Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer review

The detective is genuinely born

Put maine successful the campy of constituent and click aficionados who fiercely judge that 1993's Gabriel Knight: Sins Of The Fathers is 1 of the champion escapade games to ever interaction a PC. First successful a trilogy of thriller mysteries, it featured penning that was a chopped supra Sierra On-Line's accustomed fare, puzzles that veered connected the broadside of sensible investigations alternatively than satellite logic, and a glorious bastard of a Cajun protagonist.

The Kathy Rain bid owes overmuch to Gabriel Knight. Swap the '90s-era New Orleans writer for a '90s-era biker chick/journalism student, regenerate the voodoo killings with a conspiracy involving the decease of a grandparent, and you person the archetypal Kathy Rain, which was released successful 2016 and boasted the generic-but-still-memorable tagline: "A Detective is Born". But contempt receiving just praise from John backmost successful the day, Kathy's archetypal outing had a murky crippled astir cults, trauma, tiny municipality disappearances, and Elder Gods that was lone made understandable via a spruced up Director's Cut successful 2021. Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer, I'm blessed to report, needs nary specified re-release, though anyone who hasn't completed the archetypal crippled is bound to inactive beryllium a small confused.

Kathy and the metropolis of Kassidy some consciousness decidedly Midwestern, which is simply a chill accomplishment fixed this crippled was developed successful Sweden. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Clifftop Games

The sequel begins with a recap of the Director's Cut, formally canonising it arsenic the definitive mentation of Kathy's past escapade successful Conwell Springs. Three years aft that incident, Kathy is older, wiser, and surviving successful the mean made-up metropolis of Kassidy. She's struggling to support the lights connected astatine her PI office, Rain Investigations, until her mentor lets her cognize that a $200,000 reward is retired for accusation pertaining to a serial slayer dubbed the "Soothsayer." After deciding to hunt the killer, Kathy hooks up with her Christian roommate Eileen (the brace are a beauteous unusual couple) and learns that the Soothsayer is connected to the events of Conwell Springs.

Like the archetypal game, expect Kathy Rain 2 to diagnostic immoderate amazingly creepy moments, not to notation a chrome dome successful a suit. (Why are america baldies ever the baddies?) | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Clifftop Games

The crippled is much assured successful its presumption than Kathy Rain 1, which often seemed unsure of what to bash with its supernatural elements, and took a nosedive into Twin Peaks territory successful the eleventh hr aft mostly playing it straight. Here, the David Lynch surrealism and dashes of Silent Hill fearfulness are people woven into the communicative astatine the extremity of each in-game day, which typically reason with Kathy experiencing vivid nightmares that diagnostic the Crimson One, a burgundy-suited baldie who talks successful riddles. These scenes are connective insubstantial that marque the hunt for the Soothsayer much engaging and sidestep each of the "Huh, what's going on?" questions that the archetypal crippled presented.

The methods of your probe lucifer Gabriel Knight: Sins Of The Fathers, but with the minimal interface of a precocious '90s LucasArts crippled - Full Throttle, for instance. (For those wondering if this is much Sierra oregon LucasArts erstwhile it comes to deaths, cognize that you can die, but doing truthful conscionable fades the surface to white, sending you backmost to wherever you were.) The bulk of your activities are modular constituent and click worldly - chat with folks, prime up items, usage items to lick puzzles to advancement further. Whenever Kathy speaks to an NPC, the well-penned dialog and wide breadth of topics are highly engaging, and there's an elegant strategy successful spot wherever you tin inquire folks astir worldly successful your inventory and objects successful the contiguous environment, prompting a immense assortment of answers.

I volition present proceed to inquire this woman everything she knows astir serial killers and each different topics nether the sun. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Clifftop Games

Roundabout, overly-complicated puzzle sequences spell hand-in-hand with the escapade genre, but astir of Kathy's challenges tin beryllium solved by clicking connected the close hotspots oregon exhausting inventory combinations. There are a fewer sequences that veer towards filler (ie, handing an NPC the close bid of tools to assistance them hole their car), but astir are nicely inspired, similar composing the close haiku to impressment the proprietor of a poesy club. There are 2 particularly tricky (and precise '90s) puzzles that impact hacking a machine and deciphering pager codes, but they're inactive easier than that infinitesimal successful Sins Of The Fathers wherever Gabriel had to decipher voodoo-speak connected the broadside of a tomb to find a concealed cult hiding spot successful a bayou.

Haikus and hacking, my 2 fave hobbies. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Clifftop Games

Your travel is illustrated by immoderate of the champion pixel creation I've seen successful a constituent and click game, and the lighting effects that drench Kathy erstwhile she walks nether Kassidy's neon signs marque maine consciousness similar I'm surviving successful a parallel timeline wherever Gabriel Knight continued to clasp 2D for consequent mysteries alternatively of FMV and clunky aboriginal 3D. The dependable acting gets the occupation done nicely (Kathy and Eileen's actors from the archetypal crippled marque a invited return), portion Daniel Kobylarz's people provides a semi-melodic, semi-atmospheric vibe that that I tin perceive to portion penning this review, which is overmuch appreciated. Check retired the OST connected YouTube if you attraction - the main representation taxable that plays arsenic Kathy's riding done municipality connected her hog truly gets maine going.

Driving done the city, the upwind successful my hair. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Clifftop Games

All of these facets weave unneurotic to marque Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer 1 of the astir engrossing adventures I've played successful a agelong while. It's heavy reliant connected extending the communicative of its forebear, however, and similar the Kathy Rain 1 Director's Cut, galore of its much absorbing twists and turns beryllium to robust retired the unsmooth patches of crippled from the archetypal game. But sequels don't needfully request to beryllium afloat standalone experiences, and you can astir apt blast done some Kathy Rain 1 and 2 successful the span of agelong weekend. If that sounds favourable, springiness Kathy a go. A detective has so been born, and arsenic a femme Gabriel Knight, she carries the torch of a niche genre successful good form.

This reappraisal is based connected a reappraisal physique of the crippled provided by the developer.

Disclosure: I tested a beta for Kathy Rain 2 astatine the commencement of 2025.