A fun Disney game with lots of flaws
When they said the game would no longer be wii exclusive, I knew that meant the game was HD.
When they announced it was co-op, I grinned from ear to ear.
Upon completion, I have to say I don't regret buying it for a minute. But there are gaping flaws that even I can't overlook.
I think if the game was delayed a little more to polish the gameplay, we'd have a winner.
The co-op aspect of the game is by far its greatest weakness. I think it was a great idea.
When playing couch co-op with a friend, the game can be really fun. It reminded me of the days of Sonic and Tails. How the second player could fly you to places otherwise inaccessible. And because of the co-op element,
Oswald was much more involved in the storyline. But the AI for CPU Oswald is so incredibly poor.
He rarely keeps up with you on the platform portions. Oftentimes he ignores enemies. And refuses to activate panels sometimes.
And finally, the split screen option for co-op was just too limiting. Mickey and Oswald needed to stick together for the game anyhow, so Oswald should have been confined to the screen. The only camera splitting should have been during the 2D platforming.
I am incredibly disappointed with the control configuration with Wii U. For whatever reason, they decided they MUST cram that wii U pad down your throat. The motion controlled paint brush was one of the best features of Epic Mickey 1. Why did they decide to yank this feature away for Wii U? And for what? A stupid map that the player rarely ever use, or need. I think even the pro controller option would be a better choice than the wii U pad. Still, at least the camera manipulation was a little easier with an analog stick.
Speaking of the camera, it still suffers from time to time. Not nearly as much as the first game though.
But aside from the loss of paintbrush motion controls, I still was able to get used to Wii U pad. Still, what a big loss.
Perhaps it would be best to buy the PS3 version. I've heard that one still retains brush motion controls, if you use the PS3 motion controller.
Finally, there is a lot to do in Epic Mickey Two. That's definitely one of its strong points. But you will get lost. Lost very often too, until you've covered a good portion of the game. There are a number of projectors, and underground tunnels throughout the game. But which one leads where, and how to get there? It'll take quite a bit of traveling before you start to get familiar. There's no world map to check.
But there is a system in the game to fast travel to different areas, via the train stations or Cinema.
I will summarize the good portions of the game rather quickly. If you've played Epic Mickey 1, you know this game fairly well too. It really is a testament to the lost child in many of us. Junction Point poured out countless pieces of Disney memorabilia, and littered them across the world. The art is a real joy to look upon. And the feeling of erasing parts of the world, and then restoring it. It still is a lot of fun to behold.
The amount of characters did expand from the first game. Big Bad Pete, Robot Donald, Robot Goofy, Daisy, Captain Hooks… They're all there, and given some sort of role in this warped cartoon world. Gremlins are also present throughout the world. Each character is voiced now. Some of the NPCs voices can be rather bland, but the main cast is excellent.
The Mad Doctor's songs were fun to hear. I found myself humming them from time to time. And the animated cutscenes. Oh man! If only Disney would do cartoons like this nowadays, instead of the sub par shows in their lineup now. They should hire Warren and the writers just to make new Disney cartoons with THAT artstyle.
The choice to be mean or nice is put before you throughout the game. I'm a hero type of guy, but I must admit there were times when it was quicker to be the bad guy. And sometimes I really did wonder if one path really was the correct one to take.
The side quests were plentiful. I beat the game, and there were still 8 unfinished sidequests in my queue. And I'm sure I haven't found all of them yet. And the game does let you go back and complete them once you finish.
Finally, the difficulty is just right for everyone. While you can die, you can be revived by your partner. And you never can lose. So there really aren't many things you can fail at in this game. Although I will admit, the quests with Ghost Ian are REALLY hard.
If you are a gamer at heart, or remembers the platformers of the past- Or if you are or were a Disney fan- buy this game.
You will have at least a little bit of fun with this game. As for me, I am hoping for an Epic Mickey 3 at the conclusion of 2013.
So that's a 2 cents. So folks...
Bop-Bop-a-dop! That's Oswald!