Best game of the trilogy, it's recommended to play 2 then Nightmares which is not mentioned as much as it should but well, also Nightmares is included if you only buy 2. Don't worry, it'll have sense when the time comes.

The textures clip. Nothing too serious.

Also, the items found in the chests all over the levels are, besides some of the consumables, completely useless. The game allows you to *grow* your own items, easily in +99 variations while the ones you find on the map are their basic variants that only clutter the team’s pouches until the next merchant.

The side quests are absolutely pointless and infuriating. There are only several, very basic types of them: kill x number of enemies, get an x number of certain item (mostly from killing enemies) and go to an x spot on the map. They take a lot of time and the rewards are meaningless. In fact, most of the time I had to go to the inventory and drop a certain amount of items or the game would not let me accept the reward due to the party's holding limit. The worst yet, said quests are given AT THE END of a chapter. This means that instead of completing your quests while you're discovering a new dungeon, you will be forced to return to the floors you've already completed and crawl for another hour or two, hoping for the required enemy to spawn. Just skip the side quests entirely unless you have some form of OCD. In that case, you may consider skipping Mary2 altogether before you fall in love with it and avoiding those completely unnecessary 30 hours or so of running back and forth is no longer an option.

Mary keeps crashing. Quite a lot in some locations, and with seemingly no particular action to trigger it. Just walking the maze of corridors and next thing you know, you're watching the desktop. Hopefully, not after you've been hunting that one rare enemy for that one pointless quest for the last hour. Luckily, the ability to save nearly everywhere somewhat remedies this particular issue if you manage to muster up the patience.

Finally, the pacing is awful. All the relationship - building events are made available by the end of each chapter just like the quests. Consequently, instead of having a balanced experience of dungeoning alternated with character building, you will have to crawl for approximately 10 hours and then read for an hour or two. Unless, of course you are an intelligent person who can time those events and not ingest them all at once. I, obviously, was not.

Having said that, Mary2 was my game of the year 2022. And then close second to Outer Wilds in 2023, which is still a soul-shakingly astounding ♥♥♥♥♥ of a compliment since nothing comes close to Outer Wilds. Except little lady Mary here. And, look at me still playing it in 2024. I am starting to suspect there might be a pattern somewhere here. I knew this series was going to be somewhat unique the moment I saw a Nightmare in the trailer of the first game some years ago, but I’ve never expected how much this game was going to captivate me in the long run. In retrospect, I believe this might have happened because


The game's entire world is this living, feeling, extremely alien, hostile organism with the sole purpose of containing the protagonists, tormenting them and keeping them caged. There is a good explanation for that buried in the game’s lore and I'd absolutely love to discuss it here but my spoiler policy prevents me. Henceforth, accept the fact that the Mary's world is a miraculously dark place, wonderful to witness from a safe distance of the other side of a screen. Places done, humans now. Let me dwell on them for a little while. Theirs dreams, hopes, those things. Their autonomy because


Can you believe they've actually written a fascinating, complex character just with nodding and snoring?

Yep... yep...

And quite an exceptional bosom, but that's beside the point.

The way Mary twists and bends the fable archetypes to create believable characters is insane-good. Red Riding who feels incomplete without her hood. Cinderella saying she is not beautiful and people only think she is because she's hiding behind her extravagant clothes. Snow White with her soul-crushing phobia of mirrors. Everyone being drawn to Little Mermaid's singing.

Don't even get me started on Otsuu and Little Mermaid. The maturity and complexity of their relationship is extraordinary. And full of lovely little details. Just go to Otsuu's inventory and idle for a while. The first thing the Crane'd say is "I wonder what Little Mermaid is doing." Switch to the Mermaid's equipment and wait.

And finally, there's Gretel. Took me approximately 150 hours and two and a half games to grow fond of her. And Hansel. Just like any other family. Strawberries finishing this paragraph off for no reason at all because



I absolutely love the skelter mechanic. Long story short, it's the thing that unconditionally makes the protagonists lose their minds to that all-consuming, overwhelming bloodlust. The discrepancy is fascinating. Watching the quietest, shyest girls of your team screaming in pure euphoria as they harm and mutilate and mangle and murder. And maim. Did I ever tell you my definition of beauty?

Malleability is a big thing. The game's systems let you modify basically everything. The party's skills, equipment, even the dungeons. Mary can be an unbearable slog if you choose poorly. It can be a breeze and a power fantasy if you do it right. It's a roulette if you go in blind since the respec comes at a price and is not available on a whim.

There's also a superb, customizable autopilot feature. Just open the map, select any spot in the dungeon you've already discovered and pour another drink as the party gets there on their own, across several floors if you wish. Terms and conditions may apply.

Then there are the Marchens and Nightmares, the team's enemies. I love the way they look because I absolutely hate it. Honey, sugarcone, sweet pastries and waffles, giant maggots, malformed tissue, blisters and parasites just underneath the skin. Lopsided. Crooked. Very, very pleasant to the eye if you enjoy hurting yourself.

Music is gorgeous, but enough about that because


You don't need to have played the first game to enjoy Mary2.

In fact, a minor spoiler: the entire 70 hours plus long first game is available from the main menu when you finish Mary2. With a bonus, approximately 10 hours long chapter that links the two games together. For free. In times of paid swimsuit DLCs.

What you need is the love for crawling miles upon miles of sprawling dungeons and turning pages upon pages of visual novels. If that's okay with you, dig in. Just bear in mind that this game is an absolute master of unhinged mood swings, from comedy to agony and back, overriding the good ending with a sudden and bitter downer just to set a tiny, fragile, sparkle of hope in waiting.

There is something absolutely wondrous about this fragility. A marvelous spiral of ups and downs, hatred and forgiveness. Misunderstanding, overthinking, second guessing yourself and everyone around, jumping to conclusions, lying with the purest of intentions at heart because


Do with this knowledge whatever you wish, and, as always,

game good