Well, finally caught up with Part 2, and I have to say I enjoyed it overall. It's mostly Hugo's birthday party, and while some parts did drag on, I think the main issue is the release timing. Had this come out in six months, people probably wouldn't complain as much about the pacing. But because it took over a year, there's just less patience overall. Honestly, hope Gary is aware that with this level of detail and his current pace, he'll still be working on RI in five years.
On the topic of dragging content: Gary has a tendency to add jokes to break the tension. Sometimes his humor works for me, sometimes not, that's normal. What bothers me is how he rarely lets serious moments sit without immediately undercutting them with an ill-timed joke. This makes it hard to take the story seriously. He really should tone down the jokes; cutting some would not only improve the narrative but also reduce his already lengthy development time since it would be less rendering and animation time spent.
One part stood out as particularly drawn-out without adding substance and I feel I have to mention here: that card game we have with constant interruptions and everyone going offtopic.
Ashley still feels like a side character. So far, she has no meaningful connection to us. The entire quest to isolate Hugo with her feels pointless, especially after the final reveal. (Seriously, our intervention wasn't even needed in the end! I enjoyed the character interactions, but the quest to meet with Hugo should have wrapped up sooner.)
Clement spends all of Part 2 being teased as a major reveal, only for the ending to fall flat. Not gonna lie it was disappointing and made much of this episode feel unnecessary, apart from learning we are an "awakened" it seems we are not getting any other information anytime soon.
Overall, I enjoyed the episode, especially the time with the girls. That said, you could probably cut 25% of the filler and end up with a tighter, better experience and probably even better for Gary's mental health.
