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LTTP: Infamous Second Son (unmarked spoilers)

Bladenic

Member
I was a big fan of Infamous and especially Infamous 2. I just got a PS4 so of course I had to get Second Son and play it asap. Finished in about 2 days with 100%.

Positives:

- beautiful, obviously.
- great voice acting
- DOPE music, wow.
- awesome powers, especially traversal.
- just really fun to run around.

Cons:

- what happened to the major enemy variety? There's almost none here which was different from the previous two games. Bosses were rather meh too, although the first one was pretty cool in environment.
- I liked liberating the city, but none of the side quests were that fun.
- way too short. Maybe I'm wrong but Infamous 2 felt longer and more developed.
- karmic stuff was really toned down, felt like they kept it around only because it's expected. Evil Delsin also just looks like he has a bad case of the sniffles and lack of sleep/dark eye makeup.


Spoiler stuff:


- Seriously, where the heck did Delsin and Reggie stay/sleep while in Seattle?
- How the hell did Fetch and Eugene survive the part where Reggie dies? That whole part felt rushed, you use your attack, see the news showing the island collapse, and suddenly you wake up with Delsin on the street. Okay?
- haven't done Hero run but Evil Delsin ending with blowing up the tribe was evulz AF
- the events of Infamous 1/2 felt very inconsequential, especially 2's ending.

I definitely enjoyed the game, it's nice that they had a budget this time but it felt like they blew it all on visuals and neglected the points that were improved in 2. Plus I liberated the city as soon as I could, so by the time I got video there was nothing to do but use it story wise. Concrete was thus useless, although I get it that it was just something for the final boss and not very developed. Still I would definitely like a sequel but I hope they revamp the side quest and make it as expansive as 2 at least.
 

VanWinkle

Member
It feels like the game could have used a couple more years of development time. It was polished in what it had, but it was VERY barebones. I enjoyed the game, but I felt it didn't live up to it's potential at all. The side content in particular was useless.

The game could have played almost the exact same had it been linear. It didn't utilize its open world in a meaningful way.
 

F4r0_Atak

Member
I was a big fan of Infamous and especially Infamous 2. I just got a PS4 so of course I had to get Second Son and play it asap. Finished in about 2 days with 100%.

Positives:

- beautiful, obviously.
- great voice acting
- DOPE music, wow.
- awesome powers, especially traversal.
- just really fun to run around.

Cons:

- what happened to the major enemy variety? There's almost none here which was different from the previous two games. Bosses were rather meh too, although the first one was pretty cool in environment.
- I liked liberating the city, but none of the side quests were that fun.
- way too short. Maybe I'm wrong but Infamous 2 felt longer and more developed.
- karmic stuff was really toned down, felt like they kept it around only because it's expected. Evil Delsin also just looks like he has a bad case of the sniffles and lack of sleep/dark eye makeup.


Spoiler stuff:


- Seriously, where the heck did Delsin and Reggie stay/sleep while in Seattle?
- How the hell did Fetch and Eugene survive the part where Reggie dies? That whole part felt rushed, you use your attack, see the news showing the island collapse, and suddenly you wake up with Delsin on the street. Okay?
- haven't done Hero run but Evil Delsin ending with blowing up the tribe was evulz AF
- the events of Infamous 1/2 felt very inconsequential, especially 2's ending.

I definitely enjoyed the game, it's nice that they had a budget this time but it felt like they blew it all on visuals and neglected the points that were improved in 2. Plus I liberated the city as soon as I could, so by the time I got video there was nothing to do but use it story wise. Concrete was thus useless, although I get it that it was just something for the final boss and not very developed. Still I would definitely like a sequel bu
t I hope they revamp the side quest and make it as expansive as 2 at least.

The events that occurred in the first two games are the reasons why the US government created the DUP in the first place, to avoid another catastrophe of the same scale.
 

cordy

Banned
First game I've gotten a Platinum for on the PS4, loved every bit of it. Sure, it wasn't amazing but it was a great podcast/listening to music type of game.
 

Zukkoyaki

Member
It definitely suffered from being a launch-window game but it did manage to be exceptionally polished with great controls and traversal. Certainly a fun game that's worth a purchase especially now with how cheap it is. I remember enjoying the hell out of it when it came out despite being disappointed in certain regards.

First Light is arguably better since Fetch is a superior and more fleshed out character.

