Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise, the long-awaited sequel to cult classic Deadly Premonition, is finally available on Nintendo Switch. To celebrate the release, a new launch trailer was also released today.
Originally announced last September at a Nintendo Direct stream, Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise is the culmination of a ten-year build-up of appreciation of the first Deadly Premonition. The first Deadly Premonition was a survival horror game heavily influenced by pop culture depictions of serial killers and the law enforcement officers tasked with hunting them. Like any true cult classic, there is a wide difference of opinion on the overall worth of the game. While many critics agree the game’s narrative aspects are charming and funny, there is disagreement over the execution of gameplay sequences and the overall tone of the game. What some saw as disjointed, uneven experience others praise as surrealistic and subversive.
Deadly Premonition is the way many western players were first introduced to the game’s designer Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro. In the ten years since Deadly Premonition’s release, Swery has developed a reputation as an eccentric figure in the gaming industry. He is often held up as an example of auteur theory in games as many of the games he has worked on share a connecting theme of bizarre situations and characters. In fact, Deadly Premonition is one of his more tame works.
Based on the marketing for Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise, the game appears to be more in line with its predecessor than some of Swery’s more recent and more bizarre games. While the new game has a new setting near New Orleans, it shares a protagonist with the first game. Many of the surreal themes of Deadly Premonition can be expected to return as well. The game is also still essentially a detective story that slightly limits opportunities for some of Swery’s wackier gags.
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise is available now for Nintendo Switch.
