While I think the first game's atmosphere was better, I do have to say this one is pretty great as well. But less deadly because of what we learn at the end of our classmates but sadly... not Chiaki. The "twist" of the game (while it's fairly obvious to guess) is rather intriguing when you learn the exact details of it, and I absolutely love the "Beautiful Ruin" track and it's other variations. I liked how the ending left the fates of certain members of the cast ambiguous too.
The English dub in particular was awesome, and definitely more consistent than DR1's was. Bryce Papenbrook sounded so intriguing and hot as Nagito, (who's an awesome, morally gray version of Makoto's "Hope" character IMO) Julie Ann Taylor was pretty fun as Ibuki, and Derek Stephen Prince NAILED Fuyuhiko. Natalie Hoover made Sonia sound like an amazing role model, Chiaki's VA made the ultimate gamer sound like such a gentle soul, and I could go on but yeah.