Hotline Miami

[RetardBus]

Hotline Miami is a really fun top down action game where you play as a man known simply as "Jacket", who is receiving mysterious phone calls blackmailing him into slaughtering the Russian Mafia. Thought I'd make a thread for it because a little less than a month back we got gameplay footage of the upcoming sequel, which I'm really looking forward to.

Love the idea of multiple playable characters, all of which have different playstyles. Another thing I love about this series, like I do with just about any franchise that has it, is the lore. The game is intentionally very vague about most of the story and the characters. I don't have anything on my mind right now, but speculation and theories are another part of why this thread was made, so sperg away.

 

[Mauvman Shuffleboard]

It's been a while since I played Hotline Miami, but Payday 2's getting some Hotline Miami themed DLC at the end of the month which is pretty fucking sweet.

Spoiler: Large Image Wow!

I've got some dank ass coupons for either game if anyone wants them. 50% off for the next two weeks.

 

[Iä! Iä!]

So there are fellow heisters here? Neat!

edit: What I love the most about HM is the soundtrack. I honestly bought the game just for that, though the game itself didn't disappoint.

 

[c-no]

One thing to love about Hotline Miami is how aggressive the game wants you to be as you slaughter every mobster within the level whether it's with a bat or even a shotgun. It was also fun playing as Biker since you're going in pure melee with a cleaver and your only ranged weapon is just three throwing knives. Also, this rather good and catchy tune from the game:

One thing to say though, Jacket might not really be a victim of blackmail, not when you consider a certain item that is in his home before a certain level (Biker has one too when you play as him).

 

[Sigma]

Necroing this thread because some guy's making an unofficial Hotline Miami sequel called Midnight Animal. At least it was advertised as such. Today he updated it out of the blue and it looks like he transformed it into largely emo weebshit because his girlfriend broke up with him or something.

Original Greenlight link
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=635112545

New- Steampage version
http://store.steampowered.com/app/453800

Spoiler: Dev Rant

"Yes, Midnight Animal was for several months the only thing keeping me alive, the only bulwark against an ocean of overwhelming despair and mutilation....But it's also killing me"
"But no matter how hard I try now, I feel like it's not enough. There's this quote from GTA V which always stuck with me. "This guy Franklin's just saved his friend Michael from an abattoir after the latter's been captured by some criminal element from his past, and Franklin asks in anger why he took the choice to save himself at the cost of everyone around him." "To which Michael responds: 'It was that or die. Look I know it sounds cold I don't expect you to understand it, not yet but you will when you got ties of your own." "Look, you wake up one day and your legs, they just give... and you just can't run anymore."
"my girlfriend broke up with me." "Next week, exactly, we would've been together for a year." "Certainly, this is a subject more fit for a therapist than an audience of gamers, but anyone who's gone through the experience (which I imagine to be many of you) knows just how crushing it is." "For those who don't know, the first couple of times, you feel this pain distinctly and sharply, this unprecedented kind of agony which cuts deep and punctures straight through you." "But after that, you start getting used to it, and the pain dulls down, and you get used to it; you stop hurting so bad, and eventually, all that's left is just the interminable ache of nothing." "And that's where I am: no longer sensitive to the slings and arrows of bitter misfortune, but a straw man cored and left with nothing but the sensation of hollow emptiness inside my chest - no pain to validate the sudden subtraction of a former essential, yet still haunted by that terrible ache, the irreparable loss of holding someone dear."

 

[TiggerNits]

Anime continues to ruin everything

 

[SoberBlitz]

Damn, this was not what I was expecting. If you want to have some fun with this, there is some salt on the Hotline Miami subreddit (what doesn't reddit have a subreddit for?).

https://www.reddit.com/r/HotlineMia..._midnight_animal_store_page_has_been_updated/
https://www.reddit.com/r/HotlineMia..._midnight_animal_store_page_has_been_updated/
I'll quote one of my favorites:
"Anything related to hotline miami is gone, the only thing relatable is the top down gameplay and the combat mechanics.

He took out the masks and made up some BS about spirit animals. Added a weeb story with anime gutter. This fool kept us in the dark for like 4 months. Decided for the third time (maybe more) That the aesthetic was unappealing and then knocked off other games and used that. Hang on let me just "borrow" decompiled HLM code to make a completley different game, but then say it is a mod. This ain't no mod for hlm, and does not have any significance with hlm at all. It's weeaboo "visual novel" anime.

The only thing good I liked from all of this were the actual gameplay mechanics, purchasing weapons by obtaining money through contracts, and I also thought the mask design was alot better then HLM, but was scrapped. Why is it called Midnight animal then?

I'll play it when its released and give it a chance, but i am just as confused about how abruptly this went to shit."

 

[Overcast]

Damn, I was kinda interested in the idea of Midnight Animal. What a strange transition.

Anyway, I've enjoyed both games.

The first one was a very tight game with simple yet refined mechanics that make for a very fun and fast paced style of gameplay. And I really enjoyed the 80's style it has.

The second I feel is held back a bit due to larger and more open levels leading to getting blindsided far more often, the story, while interesting, I feel is a bit bloated in certain areas and went on a bit longer than I personally would have liked. The final level was pretty sweet though and was a nice way of tying things together.

Both are worth playing definitely. Although I'll probably go back to 1 a bit more often.

