i have a lot of respect for this game for jumping straight into the insanity of 999's final act with zero hesitation. it uses things set up in 999 to their full advantage - and it leads to so many fun, interesting narrative moments. puzzles are better, characters a lot better, the story is much more interesting, and the genuine mystery of it all makes this just a delightful experience. what i will say is that it does have its fair share of bullshit (some "locks" feel pretty arbitrary) and i won't lie, the ending did kind of lose me. it felt like it jumped the shark a bit with one too many twists and it did sour my opinion of the game a bit i think. oh well