Infamous: Second Son

That's another part of the story really that, honestly, it doesn't feel too high stakes here.

Yes, you're working for your horribly maimed relatives.

But how many Conduits are in Seattle?

2? 3?

What are you superheroing to do?

Fight the establishment.

Tag up the place.

Take selfies.

Yeah, so Cole's "fight the New Orleans KKK, New York homeless army, and army of trash zombies" seems better.

Edit:

FYI - I am completely serious.

This is a superhero game.

Fight crazy shit.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jan 16th 2019 at 8:14:32 AM

At least Cole's shit sounds distinct.

(2) I won't deny that.

I only maintain that a new story with a fresh character was my preferred choice over continuing Cole's story with most of the plot threads from the first game snipped away.

The fact we only got one enemy faction implies the game didn't receive as much time as the previous 2.

Admittedly you can argue that Cole's enemies are too out there in some cases.

The swamp necromorph like enemies in the second game for example.

The first two had other issues though. Mainly with side characters besides Zeke.

Edited by Wispy on Jan 16th 2019 at 8:09:16 AM

I disagree.

Cole fights vampires in the DLC of Infamous 2.

And you know what?

It's FRIGGING AWESOME.

Go more out there, not less.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jan 16th 2019 at 8:15:26 AM

This is a superhero video-game after all.

I mean there all kinds of superheroes.

Watchmen this is not and never has been.

And SS went all in on being X-Men as others have noted.

I don't think too much...uh "realism" was the problem with Second Son. Just a lack of variety.

Edited by Nikkolas on Jan 16th 2019 at 8:21:30 AM

As I said before I think what they could of done was make it so the gangs already in Seattle had their own conduits or bioterroists and have them also be antagonists.

Second Son has all the foundations for a fantastic game. It just seems clear that they ran out of time due to the need of having a proper AAA release for the PS 4 early, which is likely why the story is so linear and why the powers (especially Concrete and the Karma upgrades) are so half-assed.

Man. It's been longer since Second Son came out than the time between 1 and SS. I hope this franchise isn't axed for good.

I hope not. They seemed to get the hang of storytelling by First Light so it would be very sad that the series got axed by then.

I hope Second Son II happens. I'd be happy with a new protagonist, though.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jan 17th 2019 at 1:13:57 AM

Why don't they just put IF 1 and 2 on PS 4 or Steam or, hell, when is the PS 5 coming out? That has to be sometime in the vaguely near future.

You have these great games that are doomed to be forgotten - which they kinda already are- as long s they are console exclusive.

Capcom just put Onimusha Warlords on PS 4. That game came out like, early PS 2. Sucker Punch can fuckin' put IF 1 and 2 on PS 4 or Steam.

So after playing Second Son I went back to play the original duology in order to compare and contrast them and see just what that I remembered was pure nostalgia and what was legitimate. Finished my replay of 2 yesterday and holy crap, I'd forgotten how damn good this game was. Top ten of my favorite games ever, easily.

Which, sadly, just makes Second Son seem more lacking in contrast. The most glaring and obvious example is the power system. Rather than 1 and SS having linear additive upgrades for each power with two paths for each one depending on karma (and SS lacking upgrades other than mere number buffs for many), 2 gives you mutually-exclusive upgrades for each power that can be swapped out on the fly and actually incite you to do so by being useful in different situations. It's very telling that 2 has more variety with its powers even when you only have lightning and even more when you get ice or fire than SS does in all its runtime despite the multiple powersets being its selling point. Both games do tend to fall a bit into Complacent Gaming Syndrome towards the end (SS once you get Video and 2 when you get the higher-tier upgrades, especially the final rockets), but the angle of "strategically pick the powers that are ideal for the situation" is active for most of 2 whereas SS only really has it between getting Neon and Video.

Now, the story. I didn't mean for this to be a SS-bashing post (I really do like the game), but the comparison is unavoidable, and it just so happens that 2 just blows SS out of the water in many fronts. One of my main complaints with SS' story was how incredibly straightforward it was: start, stated goal and method, then everything goes exactly as the first hour told you it was going to (save Reggie's death). Infamous 2 has the merit of actually having a good plot, which even now is rather rare. It has a clear stated goal but actual twists and turns in getting there, various antagonists, multiple character arcs and plotlines — in all, just a competently told story that keeps you engaged and has some very good character moments interspersed throughout. It works both as a standalone and as the second part to the duology, and though it has a few rough edges (for example, the Vermaak 88 are sorely lacking in some sort of face or main character to serve as an antagonist, and John only having one scene of dialogue before mindlessly rampaging as the Beast till the end was a bit of a wasted opportunity) it's a very satisfying narrative as a whole.

