This game feels like the pinnacle of that one quote that Uchikoshi allegedly said about not trying to make good games, but rather memorable ones. I’m unsure if this game is a masterpiece, garbage, or somewhere in the middle, but it is a game that will stay with me, ironically not as much as the first might. Quick aside, but god bless Uchikoshi for sidelining Falco for Date. Regardless of what shitty things his VA has or hasn’t done, his voice works much better for #89 than Date. The characters are interesting, but many don’t get as much time as I’d like. No character better exemplifies this than Ryuki. Ryuki’s route is a touching story about obsession, mental illness, and the lies we tell to protect those we care about. AND THEN HE’S FUCKING SIDELINED OUT OF HIS OWN GODDAMN GAME(technically he gets the most screen time since Mizuki’s route is split between the two Mizuki’s). The twist of the game is interesting as it’s purely a metatextual shift, none of the characters in the game were under that delusion, only you, the player(Frayer) were. At this point, we can only speculate as to why this decision would be made. The Doylist explanation is that it’s fucking memorable, regardless of how you feel about it. The Watsonian explanation is more complicated but the only explanation that makes any sense to me is that Tokiko did it to fuck with the Frayer so they would create the seam that allows her to ascend to nirvana. Bs aside, NI has some of the best character writing and hands down the best gameplay in any of Uchikoshi’s works… even if the narrative structure and pacing are questionable.