Certainly an upgrade over the first game. Caligula Effect 2 polishes pretty much every aspect of the original and delivers a similarly interesting and unique experience without a lot of the pain. While the combat could still use some speeding up, it's far cleaner than the mess in the first game and ended up being fairly enjoyable. However, they still haven't fixed their obsession with unnecessarily long final dungeons. I really liked the new equipment system where characters gain skills after fighting with certain equips long enough much like in FF9; I find that very addicting. The visuals still aren't up to modern standards but this time it looks like a PS3 game instead of a vita game so it's definitely an improvement and the animations aren't comically stiff anymore. The characters are still full of intrigue and a distinctly human charm, though I do admittedly miss some of the blunt mean-spirited bite the first game's cast had but that's where my boy Kobato steps up to the plate at least. The story is compelling throughout and wraps up very well, particularly with the unique situation surrounding the final boss, though it does feel a tad too similar to the first game's structure at times and the musician scenarios aren't as wacky. I also thoroughly miss having the musician route which was a huge plus for the first game to me. Also the soundtrack is still great but I really wish more of the x songs gave an attack boost so I didn't feel compelled to stick with the first one for 95% of the game.