Well damn, they did it.

I dunno how, I really wasn't expecting this to be anywhere even halfway decent after the meanspirited mess of the first game. I bought it, all the same, because I love the concept enough to want to like what it does, but I was so sure it'd leave me just as muddled as Overdose, desperately wishing for a game that could've done what it set out to do better.

And here it is. They did it. They delivered on every bit of promise the first game held. The combat is much better, the side content is actually meaningful, the dungeons are genuinely fun to navigate and have some really neat ideas baked into them, and the music is every bit as stellar as the first game, with not a single dud track in the entire thing.

But it's the writing where this game truly shines. The first game was so meanspirited and hollow, punching down at every opportunity. Caligula 2, meanwhile, is written with so much empathy, with one of the sweetest, most well-considered arcs about gender identity I've seen in a game, and a main cast that I came to truly adore. Sasara, in particular, turned out to be my favorite in the group, with the conclusion of her story helping me come to terms with the somewhat recent passing of a family member. I can't say how much I appreciated that all, really.

Hell, it's so good that it retroactively makes parts of the first game better, calling back to it in ways that drastically up the emotional stakes here and toy with audience expectations really cleverly.

Right through to the last dungeon, I was so ready for the game to fumble something, for it to really remind me why the first game never worked for me. But that never happened. Everything it did was just fantastic, right up until the end.

What a lovely, special game. I can't believe this comes from the exact same writer and director as the first game, but what an incredible example of listening and swearing to do better by the people you've hurt. What an amazing turnaround, truly.

Beat it 3 days ago at like 3 am and had to take some time to process the kino I experienced. Played on a Switch and performance was really great. I always thought that while the first Caligula was pretty good, it wasn't the best it could've been even with the Overdose remake. When I found out they were making a sequel I knew this would be its chance to improve on what they've learnt and really fulfil the potential the game's concept had and they definitely did. This is the fabled adult cast JRPG people want and its a bit sad how it'll fly under the radars of many.

Premise
The game follows a similar premise as the first. You're a high schooler going about life normally when one day you notices a hole in the sky( wow this is Chicken Little ). After that, through a series of events including getting your body hijacked after stepping on a weird train( wow this is Den-O ), you discover that the world you're in, Redo, is fake and is maintained by a virtuadoll, Regret and her band of Musicians. With the help of a friend and another virtuadoll(χ, daughter of μ from the last game) who hijacks your body, you form the Go-Home Club to get back to reality.

Story and Connection to the first game
The story here is a lot better than the first game. In Overdose the story was pretty much just there so that the game could have a reason to expand on the characters and could be a bit formulaic at times. Here though, the quality of the story has improved a lot and not at the expense of the characters either. Caligula 2 breaks out of any formulas the first game had and does its own thing at its own pace and its really great. The only downside of this is that when you get near the end of the game it doesn't actually feel like you're almost done until the final dungeon starts

I hate comparing these games to Persona but the most apt comparison I can think of is P1/2 where you should play 1 before 2 for the best experience but if you don't you'll still have a good time. Caligula 2 was made with newcomers and returning fans in mind so whenever the game talks about something from the previous game it usually comes with an explanation. That said a paragraph of text is not the same as actually experiencing the first game so I'd still recommend playing it.

Characters
Unlike the first game where the residents of Mobius were anyone who was troubled and liked μ's music, the residents of Redo have specific regrets that they can't get over, usually ones quite serious. This is reflected pretty well in your party which comprises of many people who put up a front to avoid talking about their regret.

The Affinity and Character Episode system return from the first game where fighting with your party would increase your affinity with them and this unlocks ranks for the Character Episodes where you get to know more about your party members and eventually discover their regret.

Something cool about the characters is that if you pay attention to their Catharsis Effect designs you're able to figure out some of their deal before they tell you. With some characters its more obvious while with others you might need to think for a bit after they tell you their regret.

Music
Vocal tracks are standouts again, beautifully composed by many famous Japanese guest artists, and this time they get music videos too that are really well animated. These MVs play throughout the game on certain screens and also during battle. When you enter battle, you're surrounded by a circular display of the MV, which combined with the songs masterfully sung by Regret's VA, Arisa Kori, make you feel like you're trapped in a mini domain of the Musicians. Personal highlights are Swap Out, Miss Conductor and XXXX/XX/XX.

The non vocal tracks got an upgrade too. In the first game the OST was decent but not really that memorable but now there are so many great tracks like Rampage, Black Shadow, Regret, Catharsis - Signs/Starting and many others. Special shoutout
to Regret and Rampage though. Regret is such a great and intense theme used for the start menu that I did not expect at all and Rampage is a generic battle theme that's used maybe twice but its just so energetic and stylish that it feels wasted in that role.

Gameplay Part 1(Overview)
You explore dungeons, kill NPCs and defeat bosses like usual, except this game actually has a budget so the dungeons are pretty well designed, even if you don't compare them to the copy paste hallways of Caligula 1 they hold up quite well on their own. Dungeons are great to look at and each have their own gimmick/puzzle that isn't super difficult to figure out meaning progression is pretty smooth.

Combat is turn based but with a twist. Like the first game you set up your character's actions and adjust their timing using the Imaginary Chain system which allows you to preview a few seconds of the fight to see what moves the enemy will make. Adjusting the timing of your attacks lets you dodge enemies and allows you to fine tune the flow so that you deal as much damage as possible. What's cool is that if someone is in your way while you're attacking a target, they also get damaged but this goes both ways so you should be careful

Gameplay Part 2 (new things)
A major change from the first game is that you can't stack 3 actions per character anymore. Instead you get one action per character with somewhat long cool downs. This is meant to push you into using the new χ Jack system which lets the vocaloid living in you interrupt Regret's songs as well as enemy actions to sing her own covers which can have different effects on your party such as increased attack, critical rate, accuracy or defense alongside reducing your cooldown time for actions. Its pretty cool to use χ jack to turn around a desperate moment where you're barely hanging on or to complement an absolute thrashing you may be giving a boss. Either way its a fun system and you get points to upgrade it by defeating bosses and doing Group Quests.

Another new addition to gameplay are graphical effects that play on the floor. It doesn't sound like much but the combat camera in this game is top-down so the devs decided to add information in a stylish manner. When you strike an enemy from its back you get a special green animation with the words "Back Attack", when you use certain skills you get a different animation with their names playing. Its a small addition but combined with the MV displays it makes battles a lot cooler to look at.

Unfortunately despite all the cool new things combat adds as well as old things it improved on, the game is still pretty easy outside of the first two bosses. It's very easy to break bosses by filling their risk meter till it breaks(causes them to take more damage), using a X-Jack (to increase your own damage and reduce cooldown time) and slamming them with powerful skills. If you're playing on Normal definitely fight bosses at Hard or above then swap back to Normal.

Conclusion
Very good game and a worthy sequel to the first that improves on what it set up and stands well on its own. An almost flawless JRPG and my personal Game of The Year (not that there was much competition besides Metroid Dread).

david lynch wishes he could make movies this unsettling, Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse was a pioneer of surreal horror in video games, it basically did everything Silent Hill 2 did but a year later and much more existentially dreadful.

the ghost and the player take turns tormenting mickey as his soul is trapped in an alternate dimension held within his mirror, the mirror, now shattered, must be pieced back together in order to restore the path back to his reality and body. maybe some sort of metaphor, maybe a kids game accidentally made way too unsettling. maybe both! i suspect we will never know.

i appreciated when the game gave me a choice between 2 modes of play: "kids" and "normal"