Not Tonight 2

Not Tonight 2 does a decent job of adapting Papers, Please to a terminally hateful America, but the premise wears thin with every pit stop.

Not Tonight 2 looks to build upon Not Tonight and the Papers, Please formula, but veers too far away from what gave the first its impact. One-off challenges and the veering between serious and slapstick make the game feel too unfocused, ultimately detracting from the game. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, it still looks and sounds great, but there are a few too many negatives and it's ultimately a shadow of the first.

As poignant and important as its predecessor, Not Tonight 2 utilises its addictive gameplay and rich storytelling to tackle some of contemporary America's most divisive issues in a way that manages to stay fun and humorous.

Panic Barn wears their beliefs on their sleeve, and that perspective informs the story in a way that makes it impossible to divorce their worldview from how they've envisioned our lives. With that caveat, if you give it a chance, Not Tonight 2 is an expansion of the original into a much more multilayered game with depth that makes for a more fulfilling experience. Coupling that with a tried-and-true queue management core and a cross country road trip makes for a game that is a big step above its predecessor.

Not Tonight 2 is a shining example of how not to make an engaging video game.

I had a blast playing Not Tonight 2. I enjoyed the story of quirky characters stuck in a dystopian America. The road trips across the country are unsettlingly on the edge of ridiculous and totally what the World will look like in a few years. The pixel art and animation are outstanding, and I found myself staring at the screen instead of playing the game. If you enjoyed Papers, Please or the previous game in this series, give Not Tonight 2 a whirl. Not Tonight 2 is worthy of the Thumb Culture Gold Award.

For those who enjoy adventure games with meaningful choices, sharp writing, and an over-the-top narrative, Not Tonight 2 is a surprisingly complex dystopia to spend a little time in.

Not Tonight 2 takes the pain and misery of a post-Brexit world into an America on its knees. It’s bolder than its original and provides terrific alternate ways to enjoy its fairly generic core mechanic, but it’s nowhere near as ‘political’ as it thinks it is. Turning America into Arkham City isn’t satire, and fans of the original may feel a little disappointed it doesn’t hit as hard as it promised it would.

For that reason, Not Tonight 2’s story didn’t quite land for me, but the journey itself, laden with laughs, was absolutely worth taking. I won’t soon forget the sheer joy of arriving at an absurd new location, frantically trying to wrap my mind around the gloriously off-the-wall entry requirements, and the silly, smug satisfaction of doing a good job.

As such, Not Tonight 2 is a very strong sequel to the original game. It builds on what worked about Not Tonight and updates it for its new setting, all the while keeping true to the series' tone. Its plot and satirical comedy will be too close to the bone for those who feel video games shouldn't be political, but for those who want more of an ideological challenge this will hit the mark well.