Again, I have little VN experince so most of my takes are from someone who's barely played a VN before so I really don't know whats standard or unique here.

I played Chapter 1 unmodded, though for Chapter 2 I decided to use the mods since I thought I might as well, I didn't plan on changing any of the settings but I saw some reccomendations to at least mod it anyway and I am so so so glad I did. First of all after seeing how amazing the console sprites looked I instantly turned on the remake sprites because god damm are they ugly, I said in my review of the first that I liked them, but now they've just lost everything I liked about them, the console sprites are the absoloute best of both sets of sprites. They look really good and are able to express personality and feelings like the remake and they actually look normal and well designed because after looking at steam sprites now, they're all way too "generic"? I suppose, very generic deafult anime looking sprites, which I mean maybe you could say about the console sprites as well, I jsut vastly prefer that style which I guess I always have anyway but still. OG sprites I struggle to take seriously, proportions are wack and the facial experssions all kinda blend into one. Remake seems way too sexualised as well in alot as well as looking really bland. While Console just looks amazing I love it. If I had any complaint at all, it would be that Shions sprite, while I actually really love it and the design is really good, the differnce in style with her og and console sprite for her casual outfit seems pretty big. Like og outfit she wears gives off a compltely differnet impression than her console outfit, but apart from that ehhh & I still prefer he console sprite, and I suppose it fits her more anyway, which is maybe why they did it huh.

I like the first chapter bettter, this chapter was still real good but it defintley felt weaker than the first. I wouldn't say theres a exact reason it just doesn't feel as strong as the first chapter. I felt the spooky stuff took a while to kick in, which honestly I don't mind and I like the slice of life stuff but it defintley gives off such a differnt feel when you then remember the first chapter, though it's super cool having that knoweldge and also how the game kind hints at stuff in ways that play on knoweldge, like how Keiichi mentions the needle and stuff, nothing groundbreaking but good all the same.

I gotta say I actually like Mion less now than I did in the first chapter, and no it's not because of evil stuff because like at this point I'm 100% sure everyone is going to do something evil, like I'm sure at some point Keiichis dad or Ooshi or something is going to go all evil mode (jk, mostly) so I'm not botherd by that and if anything it adds alot to the characters and makes them more interesting, it's just that idk Mion felt alot more unlikeable, which maybe is the point? but her thing with the doll seems kinda petty (which again might be the point that I'm missing here) but in normal life mode Mion is more unlikeable though Mion being like the Dragon of Dojima or something here is unexepected but funny. Either way I still like Mion, but not a a character I'm super interested in or love or anything. However Rena and Shion are great, I really love their characters here, and I defintely find it interesting how Rena doesn't go into evil mode here and instead is more bordering on the edge because there are times that feel like she will but she never does, which is cool. Shion I disliked at first and thought she was super boring, but basically everything after the reveal that Shion are Mion are indeed differnt people I ended up really liking Shion. honestly after the episode in the storehouse I ended up really liking Shion, which I mean she doesn't get much time after that point because you know prison mode, but still I found her super interetsing and her dynamic with Keiichi is probabbly my favourite in the whole cast. Either way excited to see what happens with her and why she's actually also evil and is going to remove all of Keiichis bones or something idk.

Rika I kinda ended up liking more and I'm curious to see where her charcter goes since I kinda felt nothing about her in the first chapter she just kinda seemed like a character with not much intersting going on there, which I do get the chapter wasn't about her but still. Satoko is still kinda a nothing character though, I don't have any real thoughts on her.

Ooshi is cool and I love the contrast with his relation to Keiichi here, seeing Keiichi be more wary and hating him here compared to Ooshi being his lifeline and only thing keeping him sane in Ch1 is super cool to see. Speaking of Chapter 1, I quite like how in the first chapter Keiichi was completely alienated at that the end and that everyone was agaisnt him and now in chapter 2, Rena was basically one of the few on his side, which I guess kinda goes along with how she said she wanted to protect him in Chapter 1? somehow idk she's crazy.

Since I played modded I also tested out the OG music since I had no idea that they even changed the music, and yeah it's defintely better. Theres like 1 track I think I like the steam version more but I couldn't tell you the name, despite the mod having the cool thing of telling you what the song is called, but one of the songs that plays when describing the spooky stuff but not in actual spooky mode, one of those ones. Paris no Gogo slaps maybe my fav from the OG ost compared to the steam versions. Also I very much have to comment, why the hell is there a track called facisim, like huh? and what does that have to do with evil demon Mion, it's a banger aswell I love that song now but like Facisim? (lovely)

I gotta say I adored the sound effects in the first chapter, hearing that creepy piano when spooky stuff happens got me in the mood for spooky stuff, but now I gotta say it's just funny. They play that piano sting so much it's kinda lost all meaning it still works occasionaly but hearing that god damm piano being drowned out by the much louder music is funny. Every other sound works pretty well though, though the sound of the stun gun being just like a bomb? is funnny.

In terms of my fav episode it's defintley the storehouse one, that got me pretty scared despite not much ultimatley happening (in the moment at least) but the atmosphere was really good there.

