I’m using Windows 8, but trying 16 bit audio actually caused the audio not to function at all. Going to a lower setting of the default 24 bit, however, shortened the static at the start of tracks and seemed to eliminate an error that caused music not to load at all.
Anyway, some gameplay notes:
★Passive weapons are super rad and make pacifist playthroughs so much better! It’s more fitting both thematically and practically to not be the same as a regular run except limiting you to killing things with the reflector, and it’s excellent that some of the new additions are useful even for aggressive players (one passive makes cracking enemies and turrets easy for a reasonable cost, and I love that). Perhaps best of all, you don’t
need Crack 4, and there are non-terrible reasons to increase Attack no matter what you’re using. :3
★Sector 3 is no longer a “wait for people to get out of the way” simulator, just like the bunker in 9!
★Proxima no longer has the fields on by default, which helps those wacky supercharge-seekers.
★Iosa has a neat new attack - at least I think it’s new - that makes movement during the first phase actually tough.
★Asha and Tor run
so much better, holy crap! I’ve never truly fought them before, and it was really neat to see such a marked improvement.
★There are various little graphical enhancements, which are appreciated: turrets are more interesting, there’s a new ending picture for the Tasen, Iji has a little spark effect on her hand when cracking (the range on that is improved, also) and she drops her ammo and stays on the ground rather than exploding into nano, which is both more interesting and more fitting.
There’s some story enhancements, too, which I won’t completely spoil but which are worth discussing!
★I’ve experienced the new endings. One is fitting enough but also kind of silly and unimpressive, although the last ending picture at least gives a glimpse of something you otherwise couldn’t see. The other, however, is still fitting but also much more interesting and at least more bittersweet. Both of these rely on your choices, so you can always opt out, and I think that they’re nice additions.
★There are dialogue and logbook changes all over, sometimes to reflect gameplay stuff but sometimes just for improvement's sake. It characterizes Iji better at times, makes some of the parlance more natural, and is generally always appreciated. :>
★
Maeja x Wak Torma OTP
There’s apparently some new secrets floating around, unsurprising given it’s Daniel Remar, so it’s a great time to rediscover all of the obscure crap in Iji (rather than porting over your save file like I did to check out the major changes), especially since there’s apparently been an effort to make the secrets less cryptic for careful players. Happy hunting!