I was not expecting to like this as much as I did. Some of the lore reveals near the end had me shocked. Great characters and story. Intro takes a little long to get going but it's worth it. The only reasons it's not a higher score are because I would say the ending felt like a very clear higher level than the rest of the game for me, which tells me these games can be even better (as if their scores didn't lol) and there was some odd relationship choices that I have mixed feelings on. Overall, really solid game though.
8.5/10

Improved gameplay from the first game. This one felt a lot more fluid and rewarding to me, and some of the movement abilities you unlock in the later parts of the game are just an absolute joy. Story has me conflicted because it took until the last 1/4 for me to get truly invested, but that last 1/4 was truly some of my favourite Star Wars content in a while. I do feel like the ending is a little rushed and puts its emotional climax on a character we barely know, which is a little baffling to me when the middle of this game really drags (as you are basically shuffling between three different planets over and over again), but I'm willing to see if a third game will change my opinion I guess. Overall, very fun time with a pretty good story
8.5/10

You can really tell the ending was written first and the rest of the game is just trying to get the characters where they need to be for it to happen, but the build-up period is far too slow paced for my liking. Having said that, the final few chapters are by far the most climatic SciAdv has ever been, so that was nice payoff to everything built up, even in Chaos Head and Steins Gate. The ending isn't perfect and definitely needed more time to properly explain things, but it is what it is.
My least fav in the SciAdv (at least mainlines) but still a good time.

In a weird way, the ending is unsatisfying but that's also kinda the point and I really respect that. I had to sit with it for a bit, but it just perfectly fits the story they wanted to tell and nails the themes of the game. While it definitely had some slight meandering along the way, Chaos Child delivers an especially emotionally satisfying story that's unlike almost any other I've played, mixed with the tension and mystery of Chaos Head.

And, I have not lost my weakness to SciAdv poster girls, but this time I truly think they will never write a better character than Serika. Like goddamn.

After finishing both routes, I'd say this is probably a perfect remake to me. The main problems with the Near Side routes were that action was unappealing and Ciel's route was too similar to Arcueid's. Welp, this fixes both of those problems. The actions become an absolute spectacle to watch, while still retaining all the heartfelt moments, while Ciel's route is basically completely changed and gives her character far more to work with.
Not to mention, the production on this is insane. While slightly less cinematic than Mahoyo, the amount of backgrounds and CGs is truly astounding.
My only complaint is really that it's only half the game, but I already know that Red Garden's version of the Maid routes will have me bursting into tears so I'm willing to wait.
10/10

I think this story is something extremely well done when you understand what it is. Going in, I had the mistaken impression that this would be a very mage-focused story, when in reality it's more about this group of teens brought together by fate who struggle with conflicting emotions and take on the trial of self-acceptance. It's a wholly personal tale, where our characters just happen to also be mages. And this theme of conflicting emotions or ideals and sometimes being forced to accept yourself is something that shines through in every single character, and I think that's where this story shines. It knows the story and message it wants to send, and it wholeheartedly uses that as a focus, as opposed to most Nasu works being plot-focused. This is a slow burn, and something that you might only really appreciate once you sit with it, but it is so unabashedly itself that I can't help but love it. My only real criticism is that I do think it drags a bit in the middle chapters, and almost feels like it's padding out time, which did take me out of it for a bit.
And also Alice is amazing
9/10

I will say however, the official translation has to get a 2/10 from me. It is absolutely riddled with typos and spacing issues. I understand this is a sizeable script, but when fan translations such as Tsukihimates are able to put out patches with extremely minimal typos at worst and the official company gives us... this, it's kind of unforgivable. Not to mention some absolutely awful name localizations like Sizuki Sojyuro. I do understand how amazing it is that we got a same day release as Japan, but I very much hope the Eng translations are handled with more care in the future.

I enjoy this game a lot, but I think that's honestly more in spite of what it's actually giving me. The story and characters are very good, I enjoyed them a lot more than I was expecting. I felt this world was much more fleshed out from a story perspective than the recent SMTV, and the characters were definitely much more in-depth.
This game unfortunately fails where SMTV landed for me, in its gameplay. The battle system is essentially a baby mode combining some aspects of the Persona and SMT systems. I did like some of the new ability types, such as Ruin, but it's unfortunately just not complex enough to stay fulfilling through a whole playthrough. The true biggest flaw of the gameplay however is the uninspired dungeon design, both in layout and looks. Barring the final dungeon, every single one of them are dark black walls that are just long hallways. The city is so colourful, but you wouldn't be able to tell from these dungeons. And it's not an aesthetic darkness either, it's just boring to look at and all feels the same.
The Soul Matrix is the worst in this regard with every floor being the exact same, only being broken up by time-wasting teleportation mechanics.
And something that gets more annoying as you go is the QOL choices. In Persona 3, most will agree Tartarus isn't fun but an aspect that makes requests doable is that Shadows run away when you're a higher level than them. This is not the case in SH2, demons will always chase you even when you're 50 levels above them. Another example is that running is a skill that costs MP, where you have to open a menu every minute or so to keep doing it. Very strange design choices all around.

Despite all of my complaints, I did enjoy my time overall with this game and I'm personally happy to have played it. Whether I recommend it or not really depends on how much you can tolerate JRPG garbage. The story and mainly characters were enough for me, but that won't be for everyone. Either way, I had a good time and I loved seeing a talking protagonist in an Atlus game so that's a W in my book.