Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer is a point-and-click adventure set a few years after the events of the first game. In short, this game feels like it should be better than it is, but it seems to be held back by the writing, or possibly by parts of the narrative that didn't make the final cut before launch.
What I Didn't Like
Kathy (a.k.a. The Protagonist)
This was probably my biggest gripe with the game. Kathy is unlikeable and does not grow as a character throughout the adventure, at least from my experience. Things happen to her, she reacts to them, and then continues being exactly who she was before that.
Having an unlikeable main character isn't a bad thing. It could be the author's intention for the player to deal with an unlikeable protagonist, and I can respect that. The problem is that without any growth or change in the character, we're just following events in the world of Kathy Rain. The story events aren't interesting enough to keep me engaged, and the lore of the world is a bit light as well.
It has been a while since I ventured into the world of Kathy Rain, but I don't remember disliking Kathy or being bored with her character.
That's not to say that Kathy isn't entertaining in her own way. She has some good quips and clever lines, which add some needed fun to her character. But the swings between how she treats some people with compassion and others with rudeness make her character feel inconsistent throughout the playthrough.
Storytelling Dependency on the First Game
I get that this game is a sequel. When you start the game, it offers you a recap and points out that the story heavily relies on understanding the story of the first game. Having a narrative dependency like that makes a lot of sense.
The problem I have is the expectation that you'll remember all the details from the first game while following the story of the second one. My assumption is that the writers expect you to have the first game fresh in your mind, which is possible. But when I watch a movie sequel, I don't necessarily expect to have to remember all the plot and character details from the first game the entire time.
The overview of the first game helped refresh my memory, but what would have made a difference is including those flashback moments or explanations throughout the playthrough of this game. It would only take a bit of dialogue to remind me of the specifics, either through some inner monologue from Kathy or by having an existing character remind her of those key points and how they relate to something from her past.
Without that, it led to some abrupt discoveries that lacked impact. Something that should have been an "a-ha" moment was just confusing upon the reveal because I didn't have the specifics needed to understand why it mattered at all.
What I Liked
Invisible Hand of Guidance
Even though I took issue with the overall story, I did like the mysteries and the invisible hand that guided you through them.
For most of my playthrough, I always had a few things to do and never felt stuck. It isn't that the game explicitly told me what to do, but rather that it laid out all the puzzle pieces I needed to figure out the next step on my own, whether that meant calling a character in the game or returning to a previous location to find another clue. There was always something for me to try, and that is pretty impressive for a game in the point-and-click style.
Puzzles & Tension
Even with a tried-and-tested gameplay formula for point-and-click adventures, this game does well to deliver some tense moments that feel fair when you get them wrong and solvable when you can't seem to get them right. There are some time-based puzzles and events, but they require quick thinking more than accuracy and cursor speed. These moments were very fun, along with the other puzzles that didn't have that same tension.
The Conclusion
Kathy Rain 2 is fine. It's not great. It's not bad. It's just fine.
The characters need development and the story needs a rewrite to add some extra beats and callbacks, but all in all, it was a fine experience. The game is an easy weekend playthrough, which is how this entered my life, and if there is ever a Kathy Rain 3, I'll pick it up for the same sort of occasion.
The catch is, even though I would recommend to players that they should play both games close together to get the most out of the experience, I won't be replaying either game any time soon. There are too many other games in this style that I could play (see The Red Strings Club for an example).
