This review is brought to you by someone who's experience with the original, was getting to grab the flashlight and then getting so scared that I ejected the disc and never played it again. Yeah, I wasn't great with horror at the time. Point is, this review is coming from someone who didn't get to fully experience the original so I can't say how faithful things are or make any comparisons.

Holy crap, this game was such an amazing experience!

Positives:

+ Has one of the best stories I've ever witnessed from a game. Usually on second playthroughs I find myself skipping, but not with SH2. I just wanted to experience the story each time that I played, and I had to witness every ending, even if there wasn't an achievement tied to it. Even after finishing each play through, it stayed on my mind and I kept looking up little things online to learn more about the lore.
+ The atmosphere in this game is truly perfect for a psychological horror game. It's eerie, it's unsettling and creepy. The environments were just so well done and added to the uneasy experience. I don't want to risk spoilers by talking about areas too much, so leaving this there.
+ Grade A sound design. The story and the environment were amazing, and only made even more immersive and eerie by the music and sound effects. Just walking around and hearing those distant sounds added life to the game and that radio static bringing a small sense of dread on what was lurking nearby. Then there was the music. That score switched perfectly between unnerving and melancholic whenever the tempo of the game changed, and on the latter part, I could feel my chest getting heavy with sadness, which shows how effective that music is at setting the tone and helping instill the right emotions for the moment.
+ Great voice acting overall but James's voice actor especially stood out. His voice acting was really outstanding and added so much believability to James as a character and his emotions.
+ Graphics were great and character facial expressions were so well done
+ I'll be honest, beyond a couple of moments that made me jump, I didn't find this 'scary' but it's still one of the best and most effective horrors to me. It didn't scare me but it made me uneasy, uncomfortable and unsettled. I felt on on edge and slightly disturbed at times. All of those emotions are what makes a psychological horror game so effective (imo anyway)
+ A game where the map is actually clear and useful!

- Cons

- Combat was kind of lacklustre for me, but the rest of the game made that no huge deal at all. I enjoyed it thoroughly regardless of what kind of combat I'd like.
- Performance was an issue. It was stuttering and dropping frames like crazy, but once I found the dx11 fix, it played pretty smoothly.
- Now I'm really sad because I don't know when or even if I'll find a game with a story that can impact me as much as this again

Whenever I see that a game is as hyped up as R.E.P.O, I approach it with so much caution. High expectations can easily lead you to be disappointed, even if the game is actually good. I avoided it for a while but when my friend and I were in desperate need of a new game, I finally took the plunge for R.E.P.O and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ I wish I had got this sooner. There is no disappointment at all because this more than lives up to the hype!!!

Pro's:

+ You can actually get revived mid round, so it's not a guarantee death will have you watching on and sadly munching on popcorn, as you wait to see if your team lives or dies.
+ We haven't exactly gotten too far since we play as a team of two and we're still learning, but it seems relatively well balanced with achievable quota's. We've had problems with other games where we know for sure it'll be game over when we hit a certain point
+ Really cool monster design. We haven't seen them all yet but there's so much 'What the hell is that???' yelling when we play. They seem to have pretty unique mechanics to them.
+ Having an upgrade system to boost your stats is a great idea for a game like this
+ Nice QOL thing where once you hit the quota, you can check your map to help find your way out. The map is also super useful in general.
+ Super fun little mini game after a team K.O that will definitely bring out the worst in you
+ The game is hilarious to play. My jaw was actually aching after a three hour session because I'd been laughing my ass off for so long. Those big eyes and crouches just broke me each time and the fact you can pick a crouching party member up? Love it! Put my friend on the top shelf in the shop and threw him to his death at one point.
+ Unique items. I love how picking up certain things can trigger certain things to happen.
+ Teamwork can actually be optimal! Usually it's a split up to cover more ground type of things but when you're needing to drag a huge ass item around, you got to work together... and yell a little when one of you accidentally smashes it against a wall because they moved too carelessly.
+ I love the designs of the places you explore! All unique from each other and different in theme
+ Actually a little scary sometimes. I have run screaming from a room once or twice... or five times... or ten...
+ The duck!!!! Love that lil fella, even if he killed my friend one time...and maybe me

Neg:

- ??? I know no game is perfect and that it will have them but I honestly can't think of any right now.

This game is just so much fun to play and it has a cute charm to it too. It's a game you can tell so much love and time was put into it, and it's such a blast to play. I'm so glad that it was able to gain such attention because it honestly deserves it.

Now to kidnap my friend from work so we can play some more.