River City Girls 2 Review
No, Bee Boo!
I adored the first River City Girls title back when it was released in 2019. The game had an awesome battle system, a great soundtrack, and a delightful cast of characters. When the sequel was released in 2022, I was so excited, but the fifty-dollar price point kept me away because, in my mind, I couldn’t justify that price for a beat-’em up RPG. It’s been two years since the game was released, and I finally bit the bullet because I wanted to be reunited with my two favourite idiots, Kyoko and Misako. River City Girls 2 feels like a refined version of the first game, though it’s hard to say if there is enough new here to justify its full price tag.
River City Girls 2 begins directly after the events of the first game, with Kyoko and Misako heading out on a burger date with their boyfriends, Kunio and Riki. Sabuko, the final boss from River City Girls, is shown in the background humiliated by her defeat, until along comes her brother Ken. He picks up the antagonist’s baton and swears revenge against our heroines. Upon heading back to Sanwokai Tower, Ken tells his father of Sabuko’s failure and takes charge of the battle against Kyoko and Misako, starting with a yakuza takeover of River City High School. Upon showing up to class, the two girls are immediately thrown out the window. Expelled from school, Kiyoko and Misako spend two months on the couch playing video games, only to encounter Ken and his goons at the local mall, and the shenanigans begin again.
Part of River City Girls‘ charm is in its writing. The story is ridiculous and over-the-top, offering a hefty punch in the humour department. Kyoko’s innocence and Misako’s misanthropic personality steal the show, continuing the fantastic balance from the first game. Some returning characters have hilarious storylines that make for memorable moments, such as Abobo’s need to be a goon for hire and Hibari’s questionable costumes for the girls. Even newer characters like Ken grab the spotlight with his need to be both his father’s favourite and his ability to be the biggest coward in the room. The sarcasm and stupidity of the characters are always at one hundred percent, never breaking, making the story in River City Girls 2 such a fun ride.
Pack your bags, you’re getting evicted… by the River City Giiiiiiirls!
Players can now experience the game from Kunio and Riki’s perspectives, although they basically deliver the same lines as the girls word-for-word, which is a bit disappointing. Players can also unlock two new playable characters in the form of Marion, Billy and Lee from Double Dragon’s close friend, and Provie, a top-ranking gamer who is constantly vibrating at a high frequency and moves lightning fast. Unfortunately, much like the boys, the dialogue does not change when playing them, which is a bit strange given they are bosses turned playable characters in the game. This choice is completely understandable, but it would have been nice to have some of the dialogue tweaked for these extra characters.
River City Girls 2‘s beat ’em-up combat returns for the sequel and everyone plays differently. Kyoko, Kunio, and Provie focus on speed, whereas Misako, Riki, and Marion are heavy hitters in every sense of the word. Every character has a basic set of moves that can be turned into a string of combos. Characters get some new moves in their arsenal by leveling up, but most of the skills must be bought from the local dojo. Buying from the dojo allows characters to add additional skills to the combo string and also provides finishers that are the perfect cherry on top. Combat is satisfying, with players begin able to feel those heavy hits of those finishers. There is nothing more satisfying than pulling off a double-digit combo and obliterating the enemy into tiny pieces.
New to the game is the ability to recruit helpers during combat. If the enemy somehow survives a beat-down, they may attempt to plead for their lives. Pressing the L1 or R1 button allows the player character to recruit these enemies into allies, and they can be called upon to help out in a pinch, but only if their support gauge is filled. Once used, it takes a bit for the support gauge to refill. The hilarious problem with this system is that it’s far easier to accidentally kill these recruitable enemies, as they are often being slapped about in a combo. It requires the player to really pay attention for that recruitment prompt, but given how many enemies are on the screen at once, it’s easier to kill than recruit.
Face, meet foot!
Despite the hilarious story and solid combat, River City Girls 2 has its share of problems. There is still no mini-map, meaning players will have to constantly enter menus to check their location, which can kill the game’s pacing. One unique glitch that occurred was finishing off two sidequests, and receiving the trophy for completing them, despite having never stepped foot in some of the areas on the quest’s to-do list. There are also instances where player character hits are not detected, as well as some minor performance issues when too much is happening on the screen. Most of the issues are fairly minor, although the autocompleting sidequests are a bizarre occurrence that happened more than once.
Unlike its predecessor, River City Girls 2 thankfully has a mostly balanced difficulty. While there is a rough difficulty spike with the first boss and some precision jumping, the rest of the bosses are far less strenuous. Players can buy food and clothing for additional stat boosts, with a character’s level capped at thirty. There is definitely encouragement to play the newer characters once a character’s stats are maxed out, but having a higher level cap wouldn’t have necessarily been a bad thing. There are tons of silly sidequests to complete, including a dodgeball variant that is a lot of fun.
Megan McDuffie returns to provide fantastic vocal work throughout every stage of the game. One of the catchiest themes is Ken’s, titled “Better Than You”, which is an addictive pop song that easily worms its way into one’s ears as players move through the Crosstown Mall. Each area of the game has its own vocal track, complementing the stage. There isn’t a single bad tune in the game, and it’s easy to find oneself singing along, or even humming after the game is closed. Visually, River City Girls 2‘s pixel graphics look great, with every character getting a distinctive model, though there is some palette swapping with the enemies. Backgrounds are pleasing to the eye and well detailed, making River City look and feel lived in.
River City Girls 2 is mostly a refinement of the first game, and there’s honestly nothing wrong with that. While there are new characters and stories to enjoy, the core combat and gameplay remain relatively identical. However, some of the quest glitches and the game’s high price point hurt it at launch, making it a tough sell to purchase at full price for what amounts to a ten-hour experience. Even so, River City Girls 2 is a fun game to knock out over a weekend, especially with a good friend, and I hope Wayforward Technologies considers giving Misako, Kyoko, and friends another whacky adventure in the future.
Superb soundtrack
New characters have great move sets
Writing and humour is delightful
Lack of minimap is still a problem
Odd glitches and performance issues along the way
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