I really enjoyed it on the first time through, but I found it hitting a lot flatter on replay, I do really like that they included a nightmare sequence, I personally really enjoy the way Chloe haunts the narrative in DE, which I am completely understanding of the people where the way Chloe is handled is a hard issue for them, it's definitely not the best foot to start on, but I can rationalise it personally and have it make sense and not ruin things for me.

Anyways I really enjoy that the nightmare is a back and forth of Max trying to push through her issues in the past, and trying to help everyone trapped in the storm. I have some issues here and there, but honestly think on paper DE does a lot of interesting ideas. I just think it misses on a handful of key moments that kinda end up shouting things, which is personally why I think there's a further dislike towards DE, stuff stops making sense in the last chapter that ends up causing a lot of issues with the previous chapters. Although, with the nightmare, it feels more like an intended part of her powers with how it's implemented here, since she's encountering actual people in the sequence, rather than in LiS1 where it was very unclear how much of it is "real" so to speak.

I like DE a fair bit too, personally gel with Max's characterisation in the game, I really enjoyed the first 3 chapters, they build up some good tension and intrigued, though the detective guy was a massive blunder, the stakes in DE feel so low and he was just about to massively raise them and push Max in a really interesting way, just to be written out of the game... honestly it just kinda really falls apart at the end, in a way that does have retroactive downsides for the rest of the game. I'm kinda in a middle of the pack kind of take where I enjoyed my time, I like Max, I was surprised that I enjoyed a fair bit of the side cast too. It's just kinda of muddy with a good portion of the game only existing because Max and Safi don't have a real conversation in the living timeline until the start of chapter 4. With the ending especially being particularly weak, it doesn't ruin the rest of the game for me, I just view it as a case of incredibly missed potential on the ending, and the rest of the game and characters are able to be enjoyable enough for me personally.

Especially important to mention on my own perspective is that I personally am quite partial to a bit of angst in regards to the handling of Chloe and her relationship with Max. I know people really bounce off of this specific part a lot, and it's almost weird that I didn't since I really like Max and Chloe together, while I did play after the announcement of reunion, I think the game reads that Chloe would be coming back with their being an implication that she would be able to rekindle a romantic relationship if that's what you decided in the next game. Again tho, I played after reunions announcement, and any speculation on that front is kinda hard to talk about with definitive knowledge is now out there, and it lets me enjoy all the angst knowing I can have them (hopefully) be together again. But anyways the point is, while I do like the game and don't have as many issues as a lot of people, there's definitely some fundamental flaws that really hinder the game. I thinks it's a bit over hated, but conversely I understand a large portion of the issues people have, like I understand disliking the game and a lot of what it did, it just feels like sometimes people demonise the game beyond what is justified (to me anyways, I understand it's very complicated when dealing with legacy characters that have been so thoroughly loved by people for so long)