Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise

Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise is an open world survival horror video game developed by Toybox Inc., White Owls Inc., and Now Production. It was published by Rising Star Games for the Nintendo Switch console on July 10, 2020. It is both a prequel and sequel to Deadly Premonition, which has garnered a cult following since its release in 2010. A Blessing in Disguise follows FBI Agent Francis York Morgan as he works to solve a murder mystery in the fictional American town of Le Carré, Louisiana.

Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise
European cover
Developer(s)Toybox Inc.
White Owls Inc.
Now Production[1]
Publisher(s)Rising Star Games
  • JP: Toybox Inc.
Director(s)Hidetaka Suehiro
Producer(s)Tomio Kanazawa
Programmer(s)Hideto Suzuki
Artist(s)
  • Syuhou Imai
  • Yukiya Matsuura
  • Suzuka Imamura
Writer(s)
  • Hidetaka Suehiro
  • Kenji Goda
Composer(s)Satoshi Okubo
EngineUnity
Platform(s)Nintendo Switch
ReleaseJuly 10, 2020
Genre(s)Survival horror
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

A screenshot of York and Patti in Le Carré

Deadly Premonition 2 divides its gameplay between two sections. In the first, the player assumes the role of FBI Agent Aaliyah Davis, who interrogates Francis Zach Morgan in his apartment about his handling of a case involving the murder of a teenage girl. In the second, the player guides a younger Francis York Morgan through the fictional American town of Le Carré, Louisiana, fourteen years prior, as he investigates that case and its connection to a drug ring.[2]

Plot

The frame story of Deadly Premonition 2 takes place in Francis Zach Morgan's apartment in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2019, a decade after the events of Deadly Premonition. There, FBI Special Agent Aaliyah Davis and her partner Simon Jones interrogate a sickly Zach over his involvement in a murder case of sixteen-year-old Lise Clarkson, the granddaughter of the influential Clarkson family, in Le Carré. Zach narrates how he and his alternate personality York, created from his childhood trauma, came to Le Carré to investigate the connections between the murder and an addictive street drug, Saint Rouge.

During his investigation in Le Carré, York is periodically aided by riddles from the supernatural entity Houngan and Patricia "Patti" Woods, the young daughter of the town's sheriff Melvin Woods. Returning to the scene of Lise's murder, York discovers that she had been dismembered by her mother in the presence of Professor R, whom York suspects to be involved in the production of Saint Rouge. York then enters the Otherworld, where he battles a monstrous version of Galena, who claims to have done it in pursuit of creating a new world. Returning to reality, he arrests Galena and takes her to the town's jail.

The next day, he finds that Galena has been murdered and tracks down Professor R, revealed to be a trans woman named Lena Dauman. She had been born the heir to the Clarkson family and later became an apostle for the goddess of fertility after meeting the supernatural entity Forrest Kaysen, using Saint Rouge to transform the bodies and mature the souls of selected human offerings to the goddess. York enters the Otherworld again to examine a scene of violence between Lena and her father, P.J. Clarkson. P.J laments his family's fading prestige and reveals that he knew that Lena had had an incestuous affair with her elder sister, Candy, that resulted in a child, Patti. York then battles a monstrous form of Lena and returns to reality as the bomb Lena planted detonates, killing her and her father. After Melvin and then Patti go missing, York eventually tracks them down to a boathouse. Corrupted by Saint Rouge, Melvin confesses his love for Lena and plans to finish Lena’s plan by sacrificing Patti. Melvin, however, changes his mind, and dies along with Candy in an ensuing fire, as Patti escapes with York.

Back in the present, Zach enlists Simon Jones’s help to track down Avery Smith, an developmentally disabled man infatuated with Lise. York returns to Le Carré, to the place where Lise's corpse was found, and confronts Avery in the Otherworld. Zach defeats Avery, but when he attempts to free Patti, he sees a vision of Patti admonishing him for not letting her die back at the boathouse as well as his inability to save Emily, his love interest in Deadly Premonition. Overwhelmed by his guilt over Emily's death, Zach gives into his anguish and is transformed into a monster by Kaysen. Aaliyah confronts Zach and fatally shoots him. When Aaliyah, influenced by Kaysen, tries to shoot Patti, York intervenes to save her and breaks Kaysen's supernatural hold over Aaliyah. Patti, distraught over Zach's impending death, makes a deal with York to prolong Zach's life. In the post-credits scene, Patti video calls Zach, as Zach and York communicate via text.

Release

A Blessing in Disguise was announced in September 2019, with Hidetaka Suehiro as director and writer.[3] It was published as an exclusive for the Nintendo Switch on July 10, 2020.[4]

Reception

Deadly Premonition 2 received mixed reviews upon release.[5] Some critics concluded that Deadly Premonition 2 did not reach the same heights as Deadly Premonition, with the other elements of the game unable to compensate for the technical performance, as had previously happened in Deadly Premonition.[10][7][11] Others wrote that, while not quite as enjoyable as Deadly Premonition, Deadly Premonition 2 was still a serviceable sequel with an intriguing storyline and characters.[6][9][12]

The characters generally received praise as enjoyably eccentric,[7][11][9] though some reviewers felt that the relatively smaller cast, as compared to Deadly Premonition, limited the narrative range of the murder mystery.[10] York was similarly highlighted as a major strength of the narrative,[10][8][6] with one reviewer describing him as "undoubtedly Deadly Premonition 2's saving grace."[2]

A major point of criticism focused on the game's technical performance. Reviewers often criticized the frame rate as slow and considerably detracting from the experience of the game, particularly when exploring the outdoor portion of Deadly Premonition 2's open world.[10][12][8][6][9][7] The absence of an option to invert the game's camera along the Y-axis was also criticized, as it had been present in the 2019 port of Deadly Premonition for the Switch.[10][12] The graphics were similarly panned by some critics.[7][11]

Controversy

The game's misgendering and deadnaming of a transgender character led to criticism and was partially addressed in a patch.[13]

References

  1. Toybox Inc., White Owls Inc., & Now Production Co., Ltd. (July 10, 2020). Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise. Rising Star. Level/area: Credits.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Wales, Matt (July 10, 2020). "Deadly Premonition 2". Eurogamer. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  3. Espineli, Matt (September 5, 2019). "Deadly Premonition 2 Announced For Switch, Original Creator Confirmed To Return". IGN. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  4. Wilson, Tony (July 10, 2020). "Top New Game Releases On Switch, PS4, Xbox One, And PC This Week -- July 5-11, 2020". GameSpot. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  5. "Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise". Metacritic. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  6. Carter, Chris (July 12, 2020). "Review: Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise". Destructoid. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  7. Cork, Jeff (July 8, 2020). "Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise – Chasing Its Own Shadow". Game Informer. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  8. Indovina, Kurt (July 9, 2020). "Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise Review". GameSpot. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  9. LeClair, Kyle (July 8, 2020). "Review: Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  10. Ogilvie, Tristan (July 8, 2020). "Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise Review". IGN. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  11. Game Central (July 8, 2020). "Deadly Premonition 2 review – Francis York Morgan strikes back". Metro. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  12. Byford, Sam (July 20, 2020). "Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise review". The Verge. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
  13. Handrahan, Matthew (July 22, 2020). "Deadly Premonition 2 dev claims transgender content "fixed" Review". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
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