A flawed game, with flawed combat, somewhat mid EN voice acting, and occasionally annoying fourth wall breaks that become excessive very quickly. The story is nothing to write home about, and the characters didn't leave me feeling any kind of way. And yet, for some reason, my hour count won't stop going up. It's got charm. I want to see where the rest of the series takes this; if it gets any better. The potential is undoubtedly there. This is a series that I WANT to call good, and that I WANT to like. So let's see what the future installations hold for me. (That is, after I beat NG+... I really want to go unlock the other characters.)

There is so much that this game does better than the first game, and yet I can't call it a straight upgrade. It's noticeably shorter, the party is oversaturated with several party members with no defining characteristics or uses (this is a problem the first game has as well), several Plans don't ever see use, or get added too late to be of great use... I have a lot of problems with the gameplay side of things, even with the story, too, for as much as I do like it (the entire first game is non-canon? What? Why??). If none of those were present, I'd probably rate this higher than the first game, because this game has:
-Better character writing
-Improved voice acting and direction
-More interesting interactions
-An actually compelling emotional moment (1)

There's so much that I WISH these games would do, yet I know they probably never will because of their nature as technically parody games/too lighthearted to delve into anything below ankle deep writing. I enjoyed my time with this game, but I wish it did more, I wish it did better. Re;Birth2 is unquestionably better than Re;Birth1, but I can't confidently reflect that in the score, which is a shame.

Addendum 7-16-23: After going back into the game in pursuit of the other endings, I actually learned that there are a TON of endings available for the game, on top of there being 2 whole chapters more to the game!!! But each and every one is locked behind absurd grinding activities that are not fun, and haven't been fun for the entire duration of the game. I'm lowering the game from a 3.5 to a 2.5; this really leaves a poor taste in my mouth, because I really want to see the other endings, but I cannot be fucking bothered to do more Shares grinding, and Shares passing. Not when they add at a rate of 2-5% at most each mission... It's so tiresome, and I really don't like this system in the first place... What a sour note.