Feels like they maybe should have just turned this into its own game or something. At the very least they could have made it selectable in a menu to just jump right to NG+. Forcing people to slog through the original again feels a lot like an unwillingness to let go of their first draft.
Well, there is a lot of new stuff peppered throughout the original story now. New cutscenes with Michael and The Camera as well as new material with Allison/Carrie and a bigger focus on Chondra. A lot of new bosses too and quite a few of the dungeons have been reworked or outright redesigned. Plus just a better presentation for the vast majority of the cutscenes. It's like there's a pretty shitty base, but all the stuff tacked on to it feels a lot more well thought-out. The current version of the main game is different enough that I don't regret playing through YIIK a third time.
I finished NG+. What a ride. The finale is kinda underwhelming, but the ride itself was interesting.
Y2K 2: Benevolent Psychosis took me about eight or so hours. As I've said, it's very mean-spirited at points. There's clear digs at both players and critics. At the same time, it's such a big leap in quality from the main story's writing and quality. The voice acting is top notch. The dude voicing Michael is working his ass off. It adds a bunch of context that fleshes out the bizarre and often very inconsistent information the player is working on. It's enough that I'd elevate the game from "Shitty, but weird and interesting" to "This is actually fun and interesting."
Again: All the flaws of the original's narrative are still present. Mostly. It's clear that they did try to address a lot of the original criticisms here. Such as Michael just sorta fucking off for a good chunk of the original game or the narrative being long-winded and contradictory. The stuff that stayed the same feels like it remained that way out of spite. But, even then, that's fascinating. It's one thing for a game dev to say "I hate straight white gamers" like any big Western AAA dev does these days. It's another to metaphorically say "fuck you" and keep parts of the game you know don't work.
But, it's clear that they've really honed in on the themes they want to convey. It's pretentious. It's snobby. It's try hard. But, it's also got a lot of legitimate thought put into it.
I hate to keep using the word "frustrating". But that's just the best word I can use to describe it.
Michael's diary in NG+ has some really cool dialogue. The music is fantastic. As weird and messy as the game is, I'm glad they got the game to this state. I'm unironically interested in whatever their future projects might be.
NG++ has yet more stuff to do, apparently. But, I think I'll take a break and do other stuff.
