In High on Life 2, your adventure begins with a wild, fast‑paced introduction that blends combat, tutorial objectives, and comedy into one chaotic opening sequence.
You’ll learn controls, pick your first Gatlian weapon, face your first giant monster, complete traversal challenges, participate in bizarre mini‑scenes, and get a dose of the game’s off‑the‑wall story before transitioning into the main campaign.
1. Starting the Game & Difficulty Selection
Talking to Fans
When you launch a new game, you are first prompted to choose a difficulty level. This determines how challenging combat and enemy behavior feel throughout the adventure:
- Story Mode — Easiest; focused on narrative with minimal combat difficulty.
- Easy Mode — Great for newcomers.
- Normal Mode — Balanced combat and progression (recommended for most players).
- Hunter Mode — Harder difficulty for experienced players.
You can always adjust difficulty later in the options menu if combat feels too easy or too tough. This choice mainly impacts damage taken and enemy aggression early on.
2. Intro Cutscene — Chaos in the Streets
High on Life 2 cutscene
Once difficulty is selected, the game throws you right into the action. The world around you erupts in chaos as aliens attack and civilians flee in panic. Giant monsters rampage through the city, and before you know it, you’re swept into a surreal intro montage that cuts to a talk show studio.
3. Talk Show & Face Drawing
Getting on Talk show
On the talk show set, host Jimmy invites you to sit down as a “celebrity bounty hunter.” During this segment, you are asked to draw your own face with crayons. This task doesn’t influence story outcomes; it simply completes the current objective and continues the scene.
Drawing face
Choose a skin tone, add features, and enjoy the absurdity of interacting with talk show props while the world continues to implode outside.
Talk show with Jimmy
4. Choose Your First Gatlians
Sweezy
After the talk show banter, Jimmy asks what you enjoy most about being a bounty hunter. Your response determines which Gatlian (sentient weapon) will be more prominently featured early on:
- “The Fame” → Sweezy
- “The Killing” → Knifey
- “Helping the Galaxy” → Gus
This choice won’t lock you out of weapons later — you’ll still collect all of them — but it affects early voice lines and which Gatlian you interact with first.
Choosing weapons
5. First Giant Monster Encounter — Krogaiger
Krogaiger boss
Immediately after choosing your preference, the giant monster introduced earlier — Krogaiger — returns. Instead of a full boss fight, you’re whisked into the backseat of Gene’s vehicle, who playfully drives you toward a controlled training run. This begins your movement tutorial, teaching you how to navigate the world:
- Sprint (Shift on PC)
- Jump (Spacebar on PC)
- Grapple with Hookbug (E on PC)
You traverse a series of obstacles while Krogaiger ambles nearby, learning vertical movement, momentum, and traversal basics before the next story beat.
6. Obstacle Course Segment
Obstacle course
The game then shifts to a vibrant televised obstacle course while Krogaiger lumbers alongside. This segment focuses on survival and movement mastery, not combat. Carefully timing jumps, using grappling points, and keeping momentum builds your familiarity with traversal mechanics that will be essential later — especially when exploring open areas and chasing targets.
7. Commercial Shoot & Gatlians Practice
Commercial Shoot
Having completed the obstacle run, you’re placed into another eccentric scene where you participate in a commercial shoot. Here you briefly wield Gus, the shotgun‑style Gatlian, to blast floating targets (like product cans) and use its alternate fire to interact with objects around you.
Gus in Film Studio
This serves as your first weapon tutorial, teaching basic firing control, alternate functions, and integrating weapon mechanics beyond simple shooting.
8. “Date With a Star” Segment
Talking to host
In a rapid tonal shift, you’re handed a flower to offer to one of three reality‑show characters in a comical “date” scene. The choice here doesn’t majorly affect gameplay; it’s mostly character flavor entwined with the intro’s humor.
Selecting fan
After making your choice, the game transitions to a family dinner cutscene where your mom comments on Lizzie, linking narrative threads and foreshadowing future motivation.
Dinner with Fan
9. Bounty Cleanup & Knifey Section
Driving with Gene
Following the dinner cutscene, gameplay shifts back into a small combat encounter equipped with Knifey. This section functions like a mini bounty run where you eliminate marked targets scattered around a controlled environment. This teaches melee mechanics, engagement strategy, and prepares you for proper combat encounters.
Using Knifey effectively here primes you for the upcoming, more intense confrontation.
10. Defeat Krogaiger Properly
Defeating Krogaiger
After clearing your bounty targets, Krogaiger reappears — this time for a real fight. Now that you’ve been introduced to movement, weapon use, and combat sequences, you must engage him using your Gatlians:
- Use Sweezy for ranged shots and charged alt‑fire.
- Swap to Gus or Knifey as needed based on range and enemy behavior.
Sweezy attacks
Avoid his powerful attacks while consistently chipping away at his health. Once he’s defeated, the sequence fades back into talk show segments, implying the intro was a stitched‑together prologue montage blending story and gameplay highlights.
Krogaiger body
11. Bounty Hunter Museum — Collect Your Gatlians
Bounty Hunter Museum
Inside the museum, you’ll interact with exhibits, retrieve your full arsenal, and learn how bounties work:
11.1 Collect All Gatlians
Collecting Gus
- Gus can be found waiting in a room nearby — interact with him to pick him up.
- Move into the central area to find Knifey resting on a bench; you’ll hear him comment as you approach.
- Advance to the Journey of a Hero room to locate Sweezy, sitting amid books on another bench.
- After collecting all three, practice weapon swapping, which is essential for mastering combat variety later.
This section familiarizes you with your complete weapon set and how each Gatlian’s abilities can be used in and out of combat.
Knifey
12. House Exhibit & Gene’s Briefing
Bounty Hunter Home
After gathering your weapons, Gene contacts you again. Moving to the House Exhibit triggers additional dialogue that expands on the story and motivation:
- Approach the couch where Gene is resting to initiate conversation.
- Inside this room you’ll see Lizzie on TV, further emphasizing her narrative importance.
- Gene explains that the Bleeding Stars organization is a growing threat and encourages you to take on bounties independently.
This dialogue fleshes out the main plot and reinforces the urgency behind your first real mission.
13. Using the Bounty 5000 Machine
Selecting Lizzie Bounty
Once dialogue concludes, locate the Bounty 5000 machine in the corner of the museum. This device generates and displays active hunt contracts and can open portals to bounty locations:
- Interacting with the machine lets you view all available bounties.
- Face the entry for Lizzie and interact to view her reward and details of her situation.
- Accepting her bounty causes a portal to open, which will teleport you to the next area — Circuit Arcadia Zoo — where your first major campaign mission begins.
The Bounty 5000 is integral to the game’s mission structure and will be how you choose and travel to most bounty targets from now on.
