HIVESWAP: Act 2

 PC
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No score yet - based on 1 Critic Review

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Cultured Vultures
    Dec 4, 2020
    60
    After three years of development, Hiveswap: Act 2 is just fine. Hopefully the next instalment is stronger and will come earlier than 2023, but we’ll have to wait and see.
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  1. Adventure Gamers
    Nov 25, 2020
    Hiveswap: Act 2 can be a little slow in places and doesn’t take us very far in the overall story, but it’s nevertheless a charming and beautiful point-and-click adventure set in a fully fleshed-out, intriguing alien world.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 6
  3. Negative: 2 out of 6
  1. MagicVegetable
    Dec 4, 2020
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. After a disastrous Kickstarter campaign, a delay of almost 4 years, and the abuse committed by WP employers against the fans ACT 2 finally is on. I waited for this game for a very long time, it was arguably the main that kept me at this fanbase after the dumpster-fire created by Hussie and his team. And now I ask? It was worth it?

    It pains me to say this, but ACT 2 is just a massive disappointment, that, at best is just an incredibly uninteresting and unremarkable point 'n click game and, at worst, an unpolished poorly made mess.

    The gameplay is really boring and sluggish, most of the puzzles are very poorly designed and are either too easy or just so contrived and obscure that you will need a guide in order to figure out what the hell you need to do. The hint system barely helps too. The game also has a lot of backtracking and padding in order to artificially extend its length, there's one part where you legit have to go back to the start of the train for no actual reason and then go back to the last wagon.... why? In another part of the game you have to run a trial to see who stole an illegal book and is legit one of the most frustrating, boring, and excruciatingly painful moments I've ever experienced in gaming, is just so poorly done, so bad, so boring, the amount of leaps of logic and text that they shove down in this Ace Attorney knockoff makes it unbelievably frustrating.

    In terms of the story, the game also falls flat, the overall narrative barely advances and the ending pretty much throws all your progress in the trash because they decided to explode the train out of nowhere, which excessively makes everything that you did worthless as you are not even closer to you destination, which was the very own point of trying to speed up the train. The Friendsim characters are done decently but some of them are really out of character like Tyzias and especially the Purple Bloods, close to the end they pull a Disney Twist villain out of nowhere and make Marvus and everyone else evil and cruel because yes, with the only excuse being "they are purples, of course, yes." Another thing, a minor one, is that the narration of the objects feels really lazy, most of them are short and unfunny and many times they openly copy-paste the dialogue. Few things disappointed me more in my life than giving Skylla a box of dog food and the game saying a generic "Don't be Wasteful" instead of something that would actually be funny or relate with Skylla... you know... like ACT 1 did? ACT 1 narration was tons of fun and had a lot of charm, it helped develop the characters and world, we have more characters interactions here to "compensate", but they often feel dull or not that much interesting.

    The game is also really unpolished in other areas, the animation is choppy as heck and the occasional visual hiccup, I heard about glitches and soft locks here, luckily I didn't ran in neither of them but some people suffered with them.

    Overall, the game was really disappointing and messy. I loved ACT 1 but this one really fell flat on its face, probably because the team behind ACT 1 got fired and the newer writers are the ones that well... worked in modern HS, like the Epilogues, it says by itself. Looking through the credits, no one was actually credited by doing quality control like ACT 1(go do credit by credit compassion and you will see), which once again, shows the corners being cut.
    4/10 Don't Recommend.    … Full Review »
  2. HarryHinderson
    Jan 19, 2021
    4
    Compared to act 1, act 2 is bland, completely throws out the delightful characterizations for the troll call trolls introduced in Friendsim,Compared to act 1, act 2 is bland, completely throws out the delightful characterizations for the troll call trolls introduced in Friendsim, and has tedious miserable puzzles (With one in particular being one of the worst I've played in quite a while). I would not recommend unless you're extremely invested in Hiveswap's plot.… Full Review »
  3. seet_yans
    Dec 14, 2021
    7
    This game was a very pleasant experience!
    Some things of note, including good things, bad things, and a bunch of other things in between
    -    This game was a very pleasant experience!
    Some things of note, including good things, bad things, and a bunch of other things in between
    - Great Soundtrack
    - Charming visuals
    - Great characters
    - Fun puzzles
    - Great characters
    - Much longer than the first act (about 7 hours compared to 3). However, the pacing is a much spottier than in the first one. There are no parts that i found insufferable, but the trial section was a notable drag
    - There is a fairly large section of the game that is heavily inspired by the ace attorney games. Although i found it fun, it definitely wont be everybody's cup of tea. It has little to do with the overall plot, and takes up about about a third of the game.
    - I am understanding with the games spotty pacing though, as it allows joey to get familiar with the basic structure of alternain society, which will in turn likely lead to more genuine characterization later on.
    - Noticeably lower stakes than the first act

    Overall, i found this game very enjoyable, with occasional rough patches. It is definitely worth your time and money, and im hopeful for how act 3 will turn out.    … Full Review »
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