Though this isn't a direct continuation of the first games story, they are in the same world and it does take place right after the first game (I'd imagine within a couple months? It doesn't directly say I think.) The games visual presentation has been improved upon. The ui/interface all just look a lot more stylish. The music, in my opinion, is also better than the first game. There weren't any tracks that made me want to skip the part I was at just to get away from the music.
Once again I felt they knocked it out of the park story wise. I really felt engaged with what was going on and there were a couple of nights where I probably went to bed later than I should because I didn't want to stop playing. I really wanted to know where things were going. The characters were all really likeable too. I both liked and did not like how they approached characters this time. It was nice to have characters with you the whole time story wise in this one, because you got more attached to them. I missed being able to fight the ghosts together like in the first one though, and the way you'd combine items. I think somewhere in between how they handled it in the first game and how they handled it in the second game would be ideal to me.
All said, this game improved upon the first game and really made me wish the third game sees an English release. I highly recommend this game for people who are fans of horror titles or visual novels.