 

[WonkeyDong]

I played the demo for it, the gameplay of hotline miami is still there, which is good, its just like, persona hotline miami or some shit

 

[GS 281]

sounds like the plotline for nols life

 

[Moomin]

I've played both games, and I even have a Corey cosplay, big fan here.

That being said, what the fuck is up with the anime shit? One of the notable visual aspects of the game is having sort of ugly or odd looking faces for characters, and the anime style takes away that. Not to mention that the style of the anime stuff he wants to put in totally clashes with the heavy pixelized Hotline Miami style. I'm not one to normally bitch about graphics, but when aesthetic is a huge part of why the game is appealing to so many people, you really need to take that into consideration.

It's still a work in progress though, so if he can still pull off something that feels like Hotline Miami, it might be worth checking out when it's finished.

 

[Tri-Tachyon'sClown]

The guy who made this video is a bit of a fag but nothing too awful, what brought this topic to me. Also check out the Indie Hell Zone article. And also a recap since this was mentioned in this thread.
>Autistic Hotline Miami fan nearly kills himself trying to make a spin-off
>Turns Persona into his life and therefore his game
>Is surprised that his bait and switch from Hotline Miami into Hotline Persona (art tracing and heavily "inspired" elements from Persona) is poorly received
>Digs himself a deep hole by getting upset that the game he promised was originally discontinued and when it came back it was turned into a weeb Hotline Miami as mentioned
>Insults and attacks fans and trolls alike including the ones giving him money from Patreon
>Eventually releases game into two separate entities, a game and a visual novel
>They're both shit
>The game is edgy, disorienting, unnecessarily hard, questionable mechanics, soundtrack is awful and unfitting weeb shit, writing is garbage
>The Visual Novel is more garbage writing but now excessively long, more novel than visual
>There's another version of the game included
>It's more polished
>It's "not for you, the people I promised this game to"
>Lolok
>Dev quits because he shot himself in the foot at every opportunity, essentially took the money he did get from his patrons and ran
>Life is essentially ruined, unhireable, can't socialize, everyone he ever knew left him behind
Surprised he hasn't killed himself honestly. Remember kids, if you're going to be autistic, set your sights on what you promised first and take care of yourself above all else.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

These games were incredible, really not my kinda game in general but they hooked me with how weird they were. The gameplay was addictive too, and of course the music is incredible, really matching the action.

 

[The Early 2000s]

HM2 is better than HM1. There, I said it.

 

[Montalbane]

The guy who made this video is a bit of a fag but nothing too awful, what brought this topic to me. Also check out the Indie Hell Zone article. And also a recap since this was mentioned in this thread.
>Autistic Hotline Miami fan nearly kills himself trying to make a spin-off
>Turns Persona into his life and therefore his game
>Is surprised that his bait and switch from Hotline Miami into Hotline Persona (art tracing and heavily "inspired" elements from Persona) is poorly received
>Digs himself a deep hole by getting upset that the game he promised was originally discontinued and when it came back it was turned into a weeb Hotline Miami as mentioned
>Insults and attacks fans and trolls alike including the ones giving him money from Patreon
>Eventually releases game into two separate entities, a game and a visual novel
>They're both shit
>The game is edgy, disorienting, unnecessarily hard, questionable mechanics, soundtrack is awful and unfitting weeb shit, writing is garbage
>The Visual Novel is more garbage writing but now excessively long, more novel than visual
>There's another version of the game included
>It's more polished
>It's "not for you, the people I promised this game to"
>Lolok
>Dev quits because he shot himself in the foot at every opportunity, essentially took the money he did get from his patrons and ran
>Life is essentially ruined, unhireable, can't socialize, everyone he ever knew left him behind
Surprised he hasn't killed himself honestly. Remember kids, if you're going to be autistic, set your sights on what you promised first and take care of yourself above all else.

Jesus christ the "MUHMENTALS" crowd is fucking pathetic.
These people should thank God and the Military Industrial complex for the internet because in an actual work enviroment they would just get chewed and break down constantly.

 

[Gravemind]

HM2 is better than HM1. There, I said it.

HM2 tries some more interesting things than HM1. I don't think it's necessarily better though.

IIRC, it's been measured that HM2 has more artificial difficulty than HM1 (particularly due to the prevalence of gun combat + how enemies really can just aimbot you sometimes). It's certainly buggier than HM1.

 

[Agent of Z.O.G.]

The guy who made this video is a bit of a fag but nothing too awful, what brought this topic to me. Also check out the Indie Hell Zone article. And also a recap since this was mentioned in this thread.

Check out the "true" version that came out last year instead:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3042794393

HM2 is better than HM1. There, I said it.

HM2 mods >HM1 >HM2

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

HM2 is better than HM1. There, I said it.

HM2 is more of an artistic game but not too faggy about it, while 1 is just pure gameplay. Considering how good 1 is, 2 at least comes out as memorable for the amount of shit that happens.

 

[Ibanez RG 350EX]

HM2 is better than HM1. There, I said it.

Only if you like getting constantly shot from off-screen because the devs tried to force much more sprawling, open level design that the game isn't mechanically designed to deal with.

I loved HM1 and HM2 was a huge let-down.

 

[Gravemind]

HM2 is more of an artistic game but not too faggy about it, while 1 is just pure gameplay. Considering how good 1 is, 2 at least comes out as memorable for the amount of shit that happens.

Absolutely. HM2's presentation is a certified banger. It just kinda falls short in the gameplay department to HM1 for a multitude of little reasons.