I think a lot of people aren't as satisfied with this game because it doesn't advance the overall Zemuria plotline which is fine by me cause I think some of the best games in the series (Sky 3rd, Zero, Kuro 1) don't or barely do at all anyways. This game feels like more of a Kuro 1.5. Spends time fleshing out characters that needed more screen time in previous games, a little more backstory on Van and teasing about his relationship with Elaine which is pretty nice. Kuro NPCs continue to be PEAK and the sidequests were also consistently great. The gameplay has seen a couple balancing changes which made the game WAY more fun than the first to me.

It's a mess at times especially with it's awful act 3 that should honestly make it lose more points but I had such a good time with it that I don't mind.

If Backloggd had a better scoring system I'd give it like an 8.8 or so but I'm giving it 4.5 stars cause putting it next to Hajimari feels wrong.