The first game was much better.

[D. Flame]

How did they manage to make this one so much worse than the original?

[Billy Blaze]

Originally posted by D. Flame:

If you do the Marian boss fight with Marian, she will open with some line about the boss looking like herself and comment about her own great abs. Other than that, she just repeats the same lines as the main character. Plus, no matter who you play, the animated comic cut scenes will just show the two main characters anyway. Kind of kills the replay value.

Because the replay value lies in the story, and not the gameplay...?

[KenjiN4]

Originally posted by Billy Blaze:

Originally posted by D. Flame:

If you do the Marian boss fight with Marian, she will open with some line about the boss looking like herself and comment about her own great abs. Other than that, she just repeats the same lines as the main character. Plus, no matter who you play, the animated comic cut scenes will just show the two main characters anyway. Kind of kills the replay value.

Because the replay value lies in the story, and not the gameplay...? :cfacepalm:

I can see where the OP is coming from, especially when RCG boasts itself with its presentation
Ever since the initial reveals, the directors said the characters would have dedicated lines, but only during gameplay and not the manga scenes. I imagined this would only apply to the banter during brawls, but they also showed NPC conversations with the according duo, kinda giving you an incentive to try other combinations across other playthroughs
Problem is, there ain't enough distinctions between the characters. The great majority of the time, the other 4 characters just repeat Misako or Kyoko's lines depending on the player slot, kinda killing the characterization for the characters I was expecting, and also the incentive to try other couples. If they were going to just repeat almost verbatim what the main characters say, it's almost the same thing as the first game where only Misako and Kyoko had voiced lines.
While I find the combat really amazing, the presentation is really lacking in 2. Especially when they boasted about voiced lines this time. It looked like they bit more than they could chew this time

[D. Flame]

Originally posted by KenjiN4:

Originally posted by Billy Blaze:

Because the replay value lies in the story, and not the gameplay...? :cfacepalm:

I can see where the OP is coming from, especially when RCG boasts itself with its presentation
Ever since the initial reveals, the directors said the characters would have dedicated lines, but only during gameplay and not the manga scenes. I imagined this would only apply to the banter during brawls, but they also showed NPC conversations with the according duo, kinda giving you an incentive to try other combinations across other playthroughs
Problem is, there ain't enough distinctions between the characters. The great majority of the time, the other 4 characters just repeat Misako or Kyoko's lines depending on the player slot, kinda killing the characterization for the characters I was expecting, and also the incentive to try other couples. If they were going to just repeat almost verbatim what the main characters say, it's almost the same thing as the first game where only Misako and Kyoko had voiced lines.
While I find the combat really amazing, the presentation is really lacking in 2. Especially when they boasted about voiced lines this time. It looked like they bit more than they could chew this time

Exactly, like I was expecting at least some other manga scenes for the opening and ending. Like show the same opening, then maybe an extra scene to explain why you are playing as this other character. Then for the bits with other bosses, just remove the manga cutscense and replace it with unique dialog instead.

Then dialog wise, I was hoping the characters would have their own lines instead of slight variations of the lines you already heard. If the game is going to push its presentation and RPG and story elements, then I was hoping it would lean a bit more into it.

[KenjiN4]

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Originally posted by KenjiN4:

I can see where the OP is coming from, especially when RCG boasts itself with its presentation
Ever since the initial reveals, the directors said the characters would have dedicated lines, but only during gameplay and not the manga scenes. I imagined this would only apply to the banter during brawls, but they also showed NPC conversations with the according duo, kinda giving you an incentive to try other combinations across other playthroughs
Problem is, there ain't enough distinctions between the characters. The great majority of the time, the other 4 characters just repeat Misako or Kyoko's lines depending on the player slot, kinda killing the characterization for the characters I was expecting, and also the incentive to try other couples. If they were going to just repeat almost verbatim what the main characters say, it's almost the same thing as the first game where only Misako and Kyoko had voiced lines.
While I find the combat really amazing, the presentation is really lacking in 2. Especially when they boasted about voiced lines this time. It looked like they bit more than they could chew this time

Exactly, like I was expecting at least some other manga scenes for the opening and ending. Like show the same opening, then maybe an extra scene to explain why you are playing as this other character. Then for the bits with other bosses, just remove the manga cutscense and replace it with unique dialog instead.

