Almost everything about this game is better than the original. From the visuals to the music to the atmosphere. It's just better. This is what I thought I was going to get with the first game rather than a run of the mill JRPG with good visuals. The combat is an improvement from the original mainly due to the new "latent powers" mechanic. And the 2x battle speed is very helpful for mob battles. I have some problems with certain bosses but for the most part, they range from fine to great.
Despite how much this game does right however, it does a lot of things wrong. The dungeons are awful and very one dimensional. Barely feeling like dungeons and more like a big room with treasure and random encounters to make it seem bigger. And speaking of treasure, chests are still very easy to discover and obtain. There's no puzzle solving or anything to that extent to reach the treasures. At most they just have pathways that are hard to see due to the almost 2D camera.
And my least favourite aspect of the game is still writing. While it is an improvement from the previous game's. Most characters still feel very one note and lack flavour and originality. The two characters that had me engaged till the end were Partitio and Temenos. The rest range from boring to decent.
Even still, I'm very happy that they chose to create a sequel because it now shows me that it's worth investing to make this a long running series. I know for a fact that this formula can be used again with new ideas to reach greater heights and to create a JRPG classic.
Despite how much this game does right however, it does a lot of things wrong. The dungeons are awful and very one dimensional. Barely feeling like dungeons and more like a big room with treasure and random encounters to make it seem bigger. And speaking of treasure, chests are still very easy to discover and obtain. There's no puzzle solving or anything to that extent to reach the treasures. At most they just have pathways that are hard to see due to the almost 2D camera.
And my least favourite aspect of the game is still writing. While it is an improvement from the previous game's. Most characters still feel very one note and lack flavour and originality. The two characters that had me engaged till the end were Partitio and Temenos. The rest range from boring to decent.
Even still, I'm very happy that they chose to create a sequel because it now shows me that it's worth investing to make this a long running series. I know for a fact that this formula can be used again with new ideas to reach greater heights and to create a JRPG classic.