Death Mark II brings us back to the spirit hunter series' trademark creepiness. While its highs never touch those of NG, or probably even the original, this game does spin an enjoyable mystery. I enjoyed this game myself, but I had a few gripes, most of which are probably explained when finding out the game was crowd funded. The first entry did get decent sales in its release, and NG, less so. I think given the stats, it's pretty cool a third game was released. That said, placing the game entirely in the school makes some sense given the overarching narrative, but I found the variety of creepy locales lacking. Schools are overdone, and I couldn't help compare to Another or Corpse Party. I wasn't really too into the running around aspect, but I think it does make sense--I remember becoming annoyed with some of the circular backtracking in the dungeon crawling way it was handled in the first two entries. So I think this is an improvement in gameplay held back by the budget. It could've had more atmosphere, I think. I think this style is almost too cute, contrasting with the horrible deaths & grotesque things this series is known for.

I wanted to like this game a lot more, but just can't. The story is interesting, I like the odd combo of investigating + action game. The grading system is the number 1 thing that doesn't work at all imo. It only really rewards you for forcing you to go through a strict set of actions, whereas something like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry is more expressive in your combos & allows you to experiment and make yourself better--it really doesn't matter if you are good or get better, because you get a top mark just for using every different monster at your disposal. I found this extremely irksome. The game also goes a bit too far in trying to be everything at once. The stealth segments weren't fully baked & just weren't really any fun compared to other parts. The final boss was super epic, really enjoyed that, and the cast was cool. Overall I just think it falls short of its potential.