Also reminded me, the background I actually much prefer the OG backgrounds, I still use the special screens (whatever they are called) but I much prefer the real life pictures they use, they add such a strange scary atmosphere & I adore it. The console backgrounds look great but they don't capture the same feeling.

Ultimatley I gotta say I didn't find this chapter nearly as scary as Chapter 1, the stuff with Rena & the I'm sorry isn't beaten here. Nothing really comes close to the atmosphere there other than the storehouse I suppose. Maybe because here Keiichi had allys (even if techinaclly Shion was in prison etc) but in Chapter 1 felt so alone just a very differnt feeling, which isn't inherntaly bad or anything. Either way I still somehow have been adoring what I've read/played of these games, excited to continue. Shion better be more prominet I really like her. Also Keiichi is just cool which from a VN protag I didn't really expect but I like him, especially his own battles convincing himself to trust and not trust his "friends" it's cool. Final thing I have to say I think is that I'm not sure if it was the mod or something but the translation seemed ever so slightly stranger, mostly things like Renas repetion qurck that she has wasn't something I really remember being as prominet in Chapter 1, or Oochi strange laugh because alot of stuff clearly doesn't translate super well or just sounds a bit strange over text.Which actually leads me to the real final thing is that despite having the option to use VA I decided to turn it off because well the OG didn't have it and I'm using the script that's closest to the OG so I decided just not to use it, from what I heard the performaces all sound pretty good, and when I decide to replay the series I'll defintley give them a shot, I mostly used them to hear some pronounciations, like Renas name (just wanted to know if the way I've been pronouncing/reading them was correct).


Overall really liked, steam sprites stink and are kinda repulsive after using the console sprites, Shions really cool and it's all pretty well written.

I wouldn't really say I have any issues that are too big with this one

Accompaniment: Televisions by Current Joys

It's becoming more clear that attempting to treat these chapters as if they were their own self-contained entity is folly, but I think I'm still able to say a few words on it as its own story.

For one thing, it's obvious that you should be playing Chapter 1 first to get introduced to all the characters and put you in the right mindset, but besides that I found Chapter 2 to be a heartbreakingly sorrowful tale of a best friend losing her state of mind to a powerful demon. While Chapter 1 is meant to make the reader feel paranoid, Chapter 2 sends them in a state of denial with you learning so much about one particular character and just how deep their emotions and sins go.

Watanagashi stands head-and-shoulders above Onikakushi for me, and earns the oh-so coveted title of Alliecore for one particular reason, and that's Mion's struggle with identity. When Mion first mentioned that sometimes she wonders why she wasn't born as a boy, I joked about it with my friend going like "Mion trans arc??? Based Ryukishi07???" But then the story went on. And as it went on, her struggles with femininity became more than just a simple line and I found myself relating heavily to that.

Mion is for the most part a tomboy, but as Rena mentions, she has an unseen feminine side. I may be different in that I am a trans woman, but I have trouble expressing that I am that. I myself do prefer androgynous clothing simply because it's easy to wear and comfortable, but that means that my identity is invisible to the naked eye of the random observer. The pain I feel in never getting to be called miss or ma'am is enough to break me into tears at night. Especially when my own family thinks I don't make sense. That pain rivals what Mion feels when Keiichi treats her as a boy. While she has different reasons for feeling pain (namely, romantic interest), the message is the same. It's not that she's blaming Keiichi for not treating her the way she wanted, but it doesn't take away from the fact that she's hurt and she wants him to know the pain she feels. I don't want to blame anybody either for their ignorance, but sometimes it's a bit hard when I give clues like my trans-designed sweatshirt or a pin showing my pronouns.

Another point of emotional pain I sustained within this scenario was Keiichi trying to give the doll to Mion after she was fully consumed by her demon. After finally recognizing her and him trying to make up for his blindness, it's too late. Mion stabs him and he drops the doll, soaking it in a pool of its own blood. The doll is a representation of Keiichi seeing Mion for what she is, and it being ruined by blood is a ruin of that perception, the beauty of caring for a best friend marred by the blood of a relentless evil.

I compare that scene to my current state of mind, my deep desires to cut contact off from my non-understanding family and friends that have greatly hurt me clashing against my meek and forgiving personality not wanting to go through with it. I fear that Watanagashi is a reflection of my intrusive thoughts and what happens when they fester. In my case, it is the desire to hurt with words, and with the intensity of hammering 30 nails into one's fingers.

I'll talk real quick about the horror. Definitely not as unsettling as Chapter 1, maybe because I could sort of expect what was to come this time around but the CGs of Mion going insane are going to keep me up at night lmaooo.

Everything just made me yearn much more to want to have a good ending for everyone. But at the same time, I'm also hoping the Chapters 3 and 4 live up to the attachment that Watanagashi had for me towards Mion. I'm also hoping, like, the ending isn't terrible either because this is a goddamn 60 hour time investment and I would be FURIOUS if the ending sucked lmao. Also I find Keiichi to be a massive shithead. I hope future chapters show him growing as a character. But, overall, still very much into this series and I can't wait to finish it!