i didn't know anything about deadly premonition except for the clip of northernlion getting his ass handed to him by prewritten dialogue. it just so happened that one day youtube recommended me his deadly premonition 2 series and i thought the clip was pretty funny so i decided to watch it....
really great. watched all 17 hours of it. it's one of those games that i think most would prefer to watch someone else play, rather than play themselves (but i don't like playing games so that may be influencing it). there's a lot of dead air thanks to the fact that your main mode of transportation is skateboarding, but that's when the personality you're watching makes up for it
the beginning of the game has such a different atmosphere than the rest of it. we're playing as FBI agent aaliyah davis and alongside her partner, simon jones, we're about to confront retired agent francis zach morgan. it so serious and i thought that this was it, this was going to be the entire game, and then we move into morgan's perspective from the past, which um, doesn't carry the same tone (i mean the first thing he iterates is that he's forced to skateboard because someone stole his car)
morgan is such a great character. for a few weeks after i finished watching i would find myself saying things in a manner similar to his. i can't remember any good quotes from him right now, but NL described him to have "little brother energy" if that helps. he's annoying but in an endearing way
it's only thanks to the youtube comments that discuss the previous game that i could know that the series is based on childhood trauma, which explains morgan's whole deal (i mean he's not normal but now it's explainable). there's a moment i keep thinking about at the beginning of the game, where morgan signs a silly contract with his child partner in crime, patricia woods, to promise that he will protect her from all evil in the world
the contract comes back in the end, used as sort of a shield, in anime-esque fashion (i really don't know how to describe it). it's all very sweet to me because it's defending a promise made during childhood, a time of innocence and folly. no matter how "silly" it was to engage with your inner playfulness, it's still important to do and something you owe your younger self
yeah, yeah.... pretend i'm lighting a cigarette the way morgan does it
admittedly the story isn't for everyone and can be confusing to follow (i was definitely lost for a lot of it, don't get me wrong) but it wraps up very nicely... the video call between morgan and patricia was wholesome
as for other aspects of the game: the voice acting is phenomenal, banger soundtrack, and aaliyah is goated. yippie!