the first game meant a lot to me in so many ways that i was nervous (!) about approaching the sequel. what if the sequel was Cringe? wouldn't that color the first game as kind of Cringe? maybe neku really WOULD have been an unbearable protagonist instead of the kind of person who learns and grows and THAT means (etc, etc etc)
fortunately, the ways this game is mediocre don't taint the first game. the spirit shines through. it just falls apart in execution, with clunky pacing ("make dumb decisions so you can revisit them later"), painful combat (my rsi! my different flavor of pin evolutions! tin pin slammer!), and technical issues all over the map (a is cancel, b is accept; serious lag issues).
at least we got a high quality soundtrack this time!!! the music still rules!!!