Rising Star 2
Overview
Let it be known that the developer specifically sought an opinion for Rising Star 2 from someone who enjoys simulation games and is a fan of Rock and/or Heavy Metal. Thankfully ReviewExperts has such an admin in ol' Il Pallino! There hasn’t been many games involving band management in the history of video games, but Rising Star 2 has something imperceptible that many great management sims lack. As expected, the player leads a band by designing the face and body of a musician, and once in game, recruits other band members, buys musical equipment, writes songs, and when enough material is had, the player goes about entering their band in “battle of the bands” competitions and finding gigs in dive bars as a supporting act. With enough popularity, the band can retain a manager who can perform a number of tasks, but the most important in the short term being to find gigs at larger venues, which increases band exposure, leading to more fans and more opportunities to sell merchandise. (Only managers can book shows at theaters and stadiums.) With enough grinding and traveling from city to city starting at the bottom, the player’s band can one day become mega-stars headlining in sold out stadiums.
– Real player with 324.8 hrs in game
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EDIT on 7/8/2021 after 2 likes
Originally, I wrote a review after about 50 hours. In a nutshell, I wrote that it would be a good manager if not for two major mistakes and a gameplay, that unnecessarily makes it too much of a timesink. Since I was ready to give up, I gave it a thumbs down.
Well, I didn’t give up and here we are, 60 hours or so later. I still think, that a single manual save spot in a game like this is unacceptable. I still think, that it is a cardinal design flaw, that the player cannot choose, which effects equipment is used. And I still think that the (in-game) daily routine could be handled better. However, what I came to realize is that the progression of one’s band gets faster, once one hits the mid-game. In fact, I very much appreciate it that there is a noticeable step in between game phases. One has to re-think and re-design strategies. This came as unexpectedly as the original realization that the game has a strong strategic element to begin with.
– Real player with 192.0 hrs in game