also, yes, i still like this group of kiddos better than the group in the first game. maybe because they mostly treat each other like friends and are actively trying to treat each other like friends (nagito...is a different story, but he's doing his best in his own way) - it's not just makoto running around like we're all friends while everyone else is super suspicious of each other - the fragments are actually friends trying to make each other feel better while they deal with everything - and like. i like them so much better for that.

which is probably supposed to play into the twist re: fragments of despair because then it hurts more when you know that these people were basically junko's peeps, which should be effective! but i already know they're that, and i'm still attached to them.

honestly, other than the teru teru stuff and the compromising mikan stuff in the first case and monokuma consistently and constantly beating up on monomi for shits and giggles. i overall like these parts of the game better.

....

i don't like the mechanics better (i hate the class trials now, and i hate that they're so much longer, and i hate the changes they made to the mechanics, and i'm so glad i finished nagito's ftes because his ability might actually help me in the trials, and i don't like how the monomono machine stuff has been changed ish but it's still usually better to throw one coin in at a time instead of putting a bunch of coins in all at once. mostly).

but i like the characters better, which gets me more invested in the story.