Better than the original, more elaborate and polished, with an interesting mystery plot that ties all the stories together in a more natural way. I believe that this is thanks to the fact that now all the games share a similar theme of cosmic/lovecraftian horror, something that was missing in the first installment.

As for the games, we have, on one hand, those made by developers who are featured again for the second time in the franchise, such as:

• To The End Of Days: From the developers of Carthanc from the first collection, and an overall improvement from that one. Actually more of a survival horror or a straight-up action game than a horror game. I liked it a lot, specially the ending.

• The Toy Shop: I quite enjoyed this one. Similar to their previous game (The Pay is Nice) it has a serviceable enough gameplay, adorned with some very interesting lore and setting that left me wanting more. Aesthetically, it mostly looks cheap, but it does have some interesting stylistic tricks to differentiate itself from the rest. As a negative, it's quite long (almost 2 hours I believe) and doesn't let you save, so you have to beat it in one go, not a problem for me, but I can imagine some people getting annoyed by that. Other than that, it is highly recommended.

• Squirrel Stapler: Considered by many the main course of the collection. It is interesting and disturbing, but I found it quite repetitive and not particularly scary. Not as good as their previous game: Pony Factory. Great ending tho.

• Undiscovered: Nausea and dizziness: the video game. Similar to their previous release (Hand of Doom) it has good ideas, but very bad implementation. Strong art direction and concept gets ruined by horrible control scheme, especially related to the camera. Lots of motion-sickness.

• Another Late Night: Unfortunately, I think this is the worst of the collection. It's a "someone hacked my computer and is telling me disturbing things" type game. Interesting concept, but extremely short and underdeveloped, doesn't go anywhere. Not a big surprise considering that their game from the last collection (Don't Go Out) had similar problems. Overall, worse than their previous work.

I should also mention the hub world from which you access all of these stories, created by Lovely Hellplace, who made Shatter from the first collection, one of its bests. Great aesthetics and atmosphere, adorned with bite-sized puzzles that we have to solve before moving from one game to the other. They are all well-made, except for the music one, because I can't, I just can't.

Now, regarding the other games from new developers that complete the collection, we have:

• The Diving Bell: The real highlight of the collection. Entertaining, engaging, concise, scary, atmospheric and only with a bit of Five Nights at Freddy's DNA in it, which is the perfect amount if you ask me. The only negative thing I see is the gameplay itself, it consists of a lot of "writing" and becomes repetitive. Also, even though it takes place underwater, it didn't trigger my thalassophobia as much as it could have, and honestly? A bit disappointing lol. Other than that, I would really like this one to become a full game.

• SOLIPSIS: Directly from the mind of the great Daniel Mullins. Not a lot to say about his one, is short and sweet, with an excellent artistic style.

• Charlotte's Exile: I liked it a lot. 50% decoding puzzle, 50% Five Nights at Freddy's, you'll probably hate it if you dislike both of those things.

• Touched by an Outer God: Addictive, entertaining and difficult. Luckily, it has an easy mode for those who need it, but it can still be quite challenging. Graphically, it's similar to Forgive Me Father. The story is predictable but sufficient.

• Arcadletra: Definitely the most average of the collection, though that's not necessarily a bad thing. It doesn't try to innovate in its gameplay or graphics. It has a very similar vibe to an indie horror game that certain youtubers would have played in 2012.

• THE THING IN THE LAKE: By far the game with the most aggressive presentation, attacking your senses from the get-go. Unfortunately, they may have gone a bit overboard with this, because it's also very frustrating. With instant deaths, obtuse puzzles and a graphic style that makes it hard to distinguish important stuff. At least the ending is satisfying.

In conclusion, while it does have its mishaps, I think this collection is vastly superior to the previous one in every way imaginable. Even the games I didn't like personally, I still was able to found something entertaining or interesting about them.

I'm actually surprised how much I liked this package, so I'll probably change my mind some day, but while the honeymoon period last: 4 stars