Rating Mask of Deception on its own is kind of a joke since this is very clear "part one of two" and not meant to stand on its own merits. That being said, it continues to be a really fun chill visual novel mixed with subpar somewhat tedious srpg gameplay like the first game. Much like the first game, it is incredibly of its time. This game could only have been written and released in 2015, the characters and plots are all pastiches of that specific post-sao pre-isekai era of anime and it just feels dated if not bad now. Or at least, I liked that aspect of the original and I'm glad it continued here.

The one part I'd say is really funny is that builds off that is one of the characters is a gay spymaster and this was really the only point in time in otaku culture where you could write a scene where he sexually tortures an opposing spy and not have it be played as a joke. If it was written any more modern, they would have not written the scene for fear of pissing people off, and if it was written any earlier the whole thing would be a very distasteful gag. Funny how that works.