Then dialog wise, I was hoping the characters would have their own lines instead of slight variations of the lines you already heard. If the game is going to push its presentation and RPG and story elements, then I was hoping it would lean a bit more into it.

It was a very weird decision from them. I know creating varied lines that have to fit with other varied lines can be demanding or hard, but making them almost 1:1 with the ones from the main characters wasn't a good decision. It's almost like the other characters aren't there at all.
It would've been way better if they had preset couples, that way they would have more control over the characters due to having a set partner all the time. Maybe they could also make the characters have a monologue whenever they're with a character they don't fit with? Who knows

[D. Flame]

Originally posted by KenjiN4:

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Exactly, like I was expecting at least some other manga scenes for the opening and ending. Like show the same opening, then maybe an extra scene to explain why you are playing as this other character. Then for the bits with other bosses, just remove the manga cutscense and replace it with unique dialog instead.

Then dialog wise, I was hoping the characters would have their own lines instead of slight variations of the lines you already heard. If the game is going to push its presentation and RPG and story elements, then I was hoping it would lean a bit more into it.

It was a very weird decision from them. I know creating varied lines that have to fit with other varied lines can be demanding or hard, but making them almost 1:1 with the ones from the main characters wasn't a good decision. It's almost like the other characters aren't there at all.
It would've been way better if they had preset couples, that way they would have more control over the characters due to having a set partner all the time. Maybe they could also make the characters have a monologue whenever they're with a character they don't fit with? Who knows

It's not really even that hard. Lots of old games used to do it. Like one option is to just open up the whole map for a special character and let them clear it in any order they want. Another is just to remove dialog at all from certain fights, where the characters have no care for one another, or have throw away dialog about being in the way. Another is having special pairs have unique dialog together (both girls, both boys, BF-GF pairing, etc.), while using combination outside of those results in the character having solo dialog instead like you mentioned.

[Jargous]

RCG2 added a fair amount of quantity, but it came at the cost of cutting corners on a few. Thus why some see it as a 'downgrade'. Provie and Marian are basically the Kunio and Riki of RCG2, only slightly better in that they're given the exact presentation upgrades of the two which were voicelines compared to RCG itself.

It's a mixed bag of fun in RCG2 in which you have slightly 'more' to enjoy, but the fun quickly dies out when a good portion of the game is 'more of the same'. I was hoping to see that very old RC moments where you literally eat the item whole and get some dialogue/comment about it, but that's being very old school.

If there's one small bit that I did find a bit impressive, was the shopping mall music being a 'partial' soundtrack. Helps from the monotonous scenes found later in the game. If they know how to change it up or even allow you to customize (without having to utilize mods) even in the next iteration, this can definitely help their presentation. Knowing how to recycle the good assets helps the next game become better.

The cheekiness of RC is what left a lasting impression on me. From 'BARF' to comical changes to items sold such as 'Spidey Boy' and getting a description of how it was. Don't get me wrong that this game has improved in many ways, but it is going the path from a memorable 'niche' to a generic fighter.

[EastX]

Originally posted by KenjiN4:

It was a very weird decision from them. I know creating varied lines that have to fit with other varied lines can be demanding or hard, but making them almost 1:1 with the ones from the main characters wasn't a good decision. It's almost like the other characters aren't there at all.
It would've been way better if they had preset couples, that way they would have more control over the characters due to having a set partner all the time. Maybe they could also make the characters have a monologue whenever they're with a character they don't fit with? Who knows

I agree. Everyone sharing the same lines hurts the characterization. It's still a great game, but they definitely goofed with that aspect of the writing.

[Jaden675]

I mean, if you want to add more salt, you always have to start at a Safe House instead of anywhere like the first game, and can only save there or after beating a boss, some of the bosses like Marian and the Technos ones have platforming in their fights that can literally end your run when your close to winning, like seriously, having to dodge two burning barrels on three platforms with a chance of one of 'em hitting you and launching you into the acid, and a enemy that essentially get a second chance with the Robot Cat Girls from Technos, fun game, but man, does it add up

[KenjiN4]

Originally posted by Jaden675:

I mean, if you want to add more salt, you always have to start at a Safe House instead of anywhere like the first game, and can only save there or after beating a boss, some of the bosses like Marian and the Technos ones have platforming in their fights that can literally end your run when your close to winning, like seriously, having to dodge two burning barrels on three platforms with a chance of one of 'em hitting you and launching you into the acid, and a enemy that essentially get a second chance with the Robot Cat Girls from Technos, fun game, but man, does it add up

Marian and Tsuiko are awful bosses, while platforming ruins Marian's battle, what ruins Tsuiko's fight is how not only she's armored during the whole fight, but she can also be invincible during certain attacks, really counterintuitive to the game's combat
SoR4 handles an armored boss much better in comparison :t

[fuggles2k]

But was a much less fun game as I would not recommend SOR4 to anyone.

RCG! and 2 are essentially the same game, ideally a mod would come along that sticks the two campaigns together. Which is better is moot, it's a sequel in the old fashioned sense of more of the same. It's too expensive, but I had an absolute blast for the 15 hours of my playthrough.

Is it sad there isn't a true ending? Sort of, but getting to that true ending was a grind.

BARF is still in the game if you know where to look, incidentally. The humour is still on point.

[Vipus]

Combat is so much more responsive this time around. Chaining combos and air juggling enemies feels so natural.

[D. Flame]

Originally posted by Vipus:

Combat is so much more responsive this time around. Chaining combos and air juggling enemies feels so natural.

No, it's just more dumbed down. Combos were already a thing in the first game, they just took a few brain cells to pull off in that game.

https://youtu.be/vzNyLozuOu0

In this game, the controls feel less responsive, but combos have been dumbed a lot. Essentially, in the first games, you had to work for your combos, and in this game you can just button mash them out.

[KenjiN4]

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Originally posted by Vipus:

Combat is so much more responsive this time around. Chaining combos and air juggling enemies feels so natural.

No, it's just more dumbed down. Combos were already a thing in the first game, they just took a few brain cells to pull off in that game.

https://youtu.be/vzNyLozuOu0

In this game, the controls feel less responsive, but combos have been dumbed a lot. Essentially, in the first games, you had to work for your combos, and in this game you can just button mash them out.

I mean, some of the cancels were unintended by the devs, so you're pretty much squeezing almost everything you can in 1 if you want to be really stylish. I feel a bit limited not only by what the game intends me to do, but also because of 1's overall stiffer controls and some of the hit/hurtboxes feeling quite strict, especially for air grabbing, while I can pull it off constantly, it's a fact that the window is so small it's not fun.
2 is still on its infancy, maybe we can uncover new techs overtime and whatnot. Although, I feel like in 2 you have more leeway to make the combos while in 1 the controls hinder you considerably compared to 2.
If you prefer how 1 plays, that's alright, it's a fine game overall, and I admit it's very satisfying to pull off amazing combos in a harder game to do so. But 2 definetly expanded the cancels, officialized jumping after the heavy launchers properly, gave and switched a couple more moves to existing characters to make things more dynamic, has better movement overall, and encourages experimentation really well with its presentation compared to how 1 teaches players.
Try messing around with Riki's Glamour Shot, I feel like this one has a ton of possibility to style on the mobs

[D. Flame]

Originally posted by KenjiN4:

I mean, some of the cancels were unintended by the devs, so you're pretty much squeezing almost everything you can in 1 if you want to be really stylish.

Well considering combos in fighting games started out as an unintentional bug anyway...

[Billy Blaze]

Originally posted by D. Flame:

Originally posted by KenjiN4:

I mean, some of the cancels were unintended by the devs, so you're pretty much squeezing almost everything you can in 1 if you want to be really stylish.

Well considering combos in fighting games started out as an unintentional bug anyway...

Or rocket jumping in "Quake".