As for the characters, they do a much better job of feeling like real people one can care about compared to 1, including Cole and Zeke (the latter particularly goes up several tiers in how competent, likeable and interesting he is between games). As mentioned, the thing I miss the most from 1 is the various sub-bosses that gave the factions a lot of character, which leave far too much of the plot on the shoulders of Bertrand, who's a basic if competently-written character. Nix and Kuo are a nice surprise in that they fulfill their purpose of being the angel and devil on Cole's shoulders without feeling one-dimensional or gratuitous at all — the twist that you fight whichever one you sided with for most of the game at the end is an interesting one. Like I said, my other main complaint is John not having much of a presence, even in mentions, outside of Dead Drops, which kinda lessens the impact of The Reveal. But as a whole, 2 has the same virtue that SS does in having likeable characters that feel and talk like real people with real issues rather than cartoony carboard cutouts, like in 1.

The visuals are what most surprised me, because as I said a while back, Infamous 1 looks like crap, and 2 was released only a couple years later. Not just in terms of graphical complexity (though having actual animated cutscenes rather than just bug-eyed mannequins gesticulating woodenly is a nice plus), but general art direction and a color palette that doesn't feel forced to stick to Real Is Brown. Even just the intro to the game, entering New Marais through the swamps, is a very welcome respite from the dreary greys of 1, and even more so when you get to the neon-filled downtown. It's not as pretty as SS, but it's also a generation behind, so I can't hold it much against it.

On the whole, 2 sits squarely in between 1 and SS in several respects (characters, gameplay design, leveling system, visuals) and is the best of the three by a significant margin, in my opinion. It's a shame that the series seems all but canned, because if they were to put out a sequel to SS (or a spiritual successor following a third character, for that matter) with some actual non-rushed development and a decent budget we could get some damn good games.

I don't think the series is canned, Sucker Punch is just focusing on Ghost of Tsushima right now.

Edited by Demongodofchaos2 on Mar 28th 2019 at 2:35:13 PM

To be fair, Infamous 2 has a good plot because it rips half of it from God Loves, Man Kills. Then again, the Conduits were always off brand mutants.

Edited by Beatman1 on Mar 28th 2019 at 4:43:39 AM

Replaying the game and it feels to me like Second Son's biggest problem is it's underdeveloped and rushed.

1. The only enemy is the DUP and they're fine but I feel kind of "bland" for them as an evil occupying army as they don't really do enough to people we meet to justify them being slaughtered en masse even if they are a complete group of scum. I subdue as many of them as I can anyway but I feel like there should have been more enemies.

2. I'm a little confused by the fact the game adopts a Punisher DRUG DEALERS MUST DIE attitude...in Seattle. Seattle.

3. I really hated the ending of Infamous 2 so I'm glad they reversed it but I feel like this game should have had more connections to the 2nd game. I always assumed Cole would return to life from that lightning bolt too.

4. I wish there were more bosses in this game or an evil faction of conduits. Give us a Magneto or Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

5. Everything just feels really...I dunno, straight forward with the exception that Augustine believes the government will kill all Conduits if they don't all get rounded up in their Weapon X camp.

Some explanation on the Drug Dealers if you don't know. It actually was a drug lord that caused Fetch's crusade against drug dealers. In the prequel to Second Son, Infamous First Light, an minor drug lord named Shane abandoned Fetch after she didn't prove useful to him anymore and forcefully injects her with drugs, causing her to hallucinate and kill her brother by accident which really fucked her up and thusly caused her to think that every drug dealer was like Shane.

I am looking forward to that as Fetch is my favorite character. Do we think we should add Ensemble Dark Horse with her as she's played by Laura Bailey and also someone so popular she got her own game? She is a character but just one of the supporting cast.

Over in the politics forum, I came up with the idea that this was one of those games that actually got better with age — because of the politics. When I first played this game, I felt it was pretty ridiculous even with the fact the United States is probably under martial law thanks to the events of Empire City and the Beast.

However, the DUP actually makes pretty good satire of ICE and its stereotypes as a Department of Homeland Security Agency run amuck. Especially given Delsin and Reggie are Native Americans.

Just me?

I do think this game is criminally short but I definitely would like a sequel. I mean aside from First Light that I do intend to play.

It did become Harsher in Hindsight yeah.

So, does anyone think that Augustine...well, had a point?

It was utterly screwed up by the end but given half of all surviving conduits were killed by the military, it seems that she really was the only thing keeping the ones under DUP authority alive.

She did but her problem was that she was really sadistic and killed and civvies close to Delsin for not being on her side. She also was training Fetch and Eugene to kill and purposefully set it up so Shane was arrested for being a 'conduit' despite being a normal civvie and put him in front of Fetch and let her have at it. She also trained the White Rabbit, an conduit with the power of controlling paper, into being an assassin. I think on some level she enjoyed the power being the head of the D.U.P gave her and lost site of her original goal very early on.

Edited by Wispy on May 10th 2019 at 3:00:43 AM