An extremely worthy follow-up to its post-Brexit prequel, Not Tonight 2 imagines the dystopian way forward for the USA ought to right this moment’s extra corrupt, bigoted, and hypocritical capitalists safe much more energy. The sport goes arduous from the very starting, refusing to drag any punches even from the opening beats of the story.
Not Tonight 2 follows a gaggle of younger buddies who ring within the New Yr with a protest in opposition to the federal government’s oppressive strategy to rule. Eduardo Suarez is kidnapped and dumped in a gulag to be deported inside a month until his buddies can discover the paperwork proving his proper to remain and ship them in time to the guards. The group then splits up in numerous instructions to trace down his passport and household tree, taking up gig work through door safety informal job app Bouncr to afford the prices of the journey.
The gameplay is acquainted to anybody who has performed Not Tonight, with a easy sufficient bouncing job kicking off the sport to reacquaint you with the rhythm of it. As you progress, the necessities to grant entry get extra sophisticated. This begins with the plain visitor lists and different further components to look out for. It then escalates to make the gameplay itself extra complicated, providing you with rhythm-based tickets requiring you to click on alongside to the beat. As the sport ramps as much as its climactic end, you’re employed the door for an apparent cult and need to determine whether or not or to not drug their chosen ones.
The narrative is darkly humorous and vastly insightful. You observe every of Eduardo’s buddies in flip as they set off on totally different journeys to assist him. They head in reverse instructions, travelling throughout the nation to seek out the documentation he wants. On their means, they meet quite a lot of folks impacted by and reacting to the sharp fascist flip the nation has taken.
In addition to incomes cash through your Bouncr gigs, you might be additionally rewarded by a mysterious organisation whenever you have interaction nicely with the opposite characters you meet. Not Tonight 2 places you in quite a lot of ethically ambiguous conditions the place you might want to make an ethical alternative about what to do. At a number of factors, you need to select if you happen to’re going to interrupt the foundations to assist somebody you’ve met and care about, whether or not meaning reuniting your uncle from his estranged (however nonetheless beloved) ex-wife or permitting somebody determined to get house entry to a location from which they’ll be capable to smuggle themselves out of the US.
The story is absorbing and profound, pulled collectively by the power of the friendship between the core characters. Not Tonight 2 engages extremely nicely with the social and political points going through not simply the US, however a number of the remainder of the world proper now. It doesn’t really feel notably heavy-handed in its messaging, but additionally doesn’t shrink back from holding the true world accountable. It reinforces the worth of neighborhood and solidarity in a merciless world, delivering a critical message with a artistic, intelligent and darkly humorous plot.