Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise (2020)

Deadly Premonition 2 is much of the original, for better or worse - its jankiness bleeds through its graphics and general quest structure but its quirky and nightmarish mystery still manages to shine through in some way.

Taking place before and after the original Deadly Premonition, Francis York Morgan investigates a mysterious street drug and its connection to the red seeds in the small Louisiana town of Le Carre. The town seems fairly bare bones and charming at first, with a decent amount of quirky characters and things to do. York can skate around on a skateboard and later use a rideshare service, as well as investigate scenes and use a gun to take down animals and evil red shadows.

Most of the systems are fairly superfluous (upgrades are available but not quite necessary, items get thrown at you like crazy without really needing them, etc) and the scheduling of quests can get a little janky to manage. While some quests break (we'll never get past that 360 powerslide...) some others rely on very specific times of day and just never quite seem to pop up when you need them. Luckily since most of the systems are superfluous, the character can focus on the main quest.

The main quest is where the game really shines. Jumping from grisly murder to strange mystery, York follows an oracle's cryptic messages and unravels the lurid secrets of the Clarkson family, the family that runs Le Carre. Some of the plot points are utterly bizarre and at times problematic (especially involving Miss Lena Duuman and Avery Smith) but weave together into the original Deadly Premonition in intriguing ways, including flash forwards into 2019 where Francis Zach Morgan is currently under interrogation. If the dark otherworldly mysteries aren't enough there's always chasing dalmatians, alligator attacks, canned spinach in a vending machine, and other activities that shine with the same quirkiness of the original.

Le Carre is also fairly rough looking, with fairly choppy performance but a slightly cleaner look than the first game. Music is cute and somewhat pleasant save for the fantastic opening but a lot of the game's story is spent in uncomfortably silent cutscenes. At the least the characters get plenty of detail where they need it most.

Deadly Premonition 2 is definitely borne from the first game for better or for worse. There really isn't a reason fans of the original shouldn't pick this one up (as long as they have a Switch) but perhaps people new to this rodeo might want to try the first game before they dip into this one blind.