It exemplifies a lot of the smaller issues I had with the first game. Exploring the town was probably my favorite part about the first game, despite the fact there weren't many secrets to find. I was hoping SH2 would expand on that aspect but not really. You can go wandering down random dead end streets if you want a couple extra bullets or health drinks, but that's about the extent of it. I enjoyed exploring the town a little more after you leave the hospital I believe, even if it was a brief segment. The major areas in this game honestly aren't much better unfortunately. The apartment and hospital feel largely the same, except the apartment had two puzzles I liked while the hospital loves code puzzles. I got so sick of all of hallways with more and more new doors I had to check. It's something I grew to be more tolerable of by the middle of the game but still I really didn't think much of them. Combat was another thing that wasn't perfect about the first but I found it more satisfying. In SH2 you just bait out an attack from the enemy, back up, move forward then hold the attack button. SH1 also had better enemy variety than this lol, I just think that's kinda sad. I was a little surprised that you don't get any more melee weapons but honestly that's probably for the better. SH1 gave you too many weapons that you aren't even going to use after you get the hammer. The lack of more melee weapons doesn't make me like the combat any better, but it did encourage me to occasionally run past enemies if possible or mow them down with the shotgun. The story was very very good though, especially the finale. I liked the characters too except I still don't understand the deal with Angela. That entirely flew over my head so I'm wondering if I missed something.

Overall I'd say I enjoyed the game slightly more than SH1 but I highly doubt I'll ever replay this game. Sucks to say because I'd like to see the other endings on my own but the areas aren't my favorite and I feel like it just takes too long to get started.