Alright, I'm going to be honest here. I hate The Escapists 2. I get that a lot of people like it, but I personally think it's a terrible game. Stop reading now if don't want to read a long rant about why I dislike this game.
First and foremost, when you make a sequel your first priority should be to fix any major hangups people had with the previous game. One of these was the over-reliance of random chance. People wanted a way to ask for specific contraband items, even if it incurred an extra cost.
So what did The Escapists 2 do to fix the problems that plagued The Escapists 1? Nothing. Instead of fixing the problems people had, it instead fixes the ways people were using to escape.
That's right, they intentionally patched up every way people were using to escape the prisons on The Escapists 1. Ways I might add, that were intentionally put on The Escapists 1 so that you could actually play the game and ESCAPE!!!
For example, everyone used to use plastic cutlery to dig tunnels, cut fences, and carve out walls. It was a very useful alternative to the crafted items, because you always knew they were there. They helped mitigate some of the random chance, and allowed you to always make a bit of progress. It took about four forks to take out a block of wall. And you'd run out of stamina at around halfway through.
On The Escapists 2, it takes around 20 forks to take out a single wall block, your stamina will run out during the first fork, and to top it all off, guards can now spot slightly damaged walls, so you can't even take the long way of slowly digging it out over several days. It's all or nothing. In short, cutlery is now completely useless, and has no point in being in the game, except to taunt you.
I used to also rely on the items that would always appear in desks like this comic suggests. You knew that you didn't have to keep toilet paper or toothpaste in your desk, because it was always available. And that helped mitigate some of the random chance as well, because if you found two tubes of superglue and some ink, you knew you could make a fake wall block, or if you found some talcum powder, you knew you could make some putty. Now though, all items in all desks are randomised. Sure they seem to be much more likely to have useful items like metal sheets and wood, but those weren't exactly hard to come by anyway.
And here's another thing. During the lunch times, there are almost always fights. That's because everyone gathers together and can fight each other. As such I usually used this chance to check bodies for useful items. It helped lower the random chance of getting items, because there were more chances of getting useful items through the day. It was sneaky, but it worked. Now The Escapists 2 no longer pauses when you enter a menu, so doing this becomes much harder. But I'm willing to accept it, since they did incorporate splitscreen that you can enter and leave whenever you want. It's annoying but acceptable. The real problem comes from the medics. As soon as someone is knocked out, medics rush to them as quickly as possible. That coupled with the lack of pausing menus, makes it almost impossible to scavenge items from bodies. But it gets worse. The first prison in the game, the prison that's supposed to be the easiest in the entire game, has the hospital directly beside the dining area.
Now, you see, I know the EXACT reason why the game goes out of it's way to prevent you from escaping from the prisons in the traditional way. And this could be seen from the extra maps that were released slowly on The Escapists 1. The Escapists wants you to escape using the "special ways". The ways which require specific items to be taken from specific areas and used in specific places to automatically escape. The problem with these "special escapes" is that trying to figure them out is really difficult without a guide. As a matter of fact, when I brought up all of my problems with The Escapists 2 on Reddit, everyone told me to just read a guide.
But that's one of my biggest gripes with The Escapists 2 right there. I... don't... want... to... read... a... GUIDE!
The most fun I had on The Escapists 1 was on Fort Bamford. I had never watched a Youtube video on that prison, so I didn't know anything about how to escape, I had to escape all on my own. And the prison really tried to push you into getting a yellow key to escape, not only for your cell, but also for getting through a door in the center of the prison. But I managed to dig out a hole in my wall into the neighbouring cell, and a hole through his wall, and out into the hallway. Then during the day while everyone was walking around, I dug a hole through another wall to avoid yet another yellow key door. I managed to find a way to escape without needing a yellow key, despite the prison practically telling me I needed one. I felt like I was really escaping, because I felt as though I was breaking the game, and escaping in a way that wasn't intended. Which let's face it, is what escaping is all about, since you're not intended to escape from prison anyway.
And I did it all without a guide. I managed to figure it all out. I even managed to find out what lurked outside the walls, prepare myself, and escape. With a guide, I would have just had to tick off a checklist.
As I went though the other prisons, I found that needed a guide more and more, as my escape plans kept being foiled by impenetrable walls and very specific escape routes. And The Escapists 2 seems to have taken this to heart.
What really disheartens me though, is that The Escapists 1 isn't splitscreen. So as much as I hate The Escapists 2, if I ever want to play that type of gameplay with someone else, I have to suck it up.
