izigame.me

Monster designs were on point, especially the in the non-animated (non live 2d-ed) parts like the first time seeing the departed- I have a few gripes but that's just because I study character design lololol I loved this game, it was worth waiting four years for imo

SPOILERS AHEAD:
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NOTE: All critiques are just my thoughts and are not actually critiques I loved this game this is just me rambling about shi that doesn't matter

Main Spirits:
Hanako's design didn't scare me at all- I was endeared by her. I thought she was a cutie patootie and I wanted to pinch her gooey cheeks she's so cute (I loved her story the most, doomed yuri at its finest) And I personally think Izumi's death scene was the best body horror visual too. Amazing first chapter. (Tbh they could have made her cthulu-esq with pipes coming out from her mouth but I can't complain she is so adorable)
Slit-Mouth Kashima was nice and had a lot of tense moments but they could have gone so much harder on the body horror with her- SHE DISEMBOWELED HERSELF BUT I CAN'T SEE THAT AT ALL IN HER DESIGN!!!! Imagine her entrails only being held in place by scissors that extend from her ribcage and look like her guts are just barely being held in place before spilling out- I dunno, something other than "ooooo she has scissors for legs and shrapnel in between her upper and lower half. Her face was cool though! I loved the story though, and honestly I wish the teacher became a spirit too imagine that. He was such a victim in the entire thing, he just wanted to draw and his students were over there lusting over him. The fact that Kashima's victim(s) weren't current students at the school was a nice change of pace too. Great story for this chapter I loved it.
Mister Kokkuri was kind of a let-down for me. He wasn't scary at all and he wasn't endearing either. He just looked kinda goofy with and without his mask on. They had Izumi's eye out of its socket why couldn't they do that with him? Mushrooms growing and pushing out his eyes so he has a bulging gaze- just looking at him you can feel the pressure behind your eyes. That kind of stuff. He only really scared me when he was up close and straight breathing on me and that was only because the visual effects had him breathing out fart gas (spores but still). They had nature inspired body horror in the first game, so why didn't they do that here? Bulging mushrooms and spores covering his clothes and rifle- I think they really missed out on some incredible body horror here.
I LOVED THE MICHIHO MURDER SCENE!!! No notes, 10/10

Other spirits:
Miho Shinji's spirit is fine, I like the way her ghost moves, but other than that it's just kinda boring- like there's nothing bad about it but there's also nothing too noteworthy tbh. The animation sells it though. (Maybe like...if the scissors were going through her neck and her hands were also pierced on the scissors so it looks like she's choking herself? Maybe her eyes kinda rolling back??? Blood and saliva coming from her mouth maybe? I know she's not the main spirit so she's not gonna be too detailed but I wanted something idk)
Takai (pool spirit) was a nice addition! I like how they circled back to how the victims became spirits with their own problems and grudges but their designs still reflect how they died and the spirit that killed them. I love love love it when character designs incorporate death relating to water by having the body be bloated and sickly it's such a good design trope. You know what would have been the kicker though? The pipes forming a bow on her pigtails as one last "fuck you" from Hanako that would be so sick.
The concept art with the body hanging upside down with the broken(?) arms and bent metal(?) bits attached to the body with the blood dripping down onto the podium went so hard I wish they had more insane body horror elements like in the first game

The Departed:
First design had the best non-animated bits. Their bulbous and fleshy form really freaked me out, especially when first meeting it, I especially love the multiple mouths that, when animated or in a still frame of them moving, get in each other's way. The flaps of flesh the mouths are on fold over the other mouths- ugh it's so good. I also love the hands that meld together ooooggghhhhhhh it's so good.
The second design was...something. The weakest of the four I think. It's just a weird flesh spider with tooth titties and a vaguely vaginal looking middle. As much as I love it leaning into the insectoid nature of the spirit, especially with the fucked up feet, how perfectly round everything other than the limbs are kinda makes me roll my eyes (pun SO intended). It also looks out of place with the other designs since the others lean so heavily into the "two people mushed together" designs. If they wanted to go the weird vaginal insect pregnancy route then it could've been something like (and I'll be keeping the spider imagery) the upper half (the spider's "head") looks like someone laying down, similar to a woman in labor, and looking back at us by literally bending over backwards with their arms being fucked up legs and the arms being connected to the stomach (which is like a pregnant belly- I dunno why they went so hard on the pregnancy imagery when there isn't a lot of talk of babies, just marriage) with another person sort of merged, laying down on the stomach with their arms draped over the side and also acting as legs. They can put the weird talon tits on there too, looking like the teeth are caging the person who is caressing(?) the stomach. Maybe their lower-half has completely merged with the stomach, skin smooth between the bodies with little to no movement because they are ONE. Stick some mouths where their titties were supposed to be and maybe even one big pair of lips (Either or. You know what I mean.) on the back of the person laying on the stomach and boom- fucked up pregnancy spider.
Third design is fine, it's the doll giving birth to a single entity with lots of blood cause what is birth if not a period with a chunk of flesh bigger than usual (I have never been pregnant). BUT GO HARDER INTO THE MOLD AND INSECTS- BE NOT AFRAID OF GORE IT IS YOUR FRIEND IN HORROR DESIGN. A face malformed by mold growing under the skin and stretching it to the point of tearing small holes where you can barely see the dusty mass peeking out. Eyes glossed over and similar to the compound eyes of insects, and a shit ton of eyes at that. Gangly insect limbs poking out of the joints between the human limbs, a spine that looks like a centipede, patches of rotting skin, red veins filled with mold and spores, blotches of black mold punctuated by an insect crawling out of it- the third design for the departed does nothing with the two sprites we see of the possessed Himeko and Michiho who were transformed similar to the gods they were offerings for and I think that's a shame.
The fourth and final design for the departed is very nice, it has the aspects of all three spirits they consumed, they have the wedding veil and the folded yukata- it really wraps things up nicely (pun also so intended)
Other note, I like how the wedding designs for the departed before they died had insects and spores on their dresses and veils/hoods. very nice detail.

Characters:
I wish Himeko and Michiho didn't keep the marking and the white hair respectively- or at least not to the same degree they had when they were possessed by the departed. Like Himeko can keep the marking but make it much smaller- or with Michiho have her hair fading into its natural color (hopefully her natural color wasn't black cause from a character design standpoint making her hair grey wouldn't work and would make her look as if she is still cursed, so maybe a pale brown instead of the grey)
Other than that
I'm in love with Mashita no notes