Warning: This review contains spoilers for the first Deadly Premonition.

The first Deadly Premonition was an anomaly, a seemingly unintentional oddity that enjoyed cult success by happenstance. It was an oxymoron of character development and unpredictable storytelling accompanied by a clunky, unintuitive gameplay experience. Its sequel, Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise, follows suit; however, though the return of the original's off-kilter writing, outlandish characters, and disturbing twists is an exciting prospect, it all feels diluted this time around, missing many of the flavor notes that defined its predecessor. There are incredible moments worth experiencing, all of which are held together by the game's protagonist, Francis York Morgan. But inexcusably poor performance issues (even by Deadly Premonition standards) make it hard to recommend to anyone outside the existing fandom. And even then, Deadly Premonition 2 stumbles in some of the places that made the first truly special.

The game flips between the past and the present, first beginning in 2019, which is 10 years after the Greenvale case from the first game. FBI agent Francis York Morgan, now Francis Zach Morgan, has neither fully recovered from the tragic loss of his love, nor the revelation of his dual identity, and is now a retired recluse in his Boston, Massachusetts apartment. Seeing Morgan for the first time is jarring; he looks frail, sick, and alarmingly grey. He doesn't come off as slick and charming as he once did, but rather deranged and unstable, murmuring and talking to himself in the midst of a hoarder's dirty apartment--it's a stark contrast from the agent we know and love. The once illustrious agent, regaled for his inexplicable, and rather supernatural, investigation techniques, is now under scrutiny by the very bureau he once worked for.

Harvest Moon, and now Story of Seasons, have thrived on their personality above all else. With each entry in the series offering fresh story and minimal improvements to gameplay, replaying one of the older titles is asking for disappointment, even if it has a new coat of paint. Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town brings the 2003 Game Boy Advance title into 2020 with enjoyable cutesy graphics and personality, but does little to add depth to the already outdated gameplay..

After choosing from an extremely limited set of character customization options, you set out to take over a farm left to you by your late grandfather, where you once spent the summer 20 years ago. It's unclear why your character left whatever life they had behind, but you are quickly thrust into the day-to-day work of maintaining a farm, starting with crops.

Growing crops is one of the main methods of making money, but progression is slow. You can't improve your crop yields in any meaningful way until the option to buy better farm soil becomes available in the second year, which is 25 to 30 hours into the game. Upgrading the watering can allows you to tend to more crops at once, but the increased stamina usage makes for minimal improvement to your crop yield.

Warning: This review contains spoilers for the first Deadly Premonition.

The first Deadly Premonition was an anomaly, a seemingly unintentional oddity that enjoyed cult success by happenstance. It was an oxymoron of character development and unpredictable storytelling accompanied by a clunky, unintuitive gameplay experience. Its sequel, Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing In Disguise, follows suit; however, though the return of the original's off-kilter writing, outlandish characters, and disturbing twists is an exciting prospect, it all feels diluted this time around, missing many of the flavor notes that defined its predecessor. There are incredible moments worth experiencing, all of which are held together by the game's protagonist, Francis York Morgan. But inexcusably poor performance issues (even by Deadly Premonition standards) make it hard to recommend to anyone outside the existing fandom. And even then, Deadly Premonition 2 stumbles in some of the places that made the first truly special.

The game flips between the past and the present, first beginning in 2019, which is 10 years after the Greenvale case from the first game. FBI agent Francis York Morgan, now Francis Zach Morgan, has neither fully recovered from the tragic loss of his love, nor the revelation of his dual identity, and is now a retired recluse in his Boston, Massachusetts apartment. Seeing Morgan for the first time is jarring; he looks frail, sick, and alarmingly grey. He doesn't come off as slick and charming as he once did, but rather deranged and unstable, murmuring and talking to himself in the midst of a hoarder's dirty apartment--it's a stark contrast from the agent we know and love. The once illustrious agent, regaled for his inexplicable, and rather supernatural, investigation techniques, is now under scrutiny by the very bureau he once worked for.

• Campaign: 7 new wrestlers (created specially from the game) are competing for a WWE contract - you'll pick one and fight across multiple maps (unlocking them as you go), with guidance from 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and Paul Heyman along the way. You can learn more about the Campaign mode in our explainer article.
• Exhibition: Local and online multiplayer matches featuring up to four players.
• King of the Battleground: An online last-man-standing mode sees four players begin in the ring, with four more waiting outside it to enter. You'll need to take them all down to win.
• Online: Aside from King of the Battleground and Exhibitions, online tournaments are also promised.

• The Rock
• 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin
• Ronda Rousey
• Roman Reigns
• Drew McIntyre
• Charlotte Flair
• Becky Lynch
• Asuka
• Daniel Bryan
• Kofi Kingston
• Randy Orton
• Andre the Giant
• Undertaker
• Mankind
• Shawn Michaels
• Yokozuna
• Sgt. Slaughter
• John Cena
• Nikki Bella
• Sasha Banks
• Braun Strowman
• The Fiend Bray Wyatt
• Big Show
• Samoa Joe
• Kalisto
• Edge (Pre-order/Digital Deluxe edition bonus)

• Campaign: 7 new wrestlers (created specially from the game) are competing for a WWE contract - you'll pick one and fight across multiple maps (unlocking them as you go), with guidance from 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and Paul Heyman along the way. You can learn more about the Campaign mode in our explainer article.
• Exhibition: Local and online multiplayer matches featuring up to four players.
• King of the Battleground: An online last-man-standing mode sees four players begin in the ring, with four more waiting outside it to enter. You'll need to take them all down to win.
• Online: Aside from King of the Battleground and Exhibitions, online tournaments are also promised.

• The Rock
• 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin
• Ronda Rousey
• Roman Reigns
• Drew McIntyre
• Charlotte Flair
• Becky Lynch
• Asuka
• Daniel Bryan
• Kofi Kingston
• Randy Orton
• Andre the Giant
• Undertaker
• Mankind
• Shawn Michaels
• Yokozuna
• Sgt. Slaughter
• John Cena
• Nikki Bella
• Sasha Banks
• Braun Strowman
• The Fiend Bray Wyatt
• Big Show
• Samoa Joe
• Kalisto
• Edge (Pre-order/Digital Deluxe edition bonus)