I love Siren, but I think anyone who shares that love and reveres it as a cult classic will admit that part of why it's so terrifying is often because of its clunkiness and cryptic mission requirements-- it's a game in which one wrong step WILL get your ass beat, and this can genuinely lead to you being paralyzed with fear. This is such a fascinating sequel to me, then, because it's so polished compared to the original Siren, to an extent where I earnestly feel as if it's one of the most well-made PS2-era survival horror games I've played. This does make it a bit less terrifying. First of all, playable characters in Siren 2 seem to have useful weapons more readily available, and from what I noticed, there's less shibitos where running into them is a death sentence (ie. pistol wielding ones), and therefore you can sightjack and stealth a bit less. On top of this, I do think that the Yamibito and Yamirei are less scary than the actual shibito, and they replace them entirely halfway through the game. Maybe this is unpopular, but the Yamibito especially lose their edge once you realize you can just run towards them with your flashlight on and lay into them. Compare this to late-stage shibitos from the first game, which are horrifying and disgusting... not quite the same. Though I do think the designs for the evolved Yamibito are incredibly uncanny. Having said all this... Siren 2 is still scary as shit, lol. These games are so good at just feeling evil, like something you shouldn't be witnessing.
Besides those minor complaints, though, I think this game is fantastic. It has an incredibly eerie and melancholic atmosphere (as to be expected of a Toyama game), and, similar to its predecessor, really neat folklore. Its plot is far more decipherable on a moment-to-moment basis than Siren, while still maintaining that mysterious Siren fever dream storytelling. The settings in the game are memorable as well, with the Bright Win ship, the apartment complex, and the amusement park sticking out as some pretty scary and unique areas. I don't know if it will haunt me as much as the first game (Tomoko Maeda and Miyako's respective fates and, what I consider to be the scariest survival horror moment for me, Harumi Yomoda's Day 2 missions, come to mind), though it DEFINITELY has its moments, but I enjoyed actually playing it more, fwiw. And you can tell they had so much fun making this! All in all, it's another incredible showing from the Siren team-- it's a shame they don't make these anymore!!
My favorites were Ichiko, Akiko, Ikuko, and Soji. I love Soji! I think I would behave the same way if I washed up on Yamijima (bumbling around and whining, confused).

Reviewed on Dec 22, 2023


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