As someone who adores Pocket Mirror, it is incredibly hard for me to say that this is a million steps upwards from it in every way but...I think it is without a doubt. LGTS is beautiful. That much is clear from even a quick glance at it. There's the 90s anime aesthetic, but it grabs from a ton of other styles and will constantly introduce newly themed sections. Crude drawings, the main character portraits, sections focused on the folktale theming, there are quite a few genres and design styles celebrated and I loved every minute of it.

I also found myself enjoying most of the puzzles significantly more than in PM, though I'm not confident that I'd be able to give a specific reason why. Some of them felt more cleverly thought out, but also easy enough for my dumb brain to comprehend so that I won't be wandering through the same area for hours. Then the implementation of strategy, managing hunger, romance, suspicion, etc...it was all very good at keeping every day engaging.

Same for the story, which is absolutely miles better than it was in Pocket Mirror (at least in execution). I'm glad for it, too. Gone are the days where you would have to read into every piece of evidence before being explicitly told what was going on at the very end of the game. There was a steady pace, characters I enjoyed seeing interact (the romance is peak btw), and both the options for a very depressing conclusion/bridge into Pocket Mirror, or a much brighter new world alongside one of Elise's partners. I think this game was well worth the wait and I'm glad to have experienced it. To be honest I reaaalllly hope they revisit Pocket Mirror a THIRD time...or at least do something with the characters in it (perhaps another sequel?) because I think they would absolutely thrive in an environment like the one LGTS has.