Agreed. I'm enjoying the game a lot. One of my standouts for games that I've played this year.

I think what I like the most is how streamlined the game is compared to say P5R. That game literally gives me anxiety trying to follow the strict daily schedule and not missed all the timed events. And while P5R does have a better story, it's still way too long winded. SH2 doesn't waste my time.

Also Ringo is literally the best waifu they've ever made, it's not even close.

I've cleared this game, I buy goods, find ways to rip some of the video/audio files, etc. I've cleared P5R, that's it. Though I've got all achievements, the degree of my intention is different compared to SH2.

Ringo was okay, I'd prefer to have more of persona 4/5 styled silent male protagonist.
I think most people prefer that as well, which is why the game bombed.

I LOVE RINGO!

Ringo carries the game hard tbh. After all the patches and QoL improvements it's not a bad time, but its blatantly obvious that this game needed more budget. Having 2 underground railway dungeons one after the other was.... unpleasent. It's a shame too because the actual overworld looks visually really nice, yet you're stuck in drab, boring enviroments most of the gameplay.

I would also chime in that SH2 really has positives. Beyond Ringo, some of the battles I seen really makes one think about how to deal with them mechanically. Especially on Very Hard without using too much stat incenses. Some of the later risky enemies, aion directive targets, ng+ quests, and even some story bosses can be quite entertaining (or even cheap in some cases). I would say the best crafted battle scenarios amongst the SMT games I played.

Downside are the dungeon and quest design. I really dislike teleportation puzzles. Quests are just either fetch items, defeat targets, or kill x enemies with some narrative draped over them. Quests seem so inorganic even when compared to Nocturne.

But all-in-all, I enjoyed SH2. Even the dlc for its ultimate boss. Kudos to whoever figured out Ardha's mechanics. I personally would not be able to without a guide since I always create demons without weaknesses. But it is a really enjoyable battle for me.

RINGO T-H-I-G-H-S!!!!!

As someone who has and played to death SH1 this is a good sequel that keeps the same semi dark undertones and it's supposed to be a sort of.persona x shin megami of sorts to begin with. I love the modern design and flair, the voice acting is good, I would rather demons be party members but the series IS allowed to mix that up, it's not what I want but I also truly expected and feel it's fair that this party dynamic is fine. Also I expected to find the characters tropey but I really like the cast! Demon designs graphically are great, on par with shin megami 5 on switch really, hence the shame we don't see them often. Lots of demons lots of work went into them graphically, but we hardly see them. Still overall I got it on a huge Xmas sale, very happy with it.

the game itself is fun, i love it because it's quite easy and it has FF button
but the constant crash, unreliable auto save, it seals the deals, UNINSTALL!!!

i was trying to get 100% but those problem is too frequent to erode my sanity

I am loving that it is so different than the Persona or SMT games, it's a plus for me. I also love seeing all the incels on here yelling "I luRv r1NG0 oMg My waIFU"

i absolutely love this game. it had the same impact to me that i heard P3 had for others. this game is special to me. it's a shame people so quickly discount it as awful and move on.

SH2 is a top tier game that feels like it was rushed in the middle of development to finish ahead of schedule. The moment I saw how bland the dungeon design was and that the shops aren't even in 3d and just 2d, I could already tell that the sales of SH2 won't be high. The characters are all amazing, though. The first game I played where I liked every single character.

SH2 is basically "Persona in college". It deals with adult problems and overall would be exactly how Persona games would be, if all characters would be adults and only deal with adult problems.

It's actually pretty sad how rushed SH2 feels. Now it's pretty tough to say if people don't buy SH2 because of how rushed the game feels or because Atlus fans aren't into a story for adults.

the problem this game has is late-comer persona fans

Its legit a game where if you just fixed the dungeons you'd be left with a pretty great JRPG. If any Atlus game needed a Royal version it would be this one.

The dungeons are so bad. The final dungeon is pretty good, and should have been the standard for the rest of the game but the rest is just bleh. At a bare minimum you shouldn't be revisiting the same biomes multiple times. Should have felt like you were seeing more unique areas.

Still really enjoyed the game overall. Felt like grown up Persona with a good vibe and an interesting new battle system that feels like a riff on press turn that tries to balance how overpowered hitting weaknesses in normal SMT games can be.

It's a fun game. I love that you can move at your own pace compared to the schedule of persona games. It's a great change up. If more resources were put towards the game I think it would have won over normies. People who have only played P5 might not give this a chance because it is clearly low budget. But Ringo, the world, the progression all feel fantastic. Another great Atlus game imo.