Can you solve the oddities in your neighbor’s house, or will you be caught and thrown off the doorstep? Hello Neighbor 2, the much-awaited sequel to Hello Neighbor and Hello Guest, hit the steam store on July 23rd, 2020 with an alpha build available to all. Developer Eerie Guest and publisher tinyBuild have provided an early snapshot into what fans of the franchise have been asking for.
How it Plays
Put simply, Hello Neighbor 2 is a mash-up between puzzle room games, stealth misdirection simulators, and horror survival games. With so many influences, there could easily be too many cooks in the kitchen idea wise, but Hello Neighbor 2 manages to pull just the right blend from each inspiration and combines them all into a novel and thrilling experience.
At its core, Hello Neighbor 2 asks its players to solve different puzzles in the hostile house while the Guest guards the place as an easily-tricked sentry. There are a series of rooms to progress through, each with their own links to obtainable items, maneuverable climbing walls, or other series of progressively-unlocked interactions.
Most of my problem solving during Hello Neighbor 2 came down to exploring item interaction while properly distracting the Neighbor. The fail state–getting tossed off the front porch and losing control of items–which I reached often, didn’t punish or terrorize me to the point of not wanting to play, I just wanted to get right back at it.
How it Feels
The best moments playing Hello Neighbor 2 blended perfectly the aspects of stealth, survival, and puzzle present in the game. I would constantly be sweating, trying to fidget with different combinations of item interactions and processing all the new information in further unlocked rooms, biding as much time as I could from the looming invasion of the Neighbor by evading his attempts to grab me at the very last second.
Beyond the emotional beats of the core gameplay, Hello Neighbor 2 satisfies in other regards. Aesthetically, the game is immediately engaging while simultaneously evoking creepy eeriness with whimsical madness. Minimal UI and guided play add to the “solve-it-yourself” attitude, further embodying the survival elements while also adding much satisfaction to the accomplishment of figuring out each stage.
Conclusion
Despite only being an alpha build, Hello Neighbor 2 has many things going for it already. It consistently induces thrills, puzzles at every new turn, and has a stellar community to boot. I’m gleefully looking forward to the full release of Hello Neighbor 2.
Check Out the Hello Neighbor 2 Trailer:
You can wishlist or play the Alpha 1 of Hello Neighbor 2 right now for PC via Steam.
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Recent Michigan State University grad and current Game Studies researcher who plays fantasy RPG's to escape, Smash to compete, and Stardew to chill. Also have a +1 to rage/toxicity resistance due to the many hours sunk into WoW, R6, and LoL.
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