while there's a lot of quality life improvements, its kinda okay, its kinda mid

Just saying, but I do have a curator page. If you like my remarks about games, you can find more of them here: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44130985-TDP%27s-Gaming-Escapades

By this point, everyone knows how bad Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 was. It was a mess of a game with various glaring issues, guaranteeing a miserable time for whoever dared to play it. Episode 2 was a chance for redemption, to create something far superior based on all of the feedback and save the series. But while the developers did listen and fixed a lot of issues, the final product only ends up being a "eh..." kind of game, due to a combination of the developers insisting on using some of their outdated design choices and letting the multiplayer experience affect the single player as well.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 (S4EP2 for short) is actually a huge improvement over a disastrous Episode 1. It seems like the developers actually listened to the feedback, and fixed several shortcomings of the previous game. For example, Episode 2 has a coherent graphical style, the character models are all improved the music is improved aside from the boss theme, and the level design feels less cheap until you get to the Sky Fortress Zone Act 1 which is a massive cluster♥♥♥♥. It actually feels like a decent game to play.
However, despite all of its improvements, S4EP2 is still a Dimps-developed Sonic game. And that means they are still going to use some of their old design decisions they were using in S4EP1 and even prior to that. So while the game is better, it's still not a fantastic product.
Just like S4EP1, the game still puts wide endless pits or challenging sections right before the ending signpost, with a checkpoint suspiciously placed next to them. There are still sections where not acting fast can get you killed. Although the enemies are not as infuriatingly-placed as S4EP1, the camera is still too close to the playable characters, with it only going back and showing you more of the screen whenever it feels like it. Then we have the most obvious and persistent problem...

S4EP2 still retains the autopilot feeling of S4EP1 with springs, boosters and scripted events placed everywhere. Not only that, specific parts of the levels, like beds of water in the first stage of Sylvania Castle Zone, have obvious triggers that immediately increase Sonic's speed to the max if you cross them. Even the new tag spin mechanic is used in a semi-autopilot manner, with it basically turning parts of the levels into a very fast auto scroller. And tragically, these are the only sections in the game where you can feel you are actually going fast.
It seems like S4EP4 is slower than its predecessor. I've been doing some comparisons on both of the episodes, and S4EP2 feels much slower. Sonic's speed cap seems to have been increased, and alongside the physics system making everything seem floaty instead of snappy, it makes it feel like you are never going as fast as you can unless you are on autopilot.

S4EP4 introduces a new gameplay mechanic in the form of tag actions. By pressing the tag button on the ground, in the air or while in watery areas, Sonic and Tails join forces and you can fly around, speed through obstacles with a special spin attack, or swin around. I'll be honest, having tails actually helping you just like the old 2D games is a nice & helpful decision. However, I really don't like the tag actions as they are mandatory, not optional and add nothing special to the game.
In older 2D games like Sonic 3 where you had the option to bring Tails with you, usage of your partner's abilities was not necessary to reach the end. The levels were designed in a way that not using your partner's abilities didn't mean you were going to get stuck. But here, they are always needed for progression. Instead of teasing you to try new paths with the tag actions, or put collectibles in locations where you need your partner to access them, the game constantly forces you to clear some sections in the levels by using tag moves. And this wears out the novelty of these new tag moves.
One would wonder about why such thing has happened. Why the game's levels are made in a way that having Tails helping you is now mandatory for progression. I do believe the answer is visible in the game itself: A mode that doesn't fit a 2D Sonic game, yet it's there anyway.

S4EP2 also allows you to play the entirety of its campaign through a Co-Op mode, where one player controls Sonic and the other controls Tails. In this mode, everything gets shared between the players: Lives, rings and even the tag action activation. The Co-Op mode wants the players to work with each other like parts of a single entity and get over the obstacles together, yet it doesn't really make it work well, damaging both single and multiplayer modes as both of these modes use the same levels.
Tails is slower than Sonic and doesn't have a homing attack, so he can't match Sonic's agility and someone will definitely be left behind if players are not careful. He also doesn't have a super form, so any usage of Super Sonic just makes the situation worse. In retaliation, if Tails takes damage and lose rings, or use any tag moves, Sonic will lose his super form. The lives are also shared, so if either player dies in Co-Op mode, one life will be subtracted in real time. Same goes for the rings, as one player's ♥♥♥♥ up can cause you to lose all of them. Therefore, paired with a less experienced player, the game becomes less fun and more infuriating in the Co-Op mode. And as for the single player mode, you already know about the forced tag actions.

S4EP2 also brings the half-pipe back for special levels, and surprisingly offers a much more likeable and fun version of it. It feels much more manageable than its predecessors thanks to the widened design of the half-pipe, Tails is now much more competent and doesn't lose rings after getting hit, and its difficulty doesn't make you pull out your hair for the most of it. But it still does have some issues.
For starters, while Tails is now more competent, he's still a dumbass. Depending on who gets hit by the obstacles, Tails either falls behind or outruns you, effectively messing up the new tether mechanic which is incredibly important in the 7th (and the hardest) special stage. And then there's the nuisance of locking one chaos emerald per act. A problem that was also present in S4EP1, limiting your freedom as to how you want to obtain them.

Metal Sonic is probably the most disappointing thing in this game. They brought back one of the most iconic bosses in the Sonic franchise and labeled him as an important story player, just to underutilize him.
The first fight against Metal Sonic is the best one, with him going head-to-head against Sonic and Tails. The rest? He either sits in a plane despite being able to fly, stands back and has Eggman protecting him while charging his spirit bomb, and the final fight is a repeat of Sonic CD that is trivialized by the new tag spin ability.
Even his special level set is disappointing. Your so-called "reward" for having both episodes of Sonic 4 is Episode Metal, which is more of the same thing you did in S4EP1! The levels are straight from the first episode, with the very same level design decisions, only very slightly tweaked. And Metal Sonic itself doesn't bring anything of its own to the table either, only feeling like a special skin to replace Sonic's model.


Tremendously better than episode 1 and a decent Sonic game, but still unsatisfying due to the developer insisting on using their outdated design decisions. It's not awful, but there are better options.