Hello Neighbor 2, review

Initially Hello Neighbor was supposed to be a single title, but after success with around two million copies sold, a Dynamic Pixels and Airy Guest Studios The idea of ​​creating a sequel was born. The first chapter was pretty immature, but the idea behind it was interesting, so much so that it also became interesting content for creators and content creators.

So the announcement of Hello Neighbor 2 sparked a lot of curiosity about how both the story and the game mechanics would evolve. While the story has been enriched by comics and off-screen novels, the mysterious neighbor has continued to hide his secrets.

In this way we had the opportunity to learn more about Mr. Peterson and returned to infiltrate the apartments in search of the truth. in our area Hello Neighbor 2 review We will tell you of our escape and our discoveries, but above all of how Mr. Peterson was not our only trouble.

Old habits never die

Being a sequel with A.J Small jump Compared to the first chapter, Hello Neighbor 2 keeps the overall game structure unchanged. As journalist Quentin, we’re back to find news of the mysterious disappearance of children in the town of Raven Brooks and guess what’s the purpose? That’s right, discover the secrets of our “friend” Mr. Peterson.

We may say that his hatred towards us has not subsided so much as our desire to enter furtively into his possessions: these two factors, oddly enough, still do not make him at all friendly, and he is ready to track us down and chase us from his possessions. But the thirst for truth is relentless, and even at the cost of being dismissed again and again, the mystery must be revealed.

Stealth dynamics remain intact As in the first video game, all gameplay focuses on infiltrating apartments in search of clues that could explain the mystery that hangs over this spooky city. After a short introductory film and a surprise encounter with the neighbor, Hello Neighbor 2 begins, introducing us to the mechanics with a small environmental puzzle, one of the many that are present and characterize the gameplay.

Crow Brooks Mystery

Our adventure begins just as we left it and the first target is Mr. Peterson’s house, this time manned by a policeman, theoretically intent on patrolling the reserved area after reports of suspicious activity. the first Puzzles It’s very rudimentary and shows some modest improvements over the illogicality found in the first chapter.

Hello Neighbor 2 with minimal exploration and attention to detail We didn’t encounter any difficult puzzles to solve, finally easy to understand, leaving the only difficulty in trying not to figure it out. To make everything more usable, the items you can interact with are reduced to bones and are exclusively those that are necessary to progress in a mission or to attract the attention of an enemy in service, such as the alarms scattered throughout the rooms. No more chairs to throw at an angry Mr. Peterson trying to stop him, this time we just had to rely on good timing to hide.

As in the first Hello Neighbor, Quentin can rely on his bag with tools like scissors and a crowbar to be able to interact with barred doors and cobwebs. inarsenal As a detective in this second chapter a drone camera has been added, which is an interesting idea but finds no real use in the game dynamics.

While it’s ideal for observing the movements of a homeowner we’re sneaking into, it’s often more practical and immediate to rely on a “hit-and-run” tactic, hiding at regular intervals once we learn the NPCs’ patrols.

A city full of secrets

Hello Neighbor 2 not only implements small innovations, but it is also Longer lifespan Compared to its predecessor, though, it will take about 3 hours to complete. The trick to extending the duration is to explore more homes and buildings that appear to belong to people involved in the Raven Brooks children’s disappearance mystery.

Although exploring the neighborhood is somewhat free, apartments to explore are only unlocked by following one solid progression imposed by the game. After solving all the mysteries inside Mr. Peterson’s house, we will discover that to get to the solution of this plot we have to visit our neighbor, who now lives in the moldy town museum.

After the first raid, the real progression of the game begins, preceded by a flashback that attempts to reveal some secrets about this mysterious story. Upon waking up, we always find ourselves inside Quentin’s headquarters, and the many cameras directed at Raven Brooks show us which character we will have to visit before trying to storm the museum again.

We have three targets: the pastry chef, the old man who lives in the suburbs and the mayor. In each house there is a key piece to be able to continue inside the museum. the Puzzles They’ll get slightly more noticeable as you go through the game, even those in the mayor’s fancy villa who’ll need multiple things in order to unlock the mechanics inside.

New neighbors, same problems

Hello Neighbor 2 was announced with some major promises from the developers, namely aAmnesty International able to study our at-risk behaviors and able to put us to the test. Sadly, those words were ignored and the AI ​​problems that afflicted the first chapter came back hard in the sequel.

The AI ​​doesn’t seem to have received any particular improvements and makes the experience rather dull in some moments DisappointedEspecially in the final stages of the game. Inside the museum where the neighbor is holed up, for example, there are sections with a floor that is unavoidable in some situations and creaks that immediately attract Mr. Peterson’s attention even if he’s very far away.

The lack of path selection, also due to the restricted game environment, makes some parts of the game unnecessarily unfamiliar, simply forcing us to run away to try again. Even if we get caught there is no real penalty; Quentin gets fired and we’ll have to start exploring again with a Checkpoints Very close and in most cases the items collected before are kept.

graphic promotion

But what can be seen from the start of the game is the important thing Graphic improvement received by Hello Neighbor 2. The cartoonish art style manages to give the product a modern look and the work done on the lighting makes the game world lively. The neighborhood of Raven Brooks, while not very spacious, is full of details but the homes to visit are only those useful for advancing the adventure.

On the other hand, the interiors of the houses are rather monotonous and have repetitive origins, which do not stand out due to their originality. In some structures it is also possible to see windows that are not perfectly aligned which caused some problems for us to get around. All this accompanies him Little finishing Even in reach boxes, it gets stuck between things more than we thought during escape attempts.

The general feel is the same as with the first Hello Neighbor: a good gameplay idea but with a technical realization that leaves something to be desired. The graphics and quality of the timelapse videos remain a successful little aspect that contrasts with a lot of unprocessed detail, which makes us think of a hastily bundled game.