izigame.me

First, I want to say I really love HF. I own HF1 with all of the DLCs and enjoy HF1 very much. My review may be picky to some but I write this review with having both HF1 and 2 in mind.
CONS:
The music.
Compared to HF1, the music just doesn't do it for me. It seems very bland. Sounds like the same boring track on repeat. I ended up turning it off and playing HF1 music track in the background instead. In HF1, you could also add your own music in files and play them on the in-game radio. In HF2, the radios don't even work.
Night/Day.
You cannot change the time of day - at all. You cannot sleep in a bed to make it whatever time you want. You also cannot turn off night cycle in settings.. more things missing that are in HF1..
The perks.
Most of the perks are okay I'd say. But they feel lacking. They don't really feel like upgrades. Especially when it comes to spray, painting, etc. More on this below.
Painting.
I am trying so hard to like painting in HF2. I really am trying, but I just can't come to like it. While using your keyboard is a lot easier, it still takes SO MUCH time. You also end up having to re-paint the same areas, which wastes paint, which wastes time/money. It just feels very bad. I can't imagine the frustration console players have with this.
Cleaning.
Even with upgraded perks, I am not a fan of this new spray/rag cleaning. I'd rather have the mop from HF1. The upgraded spray barely makes a difference and even with full upgrades, there is still a delay with spraying the spray. Having to constantly fill up garbage bags and throw them in the dumpster is annoying.
The shop.
Why is everything all over the place? The categories are all over the place and feel chaotic. I go into a room to place furniture and give up half way through to go work on another project. Why are all the categories scattered? You'd think clicking on the "Bathroom Products" category, all of the bathroom decor, etc would be in there right? Wrong. No towels, bathroom soaps, mirrors, etc.
Lack of items.
I realize this is the base game and it just released but there are not many items in the game. There are more food items than there are table lamps, etc.. Barely any doors to choose from.
Surface finishes.
This is what promoted me to finally write a review. I CAN'T stand putting down flooring. It is such a pain in my behind. Even with the FULLY upgraded surface finishing, the area is SO small. Putting down flooring/walling behind items is SO annoying. More than half the time I need to move the items , put down flooring/walling then place the item back. I wish I could place things on an entire wall or even a line. It just feels so, so bad. I am trying to do the exterior of my house and I spend so much time on a small house.
Moving items and placing them together.
I am currently renovating the "Lavender House." The windows above the doors made me realize how bad this feature is. I moved the window above the door so I could paint. After I painted and wanted to move the window back in it's place, it just wouldn't let me. I finally gave up and made some different windows work. Now I'm moving the columns outside where the driveway is.. THE SAME EXACT ONES THAT WERE THERE WHEN I BOUGHT THE HOUSE.. and now I can't move them back after painting/flooring.
Same bugs from HF1 making into HF2.. seriously?
I was picking up garbage from one room, and it kept saying I still had garbage to pick up. The entire room is EMPTY. Nothing at all. There is a basement so I went down there, cleaned up garbage, go back up top.. now says no garbage. If you paint or tile over spots that needed to be cleaned with a rag, you are SOL. It will still tell you that you have a spot to clean. A lot of me falling through walls, not being able to place items, my character getting stuck on items, etc.
No buyers?
I loved the personality and buyers from HF1. Why would you get rid of that? While I'm working on a house to sell, I love having goals/buyers in mind. I don't have anyone to yell at me there's still garbage, or no beds, needs more plants, etc.
I am just so frustrated with these things that I had also encountered in the demo and hoped they would be fixed. Is the game beautiful and fun to play? Sure it is. But it is also so frustrated at the same time. It leaves so much to be desired that HF1 gave. I spent my time typing out all of these CONs that I don't really have much to say that is PRO. It is a really beautiful game, I got the discount for having HF1 and the DLCs - that was really cool. This game has a ton of potential that's for sure. And while I may play this for the time being, I would rather go back to HF1. I expected a lot more from Frozen District. It makes me sad that I'm this disappointed in HF2 when I was so hyped for it.
TL;DR House Flipper 2 is missing a lot of things from HF1 that really made it House Flipper to begin with.
**1/11/24
Wanted to edit my review and say the only reason I put more hours into this game is because of the modded aspect. I recommend anyone reading this to check out mod.io for more jobs/house creations!
**2/15/24
Finally "updated/fixed" saving games.. now it always lags/freezes when it auto-saves. Love the take one step forward and taking 3 backwards strat..
**3/8/24
Image finally adding the ability to change day/night. Now imagine its locked behind a perk and you can't use it in Custom Sandbox games from other players. What a joke. Why couldn't you just copy THE SAME MECHANIC from YOUR OWN first game. Mind boggling. I can't even believe this Spring Update is even being called an update. Did EA take over HF2? Make a sequel game and gut it to the ground then trickle in the QoL things that should have been there in the first place. Yep, sounds like EA's sibling.
I don't know if I'll ever recommend this game unless they give a giant discount. Just go look at their latest game release, Hairdresser Simulator. This company's focus is pushing out mediocre content for a fast cash grab.