RayBanjo here! Time for another editorial!
It's been almost 3 years, and I still can't decide what I think about Epic Mickey 2. Don't get me wrong, there were tons of good points in the game, but when I first played through it, I had this slight feeling of dissapointment. Not because of the camera or anything like that, I never had a problem with the first or second game's camera. I just had a problem with things that were promised or built up not being there.
For starters, the music and sound. I wanted to see other characters sing besides the Mad Doctor. The Mad Doctor singing would have been funny and unique if it was only a few scenes instead of all. Wouldn't it have been better if more of the characters sang? However, the voice acting was phenomenal. Frank Welker as Oswald was a VERY smart move by Disney. (I always imagined Oswald would have a voice similar to Silver the Hedgehog's new voice actor, idk why). But if I was to find something wrong with the voice acting, it would be that we didn't really see Ortensia that much. The music was amazing like the first, but some of the tunes were reused in areas that didn't really belong, but it's good so it doesn't bother me too much.
Another thing is the story. Compared to the first game, the story is a little lackluster. Sure, it had it's good moments as well, but it just didn't feel too engaging. And what about Mickey's leftover Blot essence? It never explained what happened to that. I really hope that beta script really was real, because the story from that is better than the "real" one, IMO. The change of tone from dark to lighthearted was also kinda meh.
Then we have the things mentioned in the Nintendo Power issue. Wasn't Mickey supposed to gain and lose abilities along the way, and the choices have even more effects on the gameplay? Heck, we only got 3 more abilities, the Fairy Sketch and the Gold and Invisible Ink. Switching between Mickey and Oswald would have been really awesome, too.
Next, the unlockables and quests. The costumes were really cool, so I guess that's a plus. And again, what was the point of getting the pins for Flynn, the photos for Adelle, The Spirit of Wasteland, or the objects for Copernicus? We weren't really rewarded for them or given a reason besides completed quests. I wanted to know what the backstory for the Spirit, and see who it really was. The game should have taken a Rayman 2 approach by having a readable backstory in the menus, each section being unlocked through more quests completed or whatever. Most of the quests were fetch quests, which was pretty dissapointing. Why not a survival quest, minigames in the arcade or something. The driving minigames were fun, but the bad steering movements are what kinda ruined them. The achievements were pretty good, so I can't complain. I thought the "Fall From Grace" achievement was pretty hilarious, considering they referenced Hell in a Mickey Mouse game. "Make Your Own Path" was pretty good since it made players do what some people would consider "cheating" or whatever by basically making you glitch up to the area.
And why not more bosses, areas and enemies? The bosses were really awesome. They rank on some of my favorite boss battles of all time, but more bosses would have been awesome. And heck, why not a bigger Mean Street? And what about Tomorrow City, or maybe we could've seen Mickeyjunk Mountain after the quake. Rainbow Falls and Rainbow Caverns were cool, but again, no explanations on the spirits in the statues. Lonesome Manor would have been pretty sweet too. As for enemies, they're ok, but what happened to the Seers? I also wanted to see more than just one new Blotling and Blotworx.
So, in all, I still cant decide on Epic Mickey 2. I know it seems like I hate it due to all the nitpicking, but I feel like we kinda had some promises broken. I love the game, and I still own it even though I beat it 100%. I don't want to hate or dislike it, but I know it has some flaws that should have been corrected. If only it wasnt rushed...