This might be a hot take, but I don't actually think it's as terrible as people often think it is. This is not me defending CoC2 specifically, they do butcher a lot of things, but saying that the game is bad because it focuses on the characters who are not the player to me sounds rather petty. I mean, you obviously want to have a nice character focus, right? Nobody would complain about CoC2 being an OC fest if the writing and those characters were more enjoyable. This is not the problem. The problem is the distribution of content and an assumption that the player will automatically love a character that drives the plot and will follow along with whatever the writers want.
The concept of character arcs is normal in any media, including videogames. Having content dedicated to a specific character and their journey is something almost any story does. However, if the player is not really into the character that much and the game doesn't present the player agency for their own choices - it becomes MUCH more difficult to justify this approach.
The root of the issue is the confused identity of CoC2. It wants to be a story much more focused on characters and developed companions, yet half of them are hidden and other half is mandatory for the main story. Even Fallout 4, who has companions you met as you do the main quest, yet it never forces you to interact with them after their part in the quest is over. It wants to keep the MC as open as possible to make him work as a self-insert/your own character, yet the writing style and the story they want to tell often prevents agency and choices people want to make.
There are games with amazing storylines that focus on the characters and don't provide you with agency. There are even RPGs that do this pretty well, because they tighter focus and identity. CoC2 is much more enjoyable for those who aren't really into challenging the game - people who will go along with whatever the game says because the content might be good. Those who will not care about some massive issues with the story because... I mean, why would they? This CoC2 thread judges the game harsher than actual game critics or 3-hour long essay-making youtubers judge actual AAA RPGs. While a lot of those judgements are pretty fair, it's also a bit foolish to expect it from every player.
You're beyond stupidly blind if you think the only cause of how shit the game is right now is because of focus on other characters throwing MC to extra characters territory.
Let's start with their shit
COMBAT, I can always put stats on agility and equip as many accuracy items I can, use high accuracy skills and chug a lot of accuracy boosts and I will still miss 9 / 10 hits, Enemies hit me and it's mostly a damn crit. NORMAL DIFFICULTY btw.
There are so many broken builds here, most of them laughably cheese-able and laughably bad.
CHARACTERS, It's an OC-fest, the deviantart bad kind.
The kind where they're so perfect it's THIS CLOSE to being Mary Sue it's disgusting.
If we take a shot for every herm we see here, we'll die of alcohol poisoning before we leave the fort.
Not even a diversity on dicks, every single fucking one has a horse dick and yes, they can knot too.
PLAYER, We play the video game, no no like as a character but as a viewer like watching a movie, we don't do shit, it's an illusion.
WE start routes, we don't explore them. We have the "choice" of either ignore it for now or start it, pretty much Microsoft WIndows Updates.
Our actions are instead predetermined with
CHOICES that western games love aka fake ones that still lead to the same conclusion, nice variety right there.
Lots of pump and dump characters that has depth as deep* as a puddle, there are exceptions but it shouldn't be that way, it should be the reversed.
STORY, You da champ, no demmet we told you to SLAY, NOT LAY!!!
CoC 1 ain't real (intro disclaimer) then does a whole 180 where the main "villain" is from CoC 1 world.
WRITING, Scroll, scroll, scroll, scroll, zzzzz.
If they can just keep it simple with putting the important info instead of filling it with text that no one gives a shit about, I'll actually enjoy this, There's so many fillers in every scene that doesn't have any importance.
Do I have to mention that some authors literally wrote content to spite the players specifically?
Do I sound biased? Fuck yeah I am, I've never been so disappointed for a sequel even WISH can do better if they made it.
This is one of those examples like movies labeled as a sequel but then they just spit to the audience while they destroy everything that made it good from its predecessor.
"Consistency -100, Immersion beyond saving, Word walls = Empire State Levels with only a few words of important info."
10/10 game
-IGN
