Okay, just finished. My rambly thoughts...
First, my personal likes:
-The individual storylines are coming along great. Standouts for this patch I think were Alex's and Luna's storylines. Nova's a pretty good addition to the main cast, and I look forward to seeing how she develops along with the rest.
-I like how Caribdis really continues to flex his model-making skills on the men in this patch. I mean, one of the things that bothered me in OiaL is that despite how much I like the story, the male models in that VN felt like they never really got that much love (I mean, they're serviceable and some were genuine standouts like Jack and everyone's favorite stabby guy, but I felt like Caribdis already reached the limit of what he could do with HS1's CC there). Here though...oh boi...William Bardot, Kai, Nikolay, Philippe, Mr. Valentino...and that's not counting the ones in the previous version. Seriously, I really appreciate the fact that they look like actual characters and not something that came out of HS2 CC's "Randomize" button.
-The carnage in the last fight scene...hoo boi...felt like that came straight out of an old school Nitroplus eroge, sweet Jesus...
Aaaaand for the nitpicks:
-The Annie scene. No, I'm not talking about how it's written, it's fine. What bothered me was the music choice. I mean, I don't know about you, but uhhh...when I think about an intimate scene of two very long friends "laying bare" their bodies and feelings to one another..."Run Boy Run" by Snake City is probably the last thing I'd choose to go along with it. But hey, that's just me.
-I mean, I dunno if this is related to the "black box" in his backstory or something but...it kinda bothers me that Orion (MC) never really freaks out in regards to the violence happening around him. I mean, if Eternum is "more real than real life," you'd think he'd at least freak out a bit when he sees people getting smashed to a bloody pulp, especially if the scene itself is as real as it gets...but he doesn't.
And for some ramblings on spoiler-related stuff:
Overall though, loved the update. Can't wait for 0.3.
Now if y'all excuse me, I think I'm going to watch some cat vids for a while to get my mind off that haunted house section in Luna's storyline.