Peterson’s house for the first time was reminiscent of the 2007 film Monster House. Walking through the neighbourhood and coming across Mr. On the surface, Hello Neighbor 2 has a distinctly horrific childlike art direction. Though I did run into a few bugs – namely losing key items in my inventory, or progress not being recognised – it was just a case of going back to the main menu then returning, and with quick load times it wasn’t too much of a bother but still an annoyance. I felt like a genius completing them with no frustration in the process. In fact, the signposting for each puzzle and solution is crafted well without just giving you the answer. I’m happy to say as a newcomer I wasn’t initially aware of those complaints and in Hello Neighbor 2 they’re not as obscure. With all that being said there was complaints for the first Hello Neighbor having non-sensical solutions. There was nothing to prep or outsmart, rather just brute forcing my way until I could solve the multiple puzzles set. The AI coupled with the lack of consequence of being caught just made me run into the house, do what I need to as quick as I can and get out. It’s a shame as the promotional material for Hello Neighbor 2 states that there’s advance AI that develops over time, but I sometimes found them staring at a wall, letting me go about my task as I please. Instead, they would often just quietly roam the whole building and before I know it I’ve been caught and thrown back out on the street like a stray cat. There was never a time where they placed a trap to catch me or changed in behaviour as I progressed. Compared to the first game, it does feel like some of the features the Neighbour would perform are stripped back. However, you’re not alone when solving the puzzles as each house is occupied by an AI antagonist that’s supposed to learn from player behaviour to counter your playstyle. Instead of sifting through each room of the house to get out, you’re looking for a key or a piece of a puzzle that’ll give you a number of a code to help you explore even more of the rooms before reaching the end goal. Each house has a multiple step puzzle to solve that achieves a feel not unlike a reverse Escape Room. As the journalist, you’ll be entering the residences of Raven Brook to help unlock the overall goal. Hello Neighbor 2 plays as a first-person stealth game with horror elements added into the mix. Something minor just to help keep up with the goings on. A feature I would’ve appreciated would be a Journal that takes notes as you play – a visual and written log of characters, events etc. However, this has piqued my interest in going back to the earlier games, or maybe searching down a YouTube video discussing the lore iceberg that Hello Neighbor definitely has.
If you’re a newcomer like me, a lot of what the story has to offer may go over your head. For someone who’s only played Hello Neighbor 2, it means losing a lot of what the game subtly puts down and even by the end I’m left with more questions. I feel Eerie Ghost have lent more into the direction of letting the fanbase come up with theories.
The stronger parts of the story are the subtle hints you see throughout the levels that suggest a direction. With the scenes being short and without dialogue, there’s room left to interpret through its visual story telling. Everyone in town has secrets the Baker, the Mayor – all figure in a network of antagonists you’ll be facing in the game as you seek to uncover the truth.Ĭut scenes link the levels together to create a through line in the narrative, whilst also servicing to give you the gist of things, but that’s just it. The moustache twirling, menacing people’s eyebrow-ing neighbour in the quiet town of Raven Brook has yet more to hide in the sequel.
Peterson – the antagonist of the first game. In Hello Neighbor 2 you play as an investigative journalist who’s looking into the case of children seemingly going missing at the hands of Mr.