A very mixed experience, with lots of highs and lows.
What I particularly liked: Estelle as a character is really convincing in this game and has undergone a tangible development compared to the first game. She seems much more mature and thoughtful, but has retained her lively nature. In general, you get the feeling that she still has a cheerful disposition, but that there is a shadow over everything, which is due to her history with Joshua.
Apart from Estelle, I thought the other characters were also very strong, each old and new character is given depth, a backstory and relevance to the main story. The dialog between certain characters is also very well done and brings you closer to the feelings and thoughts of the characters.
What I found really cool was how dynamically the game reacts to the current party composition. Depending on who is in the current party, you get completely different, VOICED! conversations. It must have been an incredible amount of work to write the right dialog and record the voice lines for each group constellation.
The combat system and music are once again very well-made, little has changed in that regard compared to the first game.
What I didn't like so much: The "enforcers", the antagonists in this game, are truly some of the worst written, most embarrassing, over-the-top anime villains I've had to endure in a long time. Every dialog with these eccentric clowns was pure agony. Unfortunately, you have to fight these nimrods multiple times as they quite typically "take flight" after every fight. In general, this Ourobouros organization was a complete joke. What I liked so much in the previous game, namely the down-to-earth story, unfortunately degenerates into an absolute anime cliché here.
The game also feels extremely stretched out, the first 5 chapters could be discarded without losing anything really relevant in terms of story. Chapter 8 in particular is really overstretched, you run across the entire world again and solve small, meaningless tasks, which I found somewhat unnecessary.
Story-wise, I also found it extremely frustrating that you spend almost the entire game running after the bad guys without really doing anything to thwart their plans. They happily carry out their experiments and put their plans into practice, while you watch and don't actually do anything. Only towards the end do you actually become active.
The fact that you still don't have a map in dungeons, and can't reveal one while exploring, leads to confusion or rather getting lost in the often complicated dungeon design.
Overall, I did like the game. Especially the characters, worldbuilding and dialog carry the overall experience. It's a shame that they drifted into this cliché direction plot-wise, but overall I had fun. SIEG EX MACHINA!!! :D
What I particularly liked: Estelle as a character is really convincing in this game and has undergone a tangible development compared to the first game. She seems much more mature and thoughtful, but has retained her lively nature. In general, you get the feeling that she still has a cheerful disposition, but that there is a shadow over everything, which is due to her history with Joshua.
Apart from Estelle, I thought the other characters were also very strong, each old and new character is given depth, a backstory and relevance to the main story. The dialog between certain characters is also very well done and brings you closer to the feelings and thoughts of the characters.
What I found really cool was how dynamically the game reacts to the current party composition. Depending on who is in the current party, you get completely different, VOICED! conversations. It must have been an incredible amount of work to write the right dialog and record the voice lines for each group constellation.
The combat system and music are once again very well-made, little has changed in that regard compared to the first game.
What I didn't like so much: The "enforcers", the antagonists in this game, are truly some of the worst written, most embarrassing, over-the-top anime villains I've had to endure in a long time. Every dialog with these eccentric clowns was pure agony. Unfortunately, you have to fight these nimrods multiple times as they quite typically "take flight" after every fight. In general, this Ourobouros organization was a complete joke. What I liked so much in the previous game, namely the down-to-earth story, unfortunately degenerates into an absolute anime cliché here.
The game also feels extremely stretched out, the first 5 chapters could be discarded without losing anything really relevant in terms of story. Chapter 8 in particular is really overstretched, you run across the entire world again and solve small, meaningless tasks, which I found somewhat unnecessary.
Story-wise, I also found it extremely frustrating that you spend almost the entire game running after the bad guys without really doing anything to thwart their plans. They happily carry out their experiments and put their plans into practice, while you watch and don't actually do anything. Only towards the end do you actually become active.
The fact that you still don't have a map in dungeons, and can't reveal one while exploring, leads to confusion or rather getting lost in the often complicated dungeon design.
Overall, I did like the game. Especially the characters, worldbuilding and dialog carry the overall experience. It's a shame that they drifted into this cliché direction plot-wise, but overall I had fun. SIEG EX MACHINA!!! :D