DR2 is a true sequel, it is basically DR1 but with improvements to gameplay (such as better survivor AI) and just more content overall. making combo weapons is really fun. awesome game, chuck greene is such a fun character
Dead Rising 2 and Off the Record are okay titles, but I don't think they're as good as the first game. A big reason is because of the combo cards. In the first game, anything you come across can potentially be helpful, especially if you're brand new to the series. Sure, eventually you might have picked up a playstyle you prefer or remembered where certain preferred weapons may be located, but everything is still pretty viable.
In 2 and OTR, combo cards essentially replace any and all weapons because they give you more PP for their kills, so why use anything else but them? It was a good gimmick, but that's all it was. It kind of ruined part of the charm of what made the first game so fun.
assuming you are an average player going in blind, you wont get all the combo cards and you wont have the gear to make most of the weapons. for me it happened fairly organically as i played.
and when it doesnt... let's be real here, if you played the first game you know how many people, before a boss fight or big story mission, would head over to the gun store and pick up rifles, swords, etc. it's the same concept, only you can craft stuff now.
Except it's really not, because you still get more PP for every kill you perform using combo cards. Why would you ever use anything else? Plus, I'm pretty sure they deal more damage on a whole anyways, and are better as a sum than they ever are separate. Why would you keep a sledgehammer and a fire ax in your inventory, wasting two slots for weapons that are fairly cumbersome, when you can combine them to fit into one slot and unleash a spin attack that makes for a devastating AoE effect?
I mean, the same thing applies to Dead Rising 1, why would you need anything else when you can just grab the small chainsaw/katana, a lead pipe, and a shotgun, stack a few magazines and have them last the whole game?
Because everything you could pick up was viable or fit the tone the game was going for. You're stuck in a mall, use whatever isn't nailed down to survive. It worked. And yeah, I acknowledge that after a while you'll remember the locations for weapons you might like/work for you, but at least you don't have the overwhelming gimmick of combo cards to diminish the value of literally everything else you can pick up in the game.
Eh, not really. Other than the obvious blunt and sharp objects and firearms (and some secret joke weapons like the salmon) the majority of weapons are practically useless and won't help at all in clearing zombies or beating psychos, and are just there to goof around, something you can also do with DR2. Also, a lot of the combo weapons are jokes and less useful than ordinary weapons too (air horn and boomstick compared with a shotgun or pitchfork by itself, the fire axe is faster and easier to use than the defiler) I mean, I can kind of see your point but I don't think this minor aspect really overrides the sheer amount of content and things to do in DR2 and the extra creativity in DR2. ---