Maggie’s Movies – Second Shot

This game is fun, challenging, filled with drama, jealousy, inspiring characters and the story is really great. It followed up so well with the previous Maggie's Movies game, I was excited to see how this one would be. Not disappointed in the game play or graphics, repeating levels to unlock all the upgraded items was a bit tiring. But overall it's worth getting all the achievements and buying everything you need for that sneaky chameleon Leon, he's really good at hiding and finding him wasn't always easy. I loved how Maggie and Javier had similar experiences when it came to life, especially that Javier sobered up and reconnected with his daughter and how Maggie reconnected with her father in the end. It's a beautiful story that anyone can connect with and relate to, it's also a reminder that nobody can do everything on their own. A great support system in life will make anyone achieve their dreams, you just need your tribe of people that believes in the same dream and this game captivates that experience.

Note: A wonderful friend gifted me a copy of this game. ^^
Let's make a movie! :D
Introduction
Maggie's Movies - Second Shot is a time management game developed by Space Fox Games and published by Jujubee S.A. It is the sequel to Maggie's Movies - Camera, Action!, which is available on Steam. However, you do not need to have played the first game in order to play this one. You take on the role of Maggie, who's directing her first (hopefully) Hollywood blockbuster pirate movie, Immense Darkness. Of course, it isn't easy directing a movie, and she's advised to seek help from Javier, a famous director who has a turbulent personal life. Despite having Javier on board, Maggie starts to question whether he can handle the task, even leaving it upon herself at times to take on multiple tasks. On top of that, she's dealing with personal issues with her dad, who's away frequently on dangerous locations for on-the-scene photos. Yup, it can be quite difficult to take on so many problems at once. :o
With the gameplay, there are a total of 60 story levels and 18 challenge levels. You can choose from among 3 difficulty modes: easy, normal, or expert. (For review purposes, I chose to play in normal mode.) In each level, you have to serve crew members and maybe, assist Javier as he's directing the movie, and depending on how quickly you do so, you can earn up to 3 stars. Also, there's an additional task, such as keeping certain troublemakers away from the set, which earns you a diamond upon successful completion. Diamonds are used to purchase set decorations for Leon.
In addition, each story level has an easter egg in the form of Leon, the chameleon. He's like the mouse in the Delicious - Emily games. Of course, plenty of Steam achievements/in-game trophies are present, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game".
Review
I absolutely love time management games, and I had this game wishlisted for quite a long time. Although I had given up hope that it would actually be released on Steam, it's thanks to Jujubee S.A. that this long-awaited game is finally available. :D
First, I enjoyed the story. It's what I expected from similar games, like Maggie's Movies - Camera, Action! and the Delicious - Emily games and their respective spin-offs. It has its fair share of drama, with Maggie holding on to anger with her dad because he puts himself in dangerous situations without thinking about her feelings and her trials and tribulations in making a successful movie. Other characters have their own problems, too, such as Javier, who's having difficulty being away from his daughter due to an unpleasant divorce, so he turns to alcohol to cope with it. Even though many time management games lightly glance over the story, this one does a wonderful job of expressing an engaging story while having fun gameplay.
As I just mentioned, the gameplay is very fun. The story levels are doable to complete and earn 3 stars, even with the additional diamond task and finding Leon. The challenge levels can definitely be difficult at times. (I'm eyeing that final challenge level. lol) However, they can be done as well, and lots of walkthrough/playthroughs are available if you ever get stuck on one or two levels. If you get stuck on completing levels, then you might need to unlock item upgrades, which is done as Maggie serves crew members their requested items. Also, you can purchase items that helps Maggie run the set more efficiently, such as bringing in more tips and quickly delivering items. I was able to obtain all of the achievements as well. A couple of them may require a bit of grinding, replaying levels as necessary. Especially, the achievement for serving 50 angry customers might require it since I tend to be able to serve customers/clients very quickly, so they rarely ever got angry.
In regards to the art, it has this beautiful, colorful, cartoony style that I like from games of this genre. The sprites and backgrounds are drawn and colored well, and it was enjoyable to watch the opening and ending scenes of each level.
With the music, the tracks are great to listen to. They give off that whole going-to-the-movies feeling, and you can feel the rush and excitement as you follow Maggie in her journey to making a movie.
Conclusion
Overall, would I recommend Maggie's Movies - Second Shot? If you enjoy time management movies and especially, enjoy ones that have an engaging story, want to feel the excitement in creating a movie, and/or want those Steam achievements, then it's worth checking out. I'm happy that this game finally came to Steam, and hopefully, the publisher will release more time management games. ^^
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I had been waiting a long time for this game and I'm loving it so far. The story is good, the game play is smooth, the upgrades are useful and I really like the scenes that play out in the background.