I just wanted to play The Escapists 1 in splitscreen. But it looks like I never will. :(
First
Previous
First and foremost, when you make a sequel your first priority should be to fix any major hangups people had with the previous game. One of these was the over-reliance of random chance. People wanted a way to ask for specific contraband items, even if it incurred an extra cost.
So what did The Escapists 2 do to fix the problems that plagued The Escapists 1? Nothing. Instead of fixing the problems people had, it instead fixes the ways people were using to escape.
That's right, they intentionally patched up every way people were using to escape the prisons on The Escapists 1. Ways I might add, that were intentionally put on The Escapists 1 so that you could actually play the game and ESCAPE!!!
For example, everyone used to use plastic cutlery to dig tunnels, cut fences, and carve out walls. It was a very useful alternative to the crafted items, because you always knew they were there. They helped mitigate some of the random chance, and allowed you to always make a bit of progress. It took about four forks to take out a block of wall. And you'd run out of stamina at around halfway through.
On The Escapists 2, it takes around 20 forks to take out a single wall block, your stamina will run out during the first fork, and to top it all off, guards can now spot slightly damaged walls, so you can't even take the long way of slowly digging it out over several days. It's all or nothing. In short, cutlery is now completely useless, and has no point in being in the game, except to taunt you.
I used to also rely on the items that would always appear in desks like this comic suggests. You knew that you didn't have to keep toilet paper or toothpaste in your desk, because it was always available. And that helped mitigate some of the random chance as well, because if you found two tubes of superglue and some ink, you knew you could make a fake wall block, or if you found some talcum powder, you knew you could make some putty. Now though, all items in all desks are randomised. Sure they seem to be much more likely to have useful items like metal sheets and wood, but those weren't exactly hard to come by anyway.
And here's another thing. During the lunch times, there are almost always fights. That's because everyone gathers together and can fight each other. As such I usually used this chance to check bodies for useful items. It helped lower the random chance of getting items, because there were more chances of getting useful items through the day. It was sneaky, but it worked. Now The Escapists 2 no longer pauses when you enter a menu, so doing this becomes much harder. But I'm willing to accept it, since they did incorporate splitscreen that you can enter and leave whenever you want. It's annoying but acceptable. The real problem comes from the medics. As soon as someone is knocked out, medics rush to them as quickly as possible. That coupled with the lack of pausing menus, makes it almost impossible to scavenge items from bodies. But it gets worse. The first prison in the game, the prison that's supposed to be the easiest in the entire game, has the hospital directly beside the dining area.
Now, you see, I know the EXACT reason why the game goes out of it's way to prevent you from escaping from the prisons in the traditional way. And this could be seen from the extra maps that were released slowly on The Escapists 1. The Escapists wants you to escape using the "special ways". The ways which require specific items to be taken from specific areas and used in specific places to automatically escape. The problem with these "special escapes" is that trying to figure them out is really difficult without a guide. As a matter of fact, when I brought up all of my problems with The Escapists 2 on Reddit, everyone told me to just read a guide.
But that's one of my biggest gripes with The Escapists 2 right there. I... don't... want... to... read... a... GUIDE!
The most fun I had on The Escapists 1 was on Fort Bamford. I had never watched a Youtube video on that prison, so I didn't know anything about how to escape, I had to escape all on my own. And the prison really tried to push you into getting a yellow key to escape, not only for your cell, but also for getting through a door in the center of the prison. But I managed to dig out a hole in my wall into the neighbouring cell, and a hole through his wall, and out into the hallway. Then during the day while everyone was walking around, I dug a hole through another wall to avoid yet another yellow key door. I managed to find a way to escape without needing a yellow key, despite the prison practically telling me I needed one. I felt like I was really escaping, because I felt as though I was breaking the game, and escaping in a way that wasn't intended. Which let's face it, is what escaping is all about, since you're not intended to escape from prison anyway.
And I did it all without a guide. I managed to figure it all out. I even managed to find out what lurked outside the walls, prepare myself, and escape. With a guide, I would have just had to tick off a checklist.
As I went though the other prisons, I found that needed a guide more and more, as my escape plans kept being foiled by impenetrable walls and very specific escape routes. And The Escapists 2 seems to have taken this to heart.
What really disheartens me though, is that The Escapists 1 isn't splitscreen. So as much as I hate The Escapists 2, if I ever want to play that type of gameplay with someone else, I have to suck it up.
I just wanted to play The Escapists 1 in splitscreen. But it looks like I never will. :(