Despite more or less harsh reviews, the humorous puzzle-thriller Hello Neighbor has managed to sell 2 million copies since its 2017 release. After all, this unique combination of genres is especially popular with younger audiences on Twitch and YouTube, where loud streamers do a lot about the murderous Mr. Peterson (the neighbor mentioned in the title) and his frenzied pursuit of players. There were reactions, from Peterson’s mansion to his nightmarish brain. While the developers at Dynamic Pixel are clearly better at coming up with ideas than actually implementing them, you have to praise the first game for having a weird, slightly goofy charm.
For the second game, I’m now back in the same sleepy residential area–it feels like I never left. Sadly, graphically, not much has changed since last time around, and while the cartoony, low-res rush of blockiness belied the predecessor’s worst technical flaws, it’s not as easily forgiven this time around. Especially since there has been a generational shift. On the other hand, the pulse-pounding, Mr. Gadget-esque music is just as enjoyable as I remember it. Subtle, jazzy, cozy, and a little spooky without being full of gimmicky effects.
But alas, Peterson hasn’t changed much either. I had initially witnessed another of his murders, and my first mission was to enter the crime scene, past the officers who surrounded the Peterson home with barricade tape, and into the basement. What happens between the murder and the arrival of the police is still a matter of interpretation, and I think Dynamic Pixel has thrown together a bunch of puzzle scenes that they have failed to tie together into a coherent story. Once I slipped from the police – which quickly developed into more annoying trial-and-error than a disturbingly comical cat-and-mouse horror – a step-by-step solution to the sometimes hilariously simple, sometimes difficult Imagine the intricate puzzles, squatting under the little wooden table, into the basement; and then I was thrown out the front door, away from the crime scene.
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So the reward for the first challenge didn’t materialize and I was left alone in the driveway of the house with an open residential area looking for my next target. well where am i going I hesitated, felt the doorknobs of the villa join together, leaped over the hedge, and looked in through the window. Hello, I want to call out. what should I do? When I get tired of no one letting me in, I throw the crowbar at the glass, but often get the same scenery “toot”. The seemingly open world is a lie, or at least an empty hub world.
Subsequent challenges, when I finally found them, were just loose variations of the first one. In the cafe, the same step-by-step puzzle is repeated, where the object must first be placed in the cat food bowl, the key to the cupboard containing the cat food must be found, the cat must be fed to divert attention so that I finally catch object, the circle is complete. Meanwhile, one of Mr. Peterson’s henchmen – in this case an anonymous, angry man – was chasing me on a completely arbitrary premise. If I’m sneaking on a wooden floor, is it any different than if I’m sneaking on a soft woven rug? I asked myself. Why did the bitch stay in front of me – squatting under the table again – for a little over half a minute, but she just stared at the table?
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Before Hello Neighbor 2, developers had been talking about advanced artificial intelligence, an open world, clearer goal setting, and an exciting story that would dig deeper into Peterson’s character and motivations. All we got was a developer who, once again, showed that they couldn’t implement ideas; they also made it very clear that the ideas themselves ran out. Like the kids, check out Hello Neighbor 2 on YouTube or Twitch if you must. Just don’t spend money on this one.