pretty disappointing going from 0 to this, it starts off extremely fast, exciting and since i started from 0, following up on the stuff i wanted to see more of the most.

then around the middle it crumbles, the plot shows its age with very inconsequential feeling arcs and an overall lack of focus that lasts until the end. the nishiki, haruka/yumi stuff is great but i really can't say i care much about everything else thats going on. i'm not sure how possible it'd be to rework the scenario more since i havent played the future games, but surely this is not the limit of what could have been done.

gameplay shows its age too, everything here is very fucking tedious. fighting is far from satisfying, and everything you have to do feels like a 3 step process extended to a 10 step one.

the good stuff is strong enough that shines through all the disappointment, and im still very excited to see what the rest of the series has.

this should have leaned way more into being a 0 sequel rather than a 1 remake since 1 sounds like shit and is the root of everything wrong with this.