demo-a-day - october 2025

i've been following nomnomnami for a while after falling off playing their games for a few years, so i've been looking forward to this game for a bit! the demo actually came out on the first of october, but it's taken me until now to play it. oops! i did go ahead and replay the original syrup and the ultimate sweet before i played this, but according to the page that's not necessary to enjoy this one. i'd say that rings true; nothing in syrup 2 made me feel like i would've been missing context if i hadn't done that. you should play the first syrup game because it's cute and it only takes about an hour to get all the endings... but i digress.

in syrup 2, you return as the titular syrup, a candy alchemist on a quest. she wants to improve her candy making after having made the ultimate sweet, so she's started adventuring to gather new, better ingredients. along the way, she's joined by her friends and rivals. there are many references to nami's other games and characters, as they're all in a connected universe from my understanding, but syrup 2 stands on its own. i especially loved seeing periwinkle - i remember i was really fond of starry flowers back in the day.

syrup 2 features battles, ingredient gathering, and alchemy. you fight and gather to find the ingredients you need to make candy, then you go home and use alchemy to craft your treats. some ingredients are also found in the shops. all these systems work in perfect harmony with each other! the battles are simple but fun turn-based events and when gathering, sometimes your partner can find things that syrup can't find on her own.

there's one last thing to appreciate about this game: it features a "stealth mode" that allows players living in lgbtqphobic homes to avoid scrutiny. this mode hides the pronoun tags and features a symbol on the screen when a scene may be risky to play in an unsafe place. i have no need for features like this, but i greatly appreciate them for the people that do! it may not be feasible for every game and developer to do, but i think it's important to appreciate these kinds of things when they come up. we're living in some scary times right now, but everyone deserves to safely play games.

all in all, syrup 2 is a fantastic game that knocks it out of the park. i believe it comes out in early access on halloween, and i'll be sure to get it if i have the money then! in the meantime, i'll be finishing up this demo. i highly recommend looking at it, and give nami's other games a shot if you haven't yet!