History YMMV / DeadlyPremonition2

* ContestedSequel: Many consider the first game to have been the absolute epitome of SoBadItsGood and DoingItForTheArt, making this reaction inevitable. As it is, the sequel implements several gameplay improvements but also a host of technical issues which fans are divided on as to whether it maintains that SoBadItsGood charm, or is genuinely frustrating, with some fans divided on whether the game was made to run badly on purpose or not. Likewise, whether the writing holds up as a deeper look into York and his charmingly quirky surrounding cast with some surprisingly emotional moments, or a {{Flanderized}} mess of an attempt to capture lightning in a bottle twice.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: There's a decent case to be made that [[spoiler:the Forrest Kaysen that shows up in this game is not the real Kaysen, but rather another SplitPersonality Zach developed post-Greenvale that took over his fractured mind after York left it vacant, which would explain Zach's newfound obsession with cultivating and studying the red seeds. Twinkle the Fairy (based on Emily) and Houngan the Witch Doctor (based on Zach's expectations of the DeepSouth) can also be interpretated in this fashion.]]

** The primary suspect of the 2019 portions, [[spoiler:Zach]], doesn't have it very well either. The events of the first game left him in a sorry state, [[spoiler:still feeling incredibly guilty over the death of his love interest Emily years later, having lost his closest friend and guardian angel in York, and seemingly even his prodigious investigative abilities. On top of that, he's also slowly dying of cancer]].
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
** There's actually a lot of build up for P.J. Clarkson as a potential major obstacle for York to deal with while in Le Carre, [[spoiler:but that more or less ends up amounting to nothing, since Lena manages to kill him in the climax of Chapter 2 before he can do anything to get in York's way.]]
** The game builds a good mystery surrounding [[spoiler:Candy Woods]], but the character ends up as nothing more than a glorified victim.

* PortingDisaster: The PC port '''has zero keyboard and mouse support'''. Not only that, but it doesn't support Playstation and Nintendo Switch controllers, despite having a Switch release.

* UnfortunateImplications: The trans character Lena Dauman has been subjected to criticism by members of the LGBT community, not necessarily because of the character herself (aspects of her portrayal have been highlighted as quite admirable, and York makes an impassioned speech in her defense at one point, decrying the townspeople for isolating her from the community merely because of her gender identity), but rather the frequency in which she is deadnamed and misgendered (including by York himself despite the aforementioned speech). SWERY actually [[https://twitter.com/swery65/status/1282804805140746240?s=21 issued an apology in response]], stating that the scenes will be rewritten to correct this.[[note]]It seems a big part of the issue is that the Japanese language lacks personal pronouns, leaving the English translation team to decide which ones to use on their own. Thus ValuesDissonance and InnocentlyInsensitive in full effect.[[/note]]

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** One of the most criticized aspects of the previous game was how little you could zoom out of the ''very'' large map. This game features a proper zoom-out function and the ability to place waypoints.
** When criticized for some problematic aspects of the trans character Lena Dauman's portrayal, Swery issued a public apology and promised to rewrite the scenes in question to be more sensitive and inclusive towards the subject. As it is, the patch resulted in certain more questionable lines about Lena having their audio removed and becoming subtitle-only.
** Zig-zagged with the game's notorious framerate issues, which SWERY initially denied would be fixed, but have since seen occasional patches to make them more consistent.

** HarsherInHindsight: Unfortunately the elements that made it such a ContestedSequel as well as the insensitive elements of the plot, combined with Swery's response to them, appalled Jim so much that they ended up putting the game very high on their "Shittiest Games of 2020" list.

* HilariousInHindsight: Just ''24 hours prior'' to the September 4 2019 Nintendo Direct, Jim Sterling -- who famously gave a 10/10 of the first Deadly Premonition -- posted a tweet about both a Switch Port for Deadly Premonition and a sequel. He was ecstatic when he saw the news to say the least.
** HarsherInHindsight: Unfortunately the elements that made it such a ContestedSequel as well as the insensitive elements of the plot, combined with Swery's response to them, appalled Jim so much that he ended up putting the game very high on his "Shittiest Games of 2020" list.

* {{Anvilicious}}: York makes a pretty blatant speech about how those of the trans community shouldn't be isolated or negatively judged just for not meeting traditional gender norms, something that's garnered a mixed reaction from players with some considering it too preachy while others think it's a case of SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped. [[spoiler:It doesn't help that it becomes a slightly BrokenAesop with York deadnaming Lena right in front of her, though Swery did apologize for this and announce his intention to rewrite the scene after it was brought to his attention]].

** HarsherInHindsight: Unfortunately the elements that made it such a ContestedSequel as well as the racist and transphobic elements of the plot, combined with Swery's response to them, appalled Jim so much that he ended up putting the game very high on his "Shittiest Games of 2020" list.

* UnfortunateImplications: The trans character Lena Dauman has been subjected to criticism by members of the LGBT community, not necessarily because of the character herself (aspects of her portrayal have been highlighted as quite admirable, and York makes an impassioned speech in her defense at one point, decrying the townspeople for isolating her from the community merely because of her gender identity), but rather the frequency in which she is deadnamed and misgendered (including by York himself despite the aforementioned speech, bizarrely enough). SWERY actually [[https://twitter.com/swery65/status/1282804805140746240?s=21 issued an apology in response]], stating that the scenes will be rewritten to correct this.[[note]]It seems a big part of the issue is that the Japanese language lacks personal pronouns, leaving the English translation team to decide which ones to use on their own.[[/note]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: There's a decent case to be made that [[spoiler:the Forrest Kaysen that shows up in this game is not the real Kaysen, but rather another SplitPersonality Zach developed post-Greenvale that took over his fractured mind after York left it vacant, which would explain Zach's newfound obsession with cultivating and studying the red seeds. Twinkle the Fairy (based on Emily) and Houngan the Witch Doctor (based on Zach's expectations of the DeepSouth) can also be interpretated in this fashion.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: There's a decent case to be made that [[spoiler:the Forrest Kaysen that shows up in this game is not the real Kaysen, but rather another SplitPersonality Zach developed post-Greenvale that took over his fractured mind after York left it vacant. This is supported by the fact that other characters do not notice Kaysen, even though he has direct influence in the tangible world (an ability York also demonstrates at the end). Twinkle the Fairy (based on Emily) and Houngan the Witch Doctor (based on Zach's expectations of the DeepSouth) can also be interpretated in this fashion.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: There's a decent case to be made that [[spoiler:the Forrest Kaysen that shows up in this game is not the real Kaysen, but rather another SplitPersonality Zach developed post-Greenvale that took over his fractured mind after York left it vacant. This is supported by the fact that other characters do not notice Kaysen, even though he has direct influence in the tangible world (an ability York also demonstrates at the end). Twinkle the Fairy (based on Emily) and Houngan the Witch Doctor (based on Zach's expectations of the DeepSouth) can also be interpretated in this fashion as they show similar abilities to affect the real world despite being spirits/hallucinations.]]