The story was met with a mixed response, with some critics finding the narrative and characters to be a step backwards from previous installments in the series, while others viewed the writing as an improvement over its predecessors.

These materials can be weaponized (such that Delsin can perform melee attacks or fire projectiles from his fingertips) or used to deftly navigate the game world (such as using neon to dash up buildings).

Several times throughout the story, Delsin finds himself in a scenario where he must make a good or evil choice, such as whether to encourage Conduit vigilante Abigail "Fetch" Walker to stop slaying drug dealers, or to train her to become a more prolific killer.

Delsin's choices manifest in a logo displayed on his jacket and the HUD, which features a blue (good) and red (evil) bird.

[9] A continual streak of either good or evil actions fills up a bar in the HUD, which then lets Delsin perform a powerful finishing move called a Karma Bomb.

[6] Second Son takes place in 2013, seven years after Infamous 2's Conduit protagonist Cole MacGrath sacrifices himself to cure humanity of a plague and destroy the Beast.

Delsin and Reggie encounter three other Conduits: Henry "Hank" Daughtry (David Stanbra), a convict with control over Smoke; Abigail "Fetch" Walker (Laura Bailey), an ex-junkie who uses her Neon powers to hunt down illegal drug dealers in Seattle; and Eugene Sims (Alex Walsh), a reclusive video game addict who uses his Video (digital materialization) powers to save suspected Conduits from the D.U.P.

Reggie catches Delsin vandalizing a billboard in their Salmon Bay hometown, but their subsequent argument is interrupted when a military truck carrying three Conduit prisoners crashes on the Akomish reservation.

[12] Delsin awakens a week later and discovers that Augustine has brutally tortured the rest of the tribe in an unsuccessful bid to gain information.

After breaking through the building's defenses, Delsin confronts Augustine and reveals that he has figured out she staged the escape at Salmon Bay to instill fear in the population and give the D.U.P.

They gave Cerny feedback about how much power a new PlayStation system would require to render their ideal open world, how fast it would be capable of doing so and to what degree of texture detail.

The hardware let developers improve the particle system that lights Delsin's face up while he draws neon power from billboards[28] and add detailed reflections to the game world.

[33] Sucker Punch elected to set Second Son in their hometown of Seattle as they could draw from their personal experiences in the open world's design.

Fleming considered that the city had not been featured in many games prior to Second Son and so would not be "overblown", and felt that Seattle's weather and mixture of "old and new" architecture would make it an interesting setting.

Griesemer called the game world an "abstraction" of Seattle rather than a re-creation since its layout did not suit Second Son's gameplay and required the team to make necessary changes.

[36] Fox felt that smoke helps Delsin deftly navigate the game world by letting him zip up buildings and through enemies.

[36] Griesemer (who previously worked with Bungie on the Halo series)[37] wanted to bring the fluidity of first-person shooters to Second Son's combat.

[30] Producer Brian Fleming found that the graphical effects helped to inform players of the amount of power Delsin possesses.

[34] Second Son's premise is built from the "good ending" of Infamous 2, which sees protagonist Cole MacGrath sacrificing himself to save humanity.

[36] Griesemer felt that taking the Infamous series to the PS4 signified a new era, and that departing from the story of previous games would help them reach new audiences.

[30] The idea to move away from Cole's story came about during pre-production staff meetings, and was confirmed after discussions both internally and with Sony Computer Entertainment.

[38] Harper considered Delsin "full of reckless abandon",[38] the kind of character that would, upon gaining superpowers, jump off a cliff to see what happens.

[53][61] IGN's Vince Ingenito recalled being left "staring slack-jawed" at the visuals and praised the impressive lighting effects in the "beautifully and diversely realized" open world.

[56] Though impressed with the high-definition graphics, PlayStation Official Magazine (OPM)'s David Meikleham cited occasional frame rate dips during intense combat.

[55] Underwhelmed with the opening chapter's "skittish" parkour, Edge noted the game became more fun when Delsin gained powers and reached Seattle.

[6] Polygon's Phillip Kollar favored neon, but noted the balance and variety between all sets made combat "a hell of a lot of fun".

[60] Eurogamer's Welsh found the combat imperfect yet fun and thought the skill upgrades made minimal difference to gameplay.

He found Troy Baker's performance "[imbued] with a charm and youthful abandon that keeps it from feeling tropey [sic] or overwrought", but thought supporting characters like Fetch were underdeveloped and the narrative too straightforward.

[6] He found the system redundant because Delsin's power peaked when he strictly adhered to good or evil play-styles, rather than crossing in-between.

[64] Infamous Second Son sold over a million units within nine days of its release, making it one of the best-selling PlayStation 4 games, as well as the fastest-selling installment in the series.