the vibes are maybe a teensy bit better in the original but aside from the controls being weird (not a big problem since they can be remapped) and the depth perception sometimes feeling off, this game is so peak it's crazy - maybe it's just the autism speaking but playing the game at all just made me feel so happy in a way that's so hard to describe. everything about this bleeds insane amounts of charm, from the ways enemies dance around in battle to the random 2d platformer sections to whatever the fuck happened in the ending and it all just culminates to an experience that means so much to me in spite how little meaning anything in it actually has. play hylics 2!

(one personal little knock; the music has gone from directionless neo-psychedelic post-rock strumming in the first game to direction-ful neo-psychedelic psych rock strumming in this, which although this soundtrack 100% has some great stuff to offer i do prefer what the first was doing. i especially miss how noise rock-y the first game's ost got on tracks like Messy Song - hearing that song for the first time in-game changed me as a human being - but oh well i can live with what this game does)