11.7 hours played
Written 1 year and 10 months ago
This is a lesson on how to ruin a good story in a few steps.
[h1] Introduction [/h1]
This is the sequel of the first Ne no Kami series, and I have to say I'm thoroughly dissapointed in various levels. I'll explain why in the following paragraphs.
[h1] Worldbuilding, or how to nuke believability [/h1]
The worldbuilding of this game is utterly broken. Even when the fact that the rules of the divine sword wielders reimaned consistent, the introduction of a completely different mythology into the worldbuliding elements came out of the blue, and it was never foreshadowed at all. Worldbuilding elements, especially new ones, just like plot payoffs and character payoffs, need proper setups, so the relation cause-effect doesn't break, thus maintaining the suspension of disbelief on the reader. The introduction of a foreign mythology with no foreshadowing destroyed any sense of believeability this story had, and took me out of the story completely. I think this was introduced at the last minute, because of how disjointed it is. My best guess is that the writers tried to subvert expectations for shock value instead of trying to build a consistent and believeable world. From a storytelling perspective, it's a disaster.
[h1] The plot [/h1]
Suprisingly, the plot was the least damaged element of this game, if at all. Most setups and payoffs were on point, and characters made good decisions overall. There are some conveniences, but every story have them, so it's not a big issue. It's surprising how the writers could keep track of the many setups to give satisfying payoffs, but not realize that introducing foreign mythology with no setup would damage the story this badly. I'm honestly baffled by this dicothomy. That said, I detected some tonal mishaps but nothing very damaging, and the pacing was overall good.
[h1] The characters (or how not to subvert expectations) [/h1]
I praised the job the writers did with Len as a character, but they damaged her in the very first minutes of reading. At the end of the first game, the writers created certain expectations that could lead to an interesting and compelling character arc for Len, but that was completely ruined by how the writers handled Len at the start of this story. It's obvious that they tried to subvert expectations once again, but they failed, yet again. When subverting expectations, the writers are required to provide something equal or better than the thing the audience expected, but that was not the case. That was just a cheap way to create investment on the reader, making them think that Len would go through an exciting character arc, when they provided nothing. And in the effort to subvert expectations, the writers obliterated any sense of tension from that scene. Fortunately, that was the only real issue with her. From the starting scene onwards, Len remained consistent with what she was in the first game. Shinonome and Uzume remained unchanged and undamaged, and Ruka got the development she needed. I honestly thought that she was only around to be Shinonome's love interest.
[h1] Artistic and technical elements [/h1]
Not much to say here. Art direction, character artstyle, sound effects, music, performance and voice acting remained the same, with no improvement or regression. H-scenes still have no mosaiques, so girl on girl action remains as untarnished and lewd as the first game (which is a great thing, by the way).
In conclusion:
[b] Pros: [/b]
-The plot was solid, all things considered.
-Ruka got the development she needed.
-Still spicy girl on girl action.
[b] Cons: [/b]
-The worldbuilding was completely broken.
-Shockingly bad writing choices for Len as a character.
-The writers' need to subvert expectations instead of achieving cohesive storytelling.
If I have to summarize my experience with this game in one sentence, that would be "a perfect example on how not to subvert expectations". Subverting expectations is hard, and relies on the writers knowing their audience and what are their expectations for the story or for a given character. It's really hard to do, and it's not advisable to do, unless you know exactly what you are doing. Personally, I prefer to write soild plots and consistent worlds and characters over trying to surprise them, especially when I'm an aspiring writer. That said, I'm honestly disappointed by how the writers handled Len and the worldbuilding elements for the reasons I explained during this review, so I have the painful duty to not recommend this game if you care about internal consistency and meaningful character arcs. But hey, the yuri was good.
