VIDEO GAMES: Glitter without the gold: River City Girls 2

Jan. 7—Style and aesthetic go a long way toward making a game feel like it has effort put into it, but at the end of the day the actual content still matters.

Unfortunately, "River City Girls 2" seems to have missed this memo.

This beat 'em up from WayForward is certainly more polished than its predecessor in terms of combat, as combos and specials are simple to pull off but incredibly satisfying to land.

Updated movesets given to the characters are also a blast to work with, having a lot of charm and depth that make each character feel more unique.

The overall aesthetic has received a major overhaul, with menus, cutscenes, environments and character designs being given a ton of extra character. References to classic WayForward and Technōs Japan games are also in spades, making the game feel like a massive love letter to those companies and their fans.

Spritework and sound design are also outstanding. WayForward is usually known for great spritework, and this game doesn't disappoint, and the soundtrack has plenty of jamming tunes that will stick in your head long after you've put the game down.

However, that's mostly where the positives end.

The game's story is nonsensical and incredibly bare-bones; whereas the previous installment had each arc of the game lead you into the next, there is almost no connective tissue between story segments here, your only real indication of where to go next in your quest to rid your town of the invading yakuza being little more than a marker of where your next objective is.

Given that the original "River City Girls" had an absolutely dreadful plot, it's almost impressive that WayForward somehow delivered a worse story here.

Piling onto this issue is the dialogue and writing, which is just as mean-spirited and venomous as the original game, if not moreso. Series protagonists Misako and Kyoko are just as rude, insensitive and idiotic to everyone they meet, often coming off more as punchlines and mouthpieces for endless quips and one-liners than actual characters.

The dialogue also doesn't change no matter who you play as and I mean that in the most literal sense possible. Despite "River City Girls 2" having six playable characters, two of which are newcomer guest characters representing "River City Underground" and the "Double Dragon" series, everyone in the game speaks as if they're speaking to Misako and Kyoko or as Misako and Kyoko.

Consequently, this means that every playable character also is rude, insensitive and idiotic in dialogue exchanges, which, as you can imagine, gets incredibly grating incredibly fast.

In fact, despite having six playable characters, there's really no incentive to play as anyone besides Misako and Kyoko. The dialogue is already written as if they're the only characters important to the story, with literally no change if you decide to play as anyone else, and trying to play as another character creates inconsistencies and weirdness in what little canon the game has.

Certain parts of the game are even an actual downgrade from the previous installment. While in the original "River City Girls" you were allowed to save and quit at any time on any screen, "2" restricts your saving ability to only being accessible in one of your hideouts, of which there's usually only one per area.

If you want to save, you're more than likely going to need to do some major backtracking.

There's very little that "River City Girls 2" has over its predecessor in terms of actual improvements, which is a massive disappointment given the major flaws that the original had.

I've had worse experiences with other games, and I genuinely enjoyed the combat, music and graphics here. But those are just cherries on top of a sundae full of rocks. "River City Girls 2" desperately needs more substance — better substance — to make it something special.

Because for all the style it has now, the substance is not worth playing.

Davis Cobb is a reporter with The Tifton Gazette.