An overall improvement over the first game but still a flawed experience.
The narrative has enough plot twists and interesting characters to keep you going but it's ultimately dragged down by terrible and sometimes nonsensical backtracking segments that stretch out an already long game. Furthermore, even though initially you're able to find your way around easily, it eventually devolves into the same guesswork the first game put you through.
Fortunately, this time around you have a Fortune Teller guiding you in case you get lost as well as the usual Bar conversations. However, if you don't want to add even more backtracking by going to these places, your best bet is to grab a guide.
My absolute favorite thing about this game is the atmosphere and the art direction. Tokyo Millenium's high-tech aesthetic mixed in with traditional religious imagery is a very interesting combo that creates a vibe unmatched within the series and even outside of the series. This is of course enhanced by the soundtrack which is not as energetic as in the first game but still serves its purpose extremely well by going in a more experimental/ambience direction, so to speak.
This is definitely a must-play but it's hard to recommend it knowing how much of a drag in can be. Hopefully one day we get this game translated on the PSX so more people can enjoy it while benefitting from the faster pace of that version.
The narrative has enough plot twists and interesting characters to keep you going but it's ultimately dragged down by terrible and sometimes nonsensical backtracking segments that stretch out an already long game. Furthermore, even though initially you're able to find your way around easily, it eventually devolves into the same guesswork the first game put you through.
Fortunately, this time around you have a Fortune Teller guiding you in case you get lost as well as the usual Bar conversations. However, if you don't want to add even more backtracking by going to these places, your best bet is to grab a guide.
My absolute favorite thing about this game is the atmosphere and the art direction. Tokyo Millenium's high-tech aesthetic mixed in with traditional religious imagery is a very interesting combo that creates a vibe unmatched within the series and even outside of the series. This is of course enhanced by the soundtrack which is not as energetic as in the first game but still serves its purpose extremely well by going in a more experimental/ambience direction, so to speak.
This is definitely a must-play but it's hard to recommend it knowing how much of a drag in can be. Hopefully one day we get this game translated on the PSX so more people can enjoy it while benefitting from the faster pace of that version.