after only three years of development (not even counting the DLC work), almost any studio, with the exception of Capcom and its Resident Evil games, would envy such a pace, especially since the game isn't even aimed at a super-mass audience - It's not like anyone was asking for a new comedy shooters. It's more like people are just starting to notice "High for Life" through discounts, game passes, and PS Pluses, and with proper localizations. HOL was a gameplay-wise incredibly simple and chilling, pulled off by a unique humorous concept that tried to creep you out, but a $60 sequel – seriously? And it weighs almost 90 GBbecause the authors wanted to fit an entire cinema with absurd films and an entire arcade hall with absurd one-button parodies of retro games?? A sort of PREMIUM sequel - it will only appeal to fans of the original and is made specifically for them, because everything in it either works worse or simply doesn't work as freshly as in the original (not to mention the fact that the graphical leap in such a short period is completely impossible to notice).

The main difference that makes Hi on Life 2 noticeably different is the presence of a Skateboard - it, of course, fits perfectly into the "get high" formula of the series. Open maps no longer require unlocking the jetpack, you can use monorails and wall running to access any elevated spaces, but this same skateboard kills any challenge in any arena and in any element of gunplay, since the grappling hook works on any rail, meaning shooting has become even easier, and you won't find any access to "Tony Hawk"-type combos here - It's impossible to fall off a skateboard; it's just like super-fast running (or playing online games with cheats).
Otherwise, absolutely nothing has changed in the mechanics, and I'd have to rehash my review of the first game if I wanted to talk about the game's weakest part—the gameplay, which remains the same.. well, with the exception of some aesthetic changes like new gun heads - one we take directly from a living body, y, while the others are husband and wife—wow?!; And for some reason, there are club-like animals or fire-breathing creatures you can pick up in a few arenas, but they're so few and far between that I don't even see how that was supposed to enrich the gameplay; The hub between locations has changed a bit, in fact, it has become fully functional and multi-story.. become cumbersome, like the whole game as a whole; + To progress through the story missions, you often have to solve silly puzzles involving connecting wires (they're very unintuitive and rather annoying, even though there were plenty of similar examples in other games); Some bosses are styled like dialogue games, and one even influences your past decisions! But all of this is repetitive even within a single game; As the world has become larger (several open locations), they've added some sorts of arena bets, super-easy Tony Hawk-style "collect letters" tasks, generic races, taxi driver missions, and other endless, and therefore useless, activities, since you only get coins to upgrade your weapons or skateboard stats , only stats without any new machanics or skills! ...oh, and you can buy decorations for the hub. There are several shops, and for different items you have to run from location to location, which is also not very convenient. But you can still find a couple of interesting, unexpected hidden quests like "escape rooms" on the map. Visually, the game has become even more colorful the comfortable contrast has been exaggerated, the character designs remain just as ugly, not to mention the technical problems of such a quickly cobbled-together sequel (the most infuriating thing is the softlocks, especially in racing missions; anad there are a lot of holes in the maps, but not so many regular bugs). The story concept, where we're reduced from heroes to bandits, plus the character development and plot twists, well, maybe a little better, but the original still did it all before! And the same applies to the only thing the game has cannot be taken away - the humor:

😆It's a specific thing, so only about 30% of all the jokes will hit you, but it's still not bad, although they didn't get rid of the frequent use of "toilet" themes. Unfortunately, the whiny critics won out, and the humor no longer "infuriated" me as much as in the original. On the contrary, I felt like that was exactly what High Life was designed to do: you just keep playing to see how the game tries to mess with your ADHD... The sequel is just a regular shooter with humor features, But it still had several dozen “breaking” jokes that made me smile for a long time, for example, the joke about the security guard who only had one day left before retirement - who's played will understand: or the kissing booth, the "guard my car" sides, or the elevator fixing part where you press "up" and "down" (and whoops). And the dilemma part with 1 million pesso ? Oh, that was really good... "this is just daark meen".. There's still a shortage of comedy games in the industry, so this is still nice addition to genre. 
🏆 But if you still think this is a stretched-out DLC or no.. and yes and no, it's a full-fledged game with a renewed structure, more plit , and its own jokes, just maximally inflated and "sucked from the finger" from the original concept, which already had a lot of comedic ideas implemented. I was waiting because I thought they'd go for a deeper gameplay but no - absolutely not.. BUT if you have even more money, time, and an understanding of English language, then it makes sense to play the second part. The barrier to entry is simply too high for the average gamer who isn't really into shooters or comedies, so I don't even know who I would recommend it to, the devs joke at the end that they will be better than Half-Life 3, but no, guys, that's enough. (Although the game is already on Xbox Game Pass; Xbox hasn't completely shut it down yet, yay!).
😡😡p.s. AND NO NEW MUSIC FROM TOBACCO!! just reuse of mid tracks.
😊 𝗦𝘂𝗯 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺`𝘀 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿`𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41977550/