Why do people enjoy Hotline Miami

[Psiheim]

I really don't understand the appeal to Hotline Miami. The core gameplay is trial and error with very little strats. The best way to handle almost every situation is to bait enemies by shooting the walls closest to them and peek into their line of sight to get them to agro you and then hide behind cover to group them up into huge bursts and get huge combos. The mechanics are very limited and the way the game chooses which weapons you pick up if they are close based on time of death rather than proximity or where my mouse is when I click it is beyond frustrating and can easily screw over your combo and the huge maps make it impossible to see threats from far away. The AI is so stupid, but can kill you before you even have a chance to react to them which is frustrating. The inconsistency of what enemies can see/ shoot through is seemingly random like some chairs can't be shot through but a car can be shot through and is useless as cover. A lot of people say they enjoy the over the top gore and I just fail to see the appeal in anything except the music and sprite work and maybe the story.
The only reason I sunk so many hours in it is because the music and seemed easy enough to get all the achivos cuz I'm an achivo ♥♥♥♥♥. This series has such overwhelming love and I want to appreciate it or at the very least understand why its so so loved but I don't see anything here but the music. I find it strange because people say its high intensity and kinetic like doom and sure some maps are but a lot of them especially if you want high ranks or to beat hard mode require you to camp and slowly widdle them down by abusing the AI.
I want to appreciate this series but for everything I like there is like 5 things I hate. Like I love the idea of the zebra roll and the Duo goose character but the roll is borderline useless and the ai for the second goose twin gets stuck on everything which really hampers my enjoyment when I lose a combo because she got stuck again. If I'm missing something and I hope I am please inform me because I simply don't see why this franchise is so loved

[Psiheim]

I recently finished Hard mode why?

[Vermin]

You should watch some people who are really good as Corey. They've figured out how to actually use the roll I guess.

[HatR3d⛧]

Another moron

[god's plunger]

"Trial and error with very little strats"

thats not really true

in every single game, doing trial and error doesn't pay off if you're doing it mindlessly. its like hitting your head against a brick wall.

to succeed in Hotline Miami 1 (&2) you need to learn maps, enemy placements and know who to take out first to increase your chances of not dying horribly. thats the whole point, the appeal if you will.

atleast to me, thats what it is.

for example, i could either rush blindly the second floor of dead ahead and hope i dont get shot from across the map

or

know that some of the enemies ahead are in a room with a wall of glass, knowing this i can plan ahead and bring one of the guns the "covering enemies" use and start shooting as soon as i switch floors, effectively disabling one of the deadlier threats on that specific floor.

it all comes down to how you play the game. sure, "shooting walls" works but its not very fun now, is it?

maybe try playing the game differently, hopefully you'll get the appeal then.

[J-Jan]

There is some truth to what you are saying, especially in regards to Hotline Miami 2. HM2 has a very flawed level structure and niece characters. Dying out of nowhere is a common theme in the game. In fact I vividly remember a dock level, in which it pits you against snipers that you have no way of even knowing about unless you close the insanely massive gap in between you and them.
Whilst some of the characters have interesting ideas, (i.e. duel wielding) typically, you tend to go for the most simple one, as their gimmicks tend to lead to more of a disadvantage for the player when compared to other choices (and reliant on a terrible AI partner to follow you around).

That being said however, Hotline Miami, and it's sequel, master the feeling of visceral game play. Everything, from firing a gun, to beating some poor mobsters head in, has a sense of impact rarely replicated in a lot of games. There is a thrill to walking into a situation that you have no expectation to survive, but making it out through your own quick thinking and a pipe that was in arms length. The first game nailed this, the second one not so much.

As far a trial and error goes, you are partially correct. The first game was not so much based on trial and error. You can see everything and understand its mechanics. It was more due to it's insane difficulty that meant you would teach yourself some things. Trial and error was a method used to complete the game, not defining one however. Although, again, you are correct in regards to HM2.

There is also something else to consider, that is the modding community. The level editor has done wonders for the game, and has led to content better than the base game (check out Hunter: Snowfall, it's brilliant). I kinda hope that some of this answers your question.

[Krtek]

yes, you don't like it, great, we get it, now go and get a life

[jagd/k/ommando88]

hurr durr stop liking what i don't like
Neck yourself sodomite

[Se7enist]

Don't try for trial and error. Essentially, the mindset you want to get into is as if you were on ALL THE COCAINE THE 80s COULD MUSTER. At least....that's how you should play the first one. The second one does get a lot more trial and error due to the larger maps and increased amount of and focus on guns. In the first one, I absolutely hated guns, now, I just hate how necessary they are.

[KebabNightWithPhil]

Head go splat

[Heavy.Sandvich.Eater]

Originally posted by plutodod:

Originally posted by MegamanVolnuttX:

I recently finished Hard mode why?

i see, i was asking because hard mode ai can turn around 180 degrees instantly, (iirc) which makes everything frustrating
the game is way more fun in normal mode in my opinion

Is there an easy mode or something? I played the first game before this one so i already knew how hard it was but when i heard about "Normal mode" and "Hard mode" i tought i could be in a hard mode or something. But by the research i did unfortunately i cant change my difficulty.

[CDog]

The soundtrack of this game is insane, Its really fun to play when you just want a good soundtrack and a casual & bloody game to play.

[Psiheim]

Oh no doubt the soundtrack is amazing one of the best I have ever experienced. My main issue is the gameplay.