At least now Sucker Punch has a fantastic engine and some experience on the platform so I expect their next game to be pretty spectacular.
 

Strike

Member
It definitely felt like a launch title. Not much in terms of content, but still pretty fun. The morality system really needs to be fleshed out though. It's barely changed after 3 main entries.
 
Regarding its short length...it was a launch window game. I'm not surprised at all that it wasn't as long as the previous entries.

Overall, I really enjoyed the game. I actually preferred it to inFAMOUS 2, though the first game remains my favorite.
 

Zukkoyaki

Member
Regarding its short length...it was a launch window game. I'm not surprised at all that it wasn't as long as the previous entries.

Overall, I really enjoyed the game. I actually preferred it to InFAMOUS 2, though the first game remains my favorite.

Holy crap, I'm not the only one!
 

PinballRJ

Member
I wish it had more interesting platforming sections like the bridge at the beginning.

Saving the last power for the last fight was cool but I had already cleared the city so it was kinda pointless.

And I wish the story was a little bit less serious at times.

As much as I liked this series I hope Sucker Punch has a new IP at E3
 
It definitely felt like a launch title. Not much in terms of content, but still pretty fun. The morality system really needs to be fleshed out though. It's barely changed after 3 main entries.

I feel the total opposite about the morality system.

I know it was integral to the first two but time to let it go me thinks.

Give us a better reason to play the game through more than once.
 

Strike

Member
I feel the total opposite about the morality system.

I know it was integral to the first two but time to let it go me thinks.

Give us a better reason to play the game through more than once.
That would be the alternative. Either way at this point, relegating your actions to simple binary choices isn't going to cut it anymore.
 
I REALLY liked Second Son, along with First Light. They were just fun to play. I wish the morality system was a bit better and the side quests could have also been more engaging but I enjoyed them immensely.

Infamous > Second Son/First Light > Infamous 2
 

ajim

Member
I had a ball with it. Haven't completed everything in a game for years but did so with this.
 

Falchion

Member
It's the only one of the series I've played but my favorite part was Fetch and her story in First Light was fantastic.
 

D-Man

Member
I actually finished playing this myself a little while ago and I enjoyed it. It was a really nice game visually but I do agree that it could have gained something if it stayed in the oven a little bit longer. I'll try to get First Light whenever I have some spare cash.
 
Liked the first, this one is flat and not good to me. Wouldn't feel bad if it didn't even exist

No charm or gameplay that sticks out and feels cookie cutter in map design. Infamous is much better
 

Ri'Orius

Member
The events that occurred in the first two games are the reasons why the US government created the DUP in the first place, to avoid another catastrophe of the same scale.

But the ending of 2 was "all conduits (even potential conduits) die." They just ignored that entirely.

I still wish they'd made the evil ending to 2 canon. Set the game in the aftermath of the apocalypse, everyone alive is a conduit trying to rebuild society, and presumably evil Cole gets to be the final boss as some sort of tyrant whom you depose.
 
But the ending of 2 was "all conduits (even potential conduits) die." They just ignored that entirely.

I still wish they'd made the evil ending to 2 canon. Set the game in the aftermath of the apocalypse, everyone alive is a conduit trying to rebuild society, and presumably evil Cole gets to be the final boss as some sort of tyrant whom you depose.

I think the official response to the ending change was that they "combined" both endings, but to me it felt like it meant they killed off Cole for no reason, since the only reason he'd die was to kill off all conduits but then they still exist in Second Son.

Second Son was just a very odd game (and not necessarily in the good way). Kind of like how inFamous 1 had Empire City (aka New York), and New Marais (aka New Orleans), but Second Son had just straight up Seattle. Except they didn't even attempt to make a recreation of Seattle since the map is still completely different in terms of geography, they just sprinkled a bunch of Seattle landmarks around a generic city. No real reason to go against the trend of spoof cities from the first two inFamous games. It had a lot of little "odd" things about it like that.

I was a huge fan of the first two and I did enjoy the third but I'm sad it had to be a launch window title. It could've been so much more. I really wish they're working on a new inFamous with the same gorgeous engine because Second Son is a very, very weak note for the series to go out on.
 
It's one of my favorite PS4 games, but it's definitely missing a lot of what made 2 great.

First Light is also pretty solid, the gameplay is certainly better and I also like Fetch better as a character.

I'm really looking forward to whatever Sucker Punch's next game is.
 

oSoLucky

Member
I liked Second Son a lot better than the first 2 games(didn't care much for them). The visuals were mindblowing and still look great to this day. Doing all the open world without all of the powers probably did have a part in ruining some of Video for you. Video and Neon felt so, so, so, good to zip around the city with. Concrete was useless in the game, which I didn't mind because it kind of sucked anyway. I actually didn't care for the whole "Peter Petrelli from Heroes" angle that Delsin had going on at first, as it seems like almost a lazy copout to explain why the protagonist is the hero, but it bothered me less as the game went on. I hated Reggie's character, as he was almost too cliche, along with the main villain(can't even remember her name she was so remarkable). Fetch and Delsin were the only interesting ones, and that was once I realized that Delsin wasn't always being a street punk and actually had different facets to his character.

Neon was my favorite power during the main game(with Video being a close second only because of flight and invis), so I couldn't wait for First Light. It was a lot of the same, with her powers expanded, but was still good fun for me. The training challenge stages were a huge boon there and I wish they were in the main game also. I had a ton of fun with them. All in all, quick and fun Platinums on both counts, for those who care. I'm not sure that the games are worth revisiting, but I appreciated them for what they are. It's very apparent that Second Son was trying to hit a deadline, but First Light had about 2/3 as much content for 1/4 the price. It was a very good deal(and has been free on PS+).
 

LiK

Member
Game had a good foundation but the content was actually pretty light. Not enough side activities and lack of side missions. I was disappointed since I was a fan of the previous games and they had so much stuff packed in. It was a pretty easy Platinum.

OP, check out the DLC "First Light". It's good but short. It fills in some plot if you're into that and Fetch is a much cooler character.
 

Azoor

Member
Theye should put the series to rest and work on a new IP. I loved the series, but I rather not see it drop in quality more than second son.
 

EGM1966

Member
It was alright as a launch title. I'd image scope was kept pared back to ensure they hit launch. It certainly had that not quite complete feel of many launch games for me anyway (I mean truncated narrative and limited content BTW the engine seemed very robust).

I'm hoping for a sequel with that engine but scope of inFamous 2 with big monsters and lots of variety.
 

LiK

Member
it def was a graphical showcase. i found myself exploring the city looking at some areas. the nighttime lighting was particularly impressive.
 

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
It's okay and I don't regret playing it.

My main negative is that it's hiding cool gameplay upgrades behind grinding throwaway side-missions.
Open world game design is just SOOOO GOOOOOOOOD. Fill some bars for a few hours so the base mechanics get better. It's 2005 Mario Kart levels of unlocking characters bad.
And you're of course right about the enemy variety.

Infamous 2 is one of the best action games ever and Second Son is quite far away from that.
 

karasu

Member
Infamous was among my favorite series last gen. I was really let down by Second Son. The story didn't really give my actions any weight and the world itself felt so inescapably vapid. I thought the powers themselves looked cool but the enemies didn't provide the necessary conflict to make those actions feel cool at the same time.
 
the parts involving Fetch's neon light art is just beautiful.
Some of that is ok but the world, chatters and overall style is about as generic as can be. Didn't seem as bad at release I agree but when I played it a few months ago lord is it ugly. Sly cooper on ps2 easily looks better. Technically not... But looks better to me.

I wouldn't mind an artistic approach to infamous honestly.


The first game had linear parts and unique designs. All gone now
 

LiK

Member
Some of that is ok but the world, chatters and overall style is about as generic as can be. Didn't seem as bad at release I agree but when I played it a few months ago lord is it ugly. Sly cooper on ps2 easily looks better. Technically not... But looks better to me.

I wouldn't mind an artistic approach to infamous honestly.


The first game had linear parts and unique designs. All gone now

not gonna lie, the original was heavily influenced by the comic book-style and that was lost with SS.
 
Having not played the series, all I can say is that I wonder who thought it was a good idea to put the word "Second" in the title of the Third game in the series.

Though I'd play it if it came on PS+. OP made it sound worth a go. They don't really do that with major releases anymore, though.
 
Yeah I finished it last night, got it in the EU PSN sale with First Light.

Pros:
The powers! Love how each one was, effectively, a character class.Smoke = fighter, all close range and OOMPH, Neon = Mage, time tricks and precision lasers and Video=Theif, stealth and quick escapes. Video in particular was amazing, once I got that I never used anything else unless I had to. So much fun stealthing up and taking out a DUP post before they know I'm there.

Traversal was, as always, a blast.

The sense of place was fantastic

The relationship between Delsin and Reggie, while cliched (Reggie was marked for Death from the start) was utterly lovely. There was a lot of warmth there, easily down to the strength of the actors.

Cons:
Abrupt ending - you get concrete, have to struggle to use it on a boss and then that's it? Lame.

In fact all the bosses were lame - too big health pools and far too boring and long.

Not enough side missions or tests of your control of power (Gravity Rush does this much better, for example)

Side characters lacked character.

Weak villain - Augustine's motivation, while interesting, was dumped a little too late, and not something Delsin, and therefore we, ever wrestled with. Kessler and The Beast had clear motivation that was sympathetic and, despite their horrific actions, justifiable. Augustine's notion of safety for conduit's was just straight up weird.

Karma choices - The final choice in inFamous 2 was something I genuinely aganoised over. This time there was, what, 4? and each was basically "do you want blue or red powers?". The series, to me, has never been about good and evil but the easy way versus the right way and there was none of that here.

On to First Light. I still enjoyed it and would definitely play again but after inFamous 2 I can't help but be disappointed.
 

SolVanderlyn

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.
It's my favorite inFamous game. Delsin and Reggie were far more interesting than Cole (although I did like Zeke and miss him in this game)

What's there is good, but it was too short. They did a really good job with the villain in this game - it's rare that I'm so quick to dislike a character so much. Liked the "weird" powers like Neon and Video the most, and it's a shame you only get Concrete in the post-game. First Light pushed the power system to its fullest. While Delsin's Mega Man power is cool and all, I think Insomniac should stick to one moveset for the next game.

It was a great game that left me wanting more too soon.
 

Devil

Member
From the way how quickly one went through the different powers during the story you could definitely see that the game came out way too early. Especially when you get the rock powers by the end when there is nothing left to do with them.

It was a fun game which could have been an amazing one.
 

Fbh

Member
It was a victim of having to be ready for the launch window.

They were on a good track but I think it just needed another year of dev time. Like, I'm sure SP is able of better side content than the crap in Second Son, but they probably didn't have the time to make it. Same with enemy variety, power variety, length,etc

I'm still looking forward to their next game. Hopefully now without the pressure of a console launch they have time to finish it right.
It's actually been a while since Second Son, mabye we will get a glimpse a their new game this E3
 

geordiemp

Member
The DLC was a bit better, and I loved the challenge rooms - the gameplay in the challenges was more fun than the game, and the inclusion of it makes this game rise above previous infamous games.
 

eizarus

Banned
First game I've gotten a Platinum for on the PS4, loved every bit of it. Sure, it wasn't amazing but it was a great podcast/listening to music type of game.
I haven't platinumed it yet, but this feels like a good description of it. Really makes me want some open world superhero games. I mean, speed up the light powers and you've got The Flash almost.

Edit: of course, you'd have to change the skillset to match the Flash, but you get my point.
 
It felt like a stereotypical launch title that wasn't at launch.

Perfectly said. The game had great visuals and some nice ideas but weak implementation and mediocre combat. Not to mention that the protagonist was Sony's poster boy for the PS4 generation and thus felt like a complete little shit.

First Light was the better game. Not by far but the pacing and character writing just felt above Second Son to warrant its existence. I'd like to see another game in the franchise but given far more care and attention rather than a delayed launch title.
 

Bladenic

Member
I haven't platinumed it yet, but this feels like a good description of it. Really makes me want some open world superhero games. I mean, speed up the light powers and you've got The Flash almost.

Edit: of course, you'd have to change the skillset to match the Flash, but you get my point.

Neon endless running actually reminds me of Flash, just not as fast.

I started First Light. Can I just say that the cutscene from SS where Fetch is like "wanna hook up" and starts making out with Delsin was my favorite haha
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Great game IMO, but yeah, I2 is the highpoint of the series so far. SS is blindingly pretty (to this day there are only a couple of PS4 games that look better, IMO), but definitely a bit thin on content and variety. If they do an I4 in the engine they now have I'm sure it will be amazing. And man, I hope they do...
 
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