In just a few days, cult horror sequelDeadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguisewill be released on Nintendo Switch. The firstDeadly Premonitionwas released on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in 2010, with a Nintendo Switch port calledDeadly Premonition: Originsfollowing in 2019. Fans have been waiting a very long time to playDeadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise.
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguiseis one of severalbig games releasing in July 2020. Others include the PC version ofDeath Strandingand metroidvania titleBloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2which lands on July 10, the same day asDeadly Premonition 2.
Ahead of the game’s release date, the first reviews have begin to roll in. Critics are now offering up their takes on the survival horror title which allows players to roam around Le Carre, LA. as Francis York Morgan in 2005 and as FBI agents Jones and Davis in present-day Boston as they investigate serial murders. The original game may have divided opinion but hasDeadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguisebeen just as divisive among critics?
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Video Games Chronicles(Chris Scullion)
One area that will have all in agreement, however, is the game’s performance. To be frank, this is one of the most shambolic final products we’ve seen in modern gaming with regards to stability. In particular, the open-world sections – where players explore the streets of Le Carré either on foot or on a skateboard – are shockingly executed.
We aren’t just talking frame rate dips here, although the frame rate is indeed woeful: at times the game can outright lock up for half a second, completely throwing your concentration off. Pedestrians and other objects appear out of thin air from mere metres away, and bugs and glitches are all-too common: we made one pedestrian slide away into the distance by bumping into them, then half an hour later we walked to a river, tried to skim a stone and it fell through the bottom of the game world.
Score: 2/5
Trusted Reviews(Jade King)
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise is a transcendant pile of garbage. It’s both strikingly ambitious and laughably imcompetent in every regard, which is somewhat fitting given the iconic status of its predecessor. But all the campy brilliance aside, it’s difficult to overlook its monolithic performance problems and decrepit approach to game design.
Score: 3/5
IGN(Tristan Ogilvie)
Deadly Premonition 2 isn’t good, nor is it so bad that it’s good (like it’s predecessor). It’s something much, much worse: it’s mediocre. And that’s too bad. I’m certainly grateful for the chance to spend some more time with the eccentric and ever enthusiastic Francis York Morgan, because he remains one of the funniest and most unique lead characters in all of gaming. But I found myself less tolerant of Deadly Premonition 2’s technical issues and half-baked combat this time around, and its central mystery is ridiculous without ever going far enough off the rails to be truly surprising or memorable.
Polygon(Dave Tach)
The weirdest thing is that, at a certain point, despite all of this broken surreality, the more I play, the more I want to keep playing. The more baffled I feel, the more compelled I am to unravel not just the mystery inside of the game but the mystery of the game, behind the game. I’m invested, and I want answers.
And that’s when it dawns on me: If I can’t tell why anything is happening, then what difference does it make? It’s a mystery, and I’m the detective getting deeper and deeper into the case of the murdered woman and the broken game, and no matter who I’m role-playing, I’m on the case.
Score: N/A
The Sixth Axis(Thomas Hughes)
The story and characters are a big part of the appeal of Deadly Premonition 2. Much like the first game, it’s York’s interactions and reactions that are entertaining. His back and forth with imaginary friend Zach is truly bizarre, but it’s what makes this game so incredibly unique. It reminds me of the Yakuza in this sense, as it perfectly blends raw and violent subject matter with moments of absurd comedy and surrealist situations. Almost every interaction comes with an interesting quote or an unusual line delivery to savour.
Score: 7/10
Nintendo Life(Gavin Lane)
However, as fans of the first game will attest, there’s a strange sense that its technical limitations are somehow additive to Deadly Premonition’s surreal charm. We spent large swathes of our playthrough (around 20 hours, we’d say) just marvelling at how a game released in 2020 could bethis ropey. It’s a Switch exclusive at the time of writing, presumably designed with Nintendo’s hardware in mind, and it’s mind-boggling.
Reviews suggest that fans of the first game will find a lot to like aboutDeadly Premonition: A Blessing in Disguise. The game, which has been compared toTwin Peaks, is just as weird as the first game, from its characters to its dialogue.
However, the huge number of technical issues may put newcomers off as they are less likely to see through a poor frame rate to enjoy its charm. TheDeadly PremonitionNintendo Switch port also needed a patchto fix technical issues such as missing sound effects and other severe problems with its audio.
There is some chance that the game will get a patch though as a PR representative for the game said that the developers are “looking into” their options. In a stream,Deadly Premonition 2game director Swery confirmed via a translator that he will “fight” with the game’s producer to make sure that a frame rate fix is issued in a patch after release. It seems highly unlikely that the game’s technical issues will be fixed before launch or with a day one patch, something which may put off some potential players. It’s also unclear if the critics quoted above have any plans to play the game again if and when these issues are addressed.
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguisereleases August 07, 2025 exclusively on Nintendo Switch.
