(Video all the way down below if anyone's interested!)
I personally really liked the previous game as it had one solid gameplay and story mechanic and it delved into it in a short but deep manner.
Now in this game, I think you nailed the environment both in the house and also in the little kids' doll room(s). It was perfectly scary, suspenseful and had a great atmosphere and genuinely kept me on edge. It was a dark, gritty and an area where the player kept looking behind them to make sure something wasn't happening.
That being said, the environment lost its scariness in a few minutes as nothing really happens in the house at all. I would suggest, moving the mannequins up from the basement to the main floor of the house. Maybe keep a few there so it is scary when the player goes down there, but moving them up into the main floor would give the players a reason to use the main flash mechanic of the game as well as keep a lookout while they are running around to each door.
The doll area I thought was great. Though it wasn't as scary as the doll took their time to get towards the player and also the way to get out of the area wasn't very specific; the player has to realise that they have to touch the doll in the middle of the table after they've gone through a few loops and nothing happens.
The puzzle was interesting and I think was easy yet rewarding to figure out as the player has to go through a mannequin filled basement.
The two things where I felt that the game was really lacking were one; the empty hallways that the player has to go through. Nothing happens there and it's completely random and I felt like it didn't match the rest of the game. That along with the maze with the floating blue orbs, while fun, I felt like were mismatched with the game and seemed really random.
What made the first game really great were the use of sounds when the mannewuins came close to the players and they were really fast and always around the players as well, which increased the sense of danger tenfold. The reason why it was a good and scary game was because it had a singular focus on the mannequins, while in this game, you've tried to add multiple things and the game is stretched out amongst it all.
And I think that there was missed potential with the wife of the dude who made the sentient mannequins; maybe make it reassemble itself and follow the player around. You could add to the story of how it doesn't try to kill the player, but tries to get in their view looking for help or something like that.
And speaking of the mannequins themselves; the switch to demonic rituals was also out of place? I felt at least. The first game introduced them as something made by a dude who was into science, and this sort of retcons that? Not saying it's a bad thing, but making it into a scientific thing might have been interesting and a compelling story.
Now I say all of the above in good faith and as suggestion only. I do like the games you've done and it hass excellent quality and one cans ee the love, sweat, blood and tears you've poured into them.
So wanting to end on a good note, I will say that the way you pace the story (other than the maze and random empty corridor) was really well done and the voice acting was great as well! The house part was really spooky and would definitely love to see more of this unfold as it seems to be a great story so far.
Keep up the great work and good luck for your future projects!