• Price: $39.99 USD (digital); $49.99 (physical)
• Developer/Publisher: Idea Factory
• Release Date: October 27, 2026

A review code was kindly provided by Idea Factory International. We thank them for allowing us to cover something they’ve worked so hard on.

Content warning: rated T. Character death, suicide, murder, terminal illness, grieving process, cults, abduction, brief mention of child loss in a bad ending

Idea Factory International certainly timed the releases of the supernatural otome 9 R.I.P. and 9 R.I.P. sequel well, as they both came out in the month of October – perfect for the spooky Halloween season! 👻 (If you haven’t played the first game, check out our review here.) In this sequel, our heroine Misa will face the consequences of her actions from both the Heavenly and Godly routes of the first game. Some routes may have heavier consequences than others… 😱

Something I find interesting about the 9 R.I.P. series is that the routes don’t have the traditional “good” or “best” endings; instead they have Heavenly or Godly. You’d assume that one or the other would be the equivalent of a good or best ending, but to me it seemed like certain characters had better Heavenly endings, while others had better results in their Godly stories.

As the series has 9 love interests to choose from, I did have a bit of a hard time remembering which endings (Heavenly or Godly) kept Misa alive, and which ones made her “give up the ghost” for each love interest. 🤣 Thankfully they made it fairly easy for players to remember by clearly marking which choice will allow you to experience the continuation of the Heavenly or Godly route for each character.

9 R.I.P. sequel uses Heavenly and Godly routes again, but they also split the Heavenly route into “Pure” and “Deep” endings. SuperNaturally, there are a couple of bad endings for each love interest as well. While the Pure, Deep, and Godly endings are less upsetting or disturbing than the bad endings, because the storylines are so connected to the afterlife they may not necessarily be completely happy endings.

***Note: I will use “Heavenly routes” to refer to the Pure and Deep endings together.***

I played through the routes in the order in which the characters are listed in the extras section. (Check out our walkthroughs here!) So I started with Kureha; I like him well enough both in his own route and in others, but I found his story a little boring this time.

They did add some new side characters to the world of 9 R.I.P., and some characters who were around in the first game may have returned as new “versions” of themselves in the sequel… 👀 Kureha’s Heavenly routes are a little interesting from this standpoint, but I felt that they were too short and didn’t live up to their potential.

Kureha’s Heavenly Routes also give us our first look at the way Misa’s death affects the friends and family she left behind. As expected, it’s not pretty. Additionally, the concept of soul disturbances is introduced in his routes. I think part of the reason I didn’t care for Kureha’s routes as much this time around is because it felt like there was just a lot more negativity compared to some of the other guys’ routes.

As far as Kureha’s Godly route is concerned, I didn’t dislike it, but each Godly route in the game consists of multiple flashbacks reflecting on the love interest’s relationship with Misa. These flashbacks are divided by season, and I thought the story in these routes felt slightly disjointed as a result. I did still enjoy the memories, and the guys get new looks in their Godly route, which I really appreciated.

Next up was Hibiki, who was one of my least favorite love interests in 9 R.I.P.! 😱 (I just don’t tend to go for the crazy possessive guys.) Yet in the sequel I thought he actually had some of the more exciting ideas in his storyline, and somehow I found his Heavenly routes better than Kureha’s.

Both Misa and Hibiki grow in some way in his Heavenly routes, and there are some cool “action” moments. My biggest issue with his route (and several other love interests’ routes) is the almost constant rehashing of the same conflict with the same antagonist. I wanted more originality.

I did appreciate that while Hibiki still has his moments of borderline insanity and extreme possessiveness, it seemed more “manageable” (maybe?) this time around. His Deep ending is really cute and has a great CG. I loved how much Koharu and Seiya helped them in the Heavenly routes. Hibiki’s Godly route, on the other hand, was one of my least favorites.

Koyo remains one of my favorite love interests in the 9 R.I.P. series. I love his personality, plus I was happy that Misa could live an easier life with him since they are both still alive (kind of). The stories with the spirits who can’t at least switch to a “human” form made me sad for them and for Misa.

I was a little disappointed with Koyo’s Heavenly routes in that they seemed to almost recycle his story from the first game. Unfortunately they decided to reuse an antagonist in his route as well.

Koyo’s routes could have been better for my tastes, but I did still like a lot about his stories. As usual he is incredibly cute when he’s embarrassed. There were some funny scenes with Sayaka that made me giggle, and Koyo’s Pure ending is so adorable and sweet. I loved his Godly ending as well, and the interactions with Misa’s family are quite entertaining. His memories with Sena were very emotional; I teared up at several scenes in Koyo’s routes.

Koyo’s ghostly bestie Sena was probably mid-tier for me in the first game, but his routes were a lot more original and interesting in the sequel! There are definitely some bittersweet moments in his Heavenly routes, which is unsurprising considering that both Sena and Misa are dead after that route in the first game.

But we get to learn more about Sena’s past, and he shares some precious memories with Misa. I was incredibly happy to see Koyo’s continued involvement with Sena, and the new characters in these routes were emotionally impactful. Sena’s Deep ending was especially moving, and his Godly ending was sweet too. Make sure to watch the credits for his Pure or Deep routes, as there’s a fantastic surprise within!

Demon Minami was another one of my least favorite love interests in the first game. But let me tell you, the writers continued to surprise me with the more intriguing plots for the characters I wasn’t a fan of before. The romantic aspects still aren’t my favorite with him, but the overarching storyline in his Heavenly routes was unexpected.

Minami continues to be way too controlling and possessive for my liking, but he actually does quite a few nice things for Misa in the sequel. He’s still a jerk, but he has his moments. His Godly ending was surprisingly sweet, and probably one of the better outcomes for Misa overall. I thought he had some of the prettiest CGs (as well as the most fun).

Now we arrive at Minami’s rival in Hell: Seiya, the Grand Warder of Hell and self-proclaimed love expert/“Messenger of Love.” I find Seiya extremely entertaining, if not slightly exasperating. 😂 Yes, he’s a bit of a weirdo who has over-the-top romantic fantasies, but when the chips are down he’s always helped Misa and the other characters. His constant attempts to recruit the other characters for H.O. (Hell Organization) across routes are so funny, and I loved his interactions with Minami in his routes.

I think that Seiya’s Heavenly routes had the most potential because as we learned at the end of the first game, Misa will now be working for H.O. along with Seiya. I wanted them to focus more on their work with H.O., but they did at least give us an interesting twist in these storylines. (Honestly, I would play an entire game set in Hell Organization because it’s so fascinating to me. Spinoff, please!)

Finally, we’ve reached the spirit group of love interests, starting with Yukimaro, the guardian spirit who wants to make Misa happy. In the first game he really seemed like a comic relief character, and I think he’s fun, but his stories aren’t very substantial. In the sequel Yukimaro’s routes had some cool ideas, but ultimately I found them disappointing.

In Yukimaro’s Heavenly routes, my issues were twofold. The first problem was a major lack of communication between Yukimaro and Misa. My other concern was that they reused the same antagonist for about the third time in this game. (And they appear again for a little bit in Koharu’s route, with a major role in Toka’s.) I will say that Yukimaro’s routes do have some cute and entertaining moments (and CGs). His Godly route is especially fun and romantic.

Koharu is up there with Koyo as one of my favorite love interests in the series. I just love the guys who are very serious and almost seem scary at first, but are actually total sweethearts. Koharu is another character who’s always willing to help Misa and the other characters even though he may appear reluctant to do so.

Misa had more communication issues with Koharu, but once again the mythology elements were really interesting in his routes. His Pure ending could’ve been better, but I liked learning more about his background. (There was a reveal in his routes that blew my mind!) I liked his Deep ending more, but Koharu’s Godly ending was kind of too sad for me in a way.

And last but not least, we’ve arrived at Toka, the former god. I think that Yukimaro, Koharu, and Toka all suffer from shorter stories than the other 6 love interests, but Toka actually has one less route than others in this game. He also has a much lower number of CGs.

I felt like Toka’s storylines shared some similarities with Minami’s routes. I must say that I didn’t particularly care for Toka’s routes again; however, there are some amusingly unhinged moments in his Deep ending.

The stories in the 9 R.I.P. series aren’t perfect, but they’re still really interesting and there’s a lot of content. They gave us the love interests’ perspectives again, and provided us with additional content on top of the love interests’ routes with the 9 Wonders of Narimigahama story, available on the main menu! It’s a short but sweet experience involving Sayaka.

Overall I enjoyed the stories in the sequel. I did have problems with the writing here and there. Outside of the main story there are several typos in the glossary, 9 Wonders, and stories in the voices section (i.e. “protaganist”).

They overused the “lack of communication” conflict, with Misa’s unwillingness to “bother” her partner with her issues. She would sometimes do things behind her partner’s back, which I also wasn’t a fan of. Additionally, they reused the same antagonist waaaay too much across several of the love interests’ routes.

That being said, the writing is still fairly complex and interesting. The series differs from a lot of otome I’ve played because the endings aren’t traditionally happy; they aren’t perfect endings wrapped up in a bow for us. Misa and her love interests are never going to get everything they want in the end, and oftentimes the endings are bittersweet. Funnily enough, this makes these supernatural-themed stories more realistic! 😂

While the mood in both 9 R.I.P. games is rather somber, I appreciated the way that characters such as Seiya or Yukimaro occasionally lightened the mood with their antics. (I’d probably find those two exhausting in real life, but in a fictional setting they’re hilarious. 😆)

The way they flesh out the world of 9 R.I.P. is pretty great as well. There’s a lot of lore, and I always find myself learning neat cultural facts I didn’t know about before, such as 四十九日 (しじゅうくにち: Shijyuukunichi), a memorial on the 49th day after a person’s death in Buddhist tradition. They even expand on their pop culture icons such as Tonodamaru, the “Yunions,” and S-CROWN.

The graphics are also quite lovely. I only had one issue with them, which was that some text in the Godly routes could be difficult to read on the background they used during flashbacks. The Godly routes do include some breathtaking images that introduce each memory for that love interest.

The character art is gorgeous as usual; I loved the designs for their standard portraits, outfit changes, and time skips! There are also a lot of pretty new backgrounds.

As far as the music is concerned, they definitely upped their game for the soundtrack. I really enjoyed the opening theme and both closing themes. They did something really neat with the credits for the Pure and Deep endings that gives players additional incentive to watch them every time.

9 R.I.P. sequel has a ton of written content and some pretty great artistic elements as well. Even though the stories didn’t always go as I hoped they would, I still enjoyed the game, and had a good time learning more about the characters and the world they live in. It’s an emotional experience that made me laugh and (very nearly) cry. If you liked the first game and want more, these stories will continue to “haunt” you well after you’ve finished them. 👻