Pretty good mystery!! Big fan of the original for its quirky, off-kilter humor & characters with unique world building that made for an interesting murder-mystery adventure-style VN experience.
This sequel delivers exactly that and then some. I think I enjoyed the mystery & character motivations in this one a bit more, but that might be attributed to my unhealthy obsession with Umineko… sometimes the story felt Uminekocore in a way (- guy who has read Umineko once). Just like after finishing the original, I immediately looked up all the VAs & followed the ones I haven’t already been following on Twitter because they gave outstanding performances. Wasn’t expecting to like a couple characters as much as I do, and it’s largely due to the life that the VAs breathed into them.
There are some story elements that I think… are left up to interpretation, but if they make another one I really hope that they follow through with the narrative and bring even more zanier characters to the mix.

I hate all RPGs, but when he,.,

I binged Nocturne right before this one, and despite being the… 11th? SMT RPG (I’m including Pe*sona 3/4/5 and TMS, sorry) I’ve beaten, the gameplay felt FRESH. I was looking forward to playing this one all the time. The way how grinding was distilled into single-use items, the open-ness of the world, the flow of battle, the (sometimes too-)easy-to-use Cathedral of Shadows, music, art blah blah blah
Additionally, the difficulty curve felt just right. When I thought I was steamrolling the game, I would have to spend a good few days to beef up my team and come up with strategies to clear the True Neutral route. One of the better experiences I’ve had with a JRPG! Idk if I’d want to play it again though, lol. That’s why I shot for the true neutral route for my first (and ONLY) play through.
Also… it was kinda missing the “crunchiness” of the UI from IV & IVA… love how the smirk system worked in those ones…