Fuck me. Just stayed up until now to finish. I dunno, it didn't feel that short to me. I got two solid nights out of it. I started tonight at about 11:15 and finished the game at maybe 3:45. I feel like my first session was somewhere around that also.
Anyway, just a fantastic game. I'm so happy with it. It really is everything that I loved about the first game with very few exceptions, and it carries through all the way to the end. There are some twists and surprises, suspense, and overall a pretty decent story. The first was probably a much better story overall, but the presentation here is just great. For being as completely outlandish as it is, it's pretty believable, and there are some great setpieces and cinematic moments along the way (though not so much that this makes you feel like it's a movie first and a game second).
Already started a New Game + on the hardest difficulty. It was somewhat tough going at the end, but not as bad as some of what I'd read. If you choose skills that compliment one another and make sure you're using everything properly, you shouldn't have too much trouble. But you really do have to use your environment, pay attention to what the enemies are doing, figure out who to target first, and I don't just mean kill. You can throw guys in the air, you can knock them into a vulnerable state where you can grab and execute them in I think 4 different ways (one gives health, another ammo, another a shield, and one recharges your powers faster), and there are a number of different types, including guys who can disarm you, guys with portable lights that can knock out your darkness powers, guys who shift rapidly upon getting hit, guys with shields you have to break through, and melee guys who rush you. The more advanced of these don't start appearing until a good ways in, and toward the end, they're all mostly hardcore versions with armor, preventing one-shots almost completely unless it's a weaker enemy. The darkling is much more useful here than in the first game also. There's only one, and he's basically AI, but if you pay attention to what he's doing it can make your life easier, and you can unlock a skill that lets you basically use him as a distraction by tossing him at an enemy, which will keep them occupied and potentially kill them.
So yeah, there's a lot to consider. This is some of the busiest combat I've ever enjoyed. There's so much to do and consider at any given moment, it's easy to get overwhelmed, but when you find a groove, it's sickeningly satisfying. Health regens, but there are 4 tiers. Keep it above the line in any tier, you can regen up to that tier in health if you back off. Lose beyond that line, and you can no longer regenerate up into the next tier, you'll have to get there by killing using health+ executions, eating hearts, etc.
The ending I got was pretty crazy, and the whole last bit of the game really ramps up into crazy town. But in a good way. They definitely allow room for a third game, and oh god do I hope they make one now. I had such very low expectations for this game at the start, but I think this one means about as much to me now as the first, and immediately after beating it, I started the NG+ and want to try the other route. I also very much want to play through the first game again. I really wish they'd done a PC version.
So yeah, A+ from Que. If you have even the least bit of interest in this, go get it. Buy multiple copies. Do whatever, just throw them some money, because I fucking want to see a Darkness III.
