I feel that HM1 had a more unique and subtle tone with its storytelling. 2 just goes really hard on the nihilism and the melancholy of the story that it desperately wants gameplay to reflect that (lol killed off screen by silly russian man).
HM2 can get monotonous, frustrating, and depressing, and it drags a lot in its pacing and combat but eh, I still had some fun, I just won't be in a hurry in coming back to it, unlike the first game.

imo DDLC does a pretty tasteless interpretation of depression and suicide. It relies on creepy-pasta tier shock value to get across its themes, and doesn't provide any nuanced exploration as a result. It falls into the trap of being just edgy enough to seem interesting, but not enough to make any meaningful statements. I get that the characters are intentionally one dimensional, but then they are given a complex problem like mental illness to deal with, it just doesn't feel real. I could never get invested in the characters, which made the big moments kinda lose their impact.