Visual novel I found based around Nick Wilde's past.
Due to it being still in development and hasn't been updated in 6 years at this point, there is only one scene in the entire demo, which is why I wanted to share it to spread the knowledge of this currently abandoned fan-game in case you all wanna check it out and encourage or support the creator's project(s)
First, i would like to give some positives (even if i never managed to rewatch it all the way to the end):
- concepts were actually pretty interesting and suiting to the franchise: srsly, the amount of ideas they tried to cram in like pawbert lynxley and the history of the city is really important to expanding the worldbuilding and lore
- character consistency: i love that judy and nick, despite pretty much being more exaggerated versions of themselves compared to Z1, actually still have understandable motives and character development throughout the sequel, even if their quarrels/arguments can be kinda frustrating to watch (intentional or not)
- aesthetic and style remains faithful to the original: seriously, despite its plot elements being quite different and sometimes drastic, it still keeps the original atmosphere of Z1 (and actually improves the quality even if it’s only slightly)
Now that the positives out of the way, I do want to mention some flaws that I think sort of ruined the movie’s quality and rewatch value compared to the first:
- as most of the fandom already pointed out, the pacing: the fact that there isn’t any really “slow” or “breather” moments to relax and process what happened prior really does make the experience feel really unpredictable, rushed and overstimulating at times
- adding on to the pacing is the overabundance of underdeveloped characters and/or subplots: without a slower pace or room to breathe and process, it really hinders the development and writing of other parts of Z2’s story outside of the main leads’ one (which even flaws gary de snake and pawbert lynxley in such a way that they act and feel more like plot devices than fleshed out characters)
- reliance on fan service: obviously, it being a sequel to an already beloved film, there’s absolutely going to be some to increase profits and engagement, but i feel like with even starting with the teasers and trailers, they really focus and tease on judy and nick’s relationship that it sometimes feels like baiting and leaves out the development of the sequel outside of the protagonists’ side of the story
- less subtlety compared to Z1: i noticed with the sequel that they really don’t hesitate with telling you rather directly about what’s happening on screen and the characters’ motives and reasoning behind why and who they ended up being the people they are now (the most glaring example is Nick Wilde straight up telling bogo, and the audience indirectly, that he acts and thinks the way he does it because of his upbringing; no shit, nicholas holmes, we had the whole previous movie that already showed and hinted to us your life growing up ever since your ranger scouts incident)
Overall, despite trying my best to have an open mind to enjoy the effort and years put into this movie, I feel like they tried pushing in too many things at once in just under 2 hours that it’s clearly obvious the creators and writers wanted to expand the franchise with more than just two movies. But due to the hype and many years after the release of the first movie, they really wanted to make an impression more to the fans already familiar with the source material rather than the general audience.
So unfortunately, id have to give this movie a 6.5/10; good and interesting concepts, yet very clearly too many that they had to rush them all in to reach that 1:30 - 2:00 hour